Indian/Scottish/Irish | Jamaican/Israeli/Irish
My Mother’s side is Jamaican/ Israeli/ Irish-British, my Father’s side is Indian/ Scottish/ Irish-British. I had asked questions about why my younger siblings and I were ‘different colours’. I had taken the most melanin from my Mum and it had filtered through when my siblings were born. We also wondered why we had different skin tones to our parents, so there were a lot of questions. I think people were surprised to know that I was part Black, throughout my life even to this day most people assume I am South American/ North African or Spanish. I’ve been brought up to love everything, all sorts of food, all types of music, I was brought up with a lot of Reggae because of my Father’s love for it. I went to a lot of festivals, one was Mela which celebrates the Asian culture, I remember being obsessed with sari’s, always wanting to wear one, I guess that was my Indian side of me coming out. Concerts have always been a part of me. The first concert I went to was when I was 6; it was a Reggae gig at the Royal Festival Hall, a person called Michael Rose; something I remember very clearly to this day. The way I have my hair is natural, always kept it natural, it’s something that defines me and what many people recognise me by. I feel rather lucky to be mixed, I love that it’s an aspect of me where everything can connect and come together. As I grow older, I become much more aware of who I am. After having done a degree in Fine Art, I’ve realised how there’s not a lot of focus on mixed–race art, I want to be able to provide people with a voice and show that within my work. There needs to be a bigger platform for us in the creative world and I hope to be a part of something that can change that. When I heard about this project, I fully supported the concepts of what it wants to achieve. It seems more and more people’s voices are being heard recently, it’s up and coming which is a brilliant thing to see happening. If I were able to be reborn, I would come back as myself, can’t really go wrong there, like I said, I am proud of who I am and where I am from.
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