English | Ghanaian

Sarah Jane.jpg

I'm born in Wembley, but went back to Ghana when I was a baby. I'd say most of my formative years were in Ghana till I was 18. I moved back here to study then go to University 7 years ago. 
I think I became more aware of the fact that I was 50/50 in the sense that I was half English and half Ghanaian even when I moved here. As a girl growing up in Ghana, I was raised with the language, as I speak the language. I spent a lot of time with my mom's family so I felt more Ghanaian living there and growing up there. I felt 70% Ghanaian and 30 % English just because of the fact that I could speak the language, eat the food and understand the culture. 
It's interesting in Ghana because this majority of people are black obviously they call me ‘Obroni’ (or Obroni is the Akan word typically directed at a white person) which means foreigner or white person. 
So it's funny, in Ghana, I'm seen as white or a foreigner, while over here in the UK I feel black because they see me as black. 
I'm quite confident my parents raised me in a way that I understand what I am, as I said earlier, until I moved here, I truly kind of embodied the fact that I was half English half Ghanaian, because my parents raised me in a way that I could value and appreciate both sides. 
An example, I naturally have very afro curly hair, so when I was growing up in Ghana a lot of people straighten there hair with chemicals, but I felt like ‘NO, I don’t have to, I don’t want to be a part of this but then I found myself straightening my hair more and more and putting chemicals in it just to kind of fit in. 
I think where you are sometimes, does definitely influence how you behave. When I moved over here and I kind of begun to see more of my dad's family and my English side, I was like, you know, well, I just want to embrace the fact that I'm truly half English and half Ghanaian as opposed to being more Ghanaian. 
If I was to come back to this earth again, I would want to come back as myself, my mother is an amazing beautiful black Africa women and my Dad was such an amazing English man, I wouldn’t have it any other way, I am happy to come back just as myself.