British | Cuban
I identify as a woman with mixed British and Afro-Cuban heritage. My Mum is from the UK and my Dad is from Cuba.
I think because of how I look I was made to feel not very British. Growing up I was always asked where I was from and if I was born here. My Mum used to get all sorts of questions and assumptions about me when I was a baby because I was a different skin colour to her. I know that in Cuba I can blend in because of how I look, however the moment I'd open my mouth to speak people would hear in my accent that I wasn't from there which always made me feel strange.
People wouldn't believe me when I told them my Dad was Black, and that always really stung. I always knew I was mixed but I think I struggled with my identity because I didn't look 'mixed-race' (whatever that is supposed to mean). I think especially being half Black but not looking stereotypically what a Black mixed-race person looks like really made me question my identity. It took me a long time to come to terms with the fact that I am half Black and to celebrate my Afro-Cuban heritage. I am still figuring out what this means for me.
Growing up people didn't really understand where Cuba was, and that it's part of Latin America and the Caribbean. The Latin American community in the UK is super invisibilised so I never knew what to put on forms, so I would tick 'mixed other'. I think it's crazy that the UK forms have managed to miss out the whole continent of Latin America. The Latin American community has been a part of the UK for a long time and continues to grow. We are here!
People have said to me a lot that I am racially ambiguous, I have received a whole array of assumptions of where I am from. It spans continents. From India to the Philippines, to Greece, Turkey, Morocco, Iran and many more. I don't think anyone has ever got it right which is totally ok, I get that you might not be able to tell straight away.
Multiple identities can exist within you at the same time. Do not let anyone else define you.
I love Loyle Carner. In a lot of his music he talks about his identity and being mixed-race, so I have always related to him.
I love a good cup of tea or I love a cafecito in the morning; two staple drinks from my two cultures. I also can never open a bottle of rum without pouring a bit out 'pa los santos', and love a good crumpet with butter and marmite.