Scottish | Sierra Leonean
My Dad is from Sierra Leone in West Africa and my Mum is from Scotland. Generally, I grew up with a mix of White and Black culture and there wasn’t really a clash for me at home. Although saying that, I’ve generally felt more ‘connected’ with the Black side of my family as they’ve made more of an effort to be in my life and I think culturally, I feel more connected to that side. Being brought up in Brixton as certainly played a part in that. The biggest struggle I had growing up was identifying and fitting in. I’m racially ambiguous and have had an internal struggle of fitting in as well as an external one, were people would tell me who or what I am. I was never quite white enough to be considered White. But not Black enough to be considered Black. This is something that affected me for a long time. In fact, it’s only recently that I’ve finally learnt that it doesn’t matter what race or culture people think I am or should belong to. I don’t even waste my time trying to fit in anymore. I am just me and that’s enough. Once I understood this, I felt an overwhelming sense of peace. I’d encourage everyone to live by this. I really wish my Dad spoke creole to me when I was growing up so I better understood the language. I feel that would have made me feel even more connected to that side of my heritage. I connect with the African side of my culture more than the Scottish. I think this is because of where I was brought up as well as the relationship I have with that side of my family. In addition to that, I cannot help but see the injustice that my Black brothers and sisters face daily, and this has made me want to learn even more about that side of my heritage and speak up about the problems we face. I feel that being mixed-race has forced me to better understand others and be more openminded. Things are not as binary as we are led to believe. I believe mixed-race people often face a struggle of fitting in, being labeled by society or being encouraged to pick sides, but I also feel that there are a lot of privileges that come along with being mixed and I think it’s important we are aware of that.
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