British | Nigerian

Photo credit: provided by subject

I identify as heterosexual and mixed-race Nigerian and British, and Agnostic. My Dad is Nigerian and my Mum is British. They met in the hospital as my Dad is a doctor and Mum was a nurse. 

My Dad cooks Nigerian food all the time, our house is decorated colourfully with Nigerian pictures and colourful images, and he speaks Igbo or pidgin English with me in the house. My parents are divorced so when I go to my Mums she’s incredibly educated on many issues faced by the Black community and understands how we have White privilege and need to use it to better racial equality. My Step-Dad often Cooks Nigerian food too and again there are many decorations of Nigerian culture within the house. 

I am more likely to choose a partner from another culture as I love exploring new and different cultures. Today we are much more inclusive and welcoming of interracial relationships, whereas previous generations found it to be abnormal.

I have struggled to find a specific identity. Within my White friendship circles, they have been reluctant to accept my affirmation that I am mixed-race, trying to deny my racial identity. Whereas in school, Black friends that I had were reluctant to accept me into their circle as I wasn’t Black. In the last year through my law degree at UC Davis joined the Black Law Students Association and felt a lot more closer and affiliated with the Black community. The positive part of my identity is that I can use my White privilege to my advantage to further the Black Lives Matter movement. I love being part of an African culture.

Because I look White; whereas I am indeed mixed, I have been sometimes labelled a ‘cultural appropriator’ or denied my Black heritage by White people who are in denial of their White privilege, and to some extent some Black people who are reluctant to include me within their group. Nonetheless I am always an ally to Black people and Black Lives Matter, regardless of my racial identity, however as a mixed-race person I have often felt, even by my best friends, laughed at by referring to myself as mixed-race.

I exercise daily, I have been studying for a law degree for the last 4 years and had exams so lockdown was filled with me revising and also writing music as I am a singer-songwriter. I’m lucky to have quite a positive healthy space in London where I can focus on my degree and music too.