Czech | Kenyan
I identify as mixed-race; Czech and Kenyan. I have no religious affiliation and am straight. My Dad is Kenyan, from the Western Region near Lake Victoria and is from the Luo tribe. He met my Czech Mother in the mid-sixties in then Socialist Czechoslovakia. He was studying Engineering in Prague thanks to the stipends that were handed out during the Cold War to thousands of African students post-Colonial independence. My Mother is from a small provincial town in Czech and she met my Dad at work. He was sent to her town on an Engineering placement at a textile company where she was working. Gradually they got together, married and had me, much to the dismay of Mum's family. When Dad completed his degree, he moved back to Kenya first and Mum and I followed a few years later, once our exit permits had been granted by the Communist regime. At that time travel bans made it very difficult for Czechs to leave for the West and Mum was forced to relinquish her citizenship as she was deemed as a traitor for leaving the country.
When we moved to Kenya, we lived in the capital Nairobi and often had Dad's family staying with us from the village, as was the custom. Through this, I learnt Dad's tribal language and used to translate for Mum. I remember the native food, lots of fish with decorative fruits and Grandmother cooking in the compound on a jiko, a small charcoal burning stove. Mum adapted to Kenyan ways wearing a kikoy, an African sarong worn at home and learnt how to make Dad's favourite dishes, such as Ugali, as food was central to his culture. Sadly my childhood memories of living in Kenya stop right there, as at the age of six my parents separated, and I was sent back to Czechoslovakia. I was reunited with my Mother at the age of ten when she and I moved to London and only saw my Father a handful of times until he passed away a couple of years ago.
I have always been intrigued with mixed cultures as I love history, and the fusion of cultures normally has some form of political backdrop, like my story. Thankfully, being interracial nowadays, particularly in London, is starting to become more of the norm and less of a debate, unlike back in the day when my parents faced a lot of racism. Granted it wasn't in the UK, but back in the sixties, White vs Black meant choosing a side.
My Mum recounts many stories from when she was dating my Dad, he was often beaten up just for being seen with her. My maternal family were also cynical and disowned my Mother for a while. Sadly, they were embarrassed of his presence at the time. They couldn't comprehend the need for cultures mixing together and associated Africa with primitive living. I find it disgusting but that is how it was.
I lived in both of my parents respective countries up to the age of ten until I moved to the UK. I always considered myself as mixed and I felt relatively comfortable with both races. My relationship partners have had nothing to do with my background but have been people I just clicked with because we shared the same values. Thankfully, racial barriers have not been an issue. My kids have an added cultural dimension, Dominican and Danish, and identify as Black British with not much affinity to their heritage. They are proud West Londoners!
I enjoy educating people about how I ended up in the UK as most people would never connect the impact of the British Commonwealth with the Cold War and how my background played a part in it.
Mixed has been both a blessing as well as feeling the odd one in the room. In Kenya as a child, I was called 'muzungu', Swahili for White, but this later was exchanged for 'Point five'. A slang expression that developed in Nairobi to classify mixed-race people. I can't say that I took much offence to both of the name calling as it didn't stop me from having friends, which was more important at the time.
On the other hand, when I went back to live in Czech at the age of six, I was called every name under the sun, in every guise imaginable. I was never 'Becky with good hair', I stood out with my Afro. I was extremely conscious of my full lips and I hated being tall as I stood out in crowds. I was constantly observed by strangers be it on the train, in the shops or even the doctor's surgery. Czechoslovakia was a closed society and both kids and adults didn't know how to react to other races. In the playground taunts I was 'Black mouth', 'Blacky', 'Gypsy', 'Black orphan' as I didn't live with my parents. On a good day, I was Angela Davies or 'The Cuban girl'. Cubans were the only other identifiable mulatto race that were drafted in the country for training to upskill Fidel's nation. I think most kids would have had a breakdown at that age, but I was lucky that my maternal Grandmother was my rock at the time. She taught me how to stand up for myself and gave me reassurance that I wasn't ugly as I had been made to feel by the society at large.
Thereafter, moving to the UK was a huge turning point in my life. Living in London had its challenges but it was liberating not being stared at on the streets.
I connect with both sides when it comes to food as I grew up appreciating the culinary delights of both of my parents cooking, but I connect more with Czech as I speak the language fluently and sadly lost a lot of connection with my Dad when my parents separated. However, I've always loved Kenyan music and have and have fond memories of holidaying in my teens in Kenya and enjoying the urban life in Nairobi with my cousins. I loved going out and witnessing the fusion of modern and traditional culture be it through parties, music or fashion. I grew up and schooled in three countries (Czech Rep, Kenya and UK) and it would be impossible to say that I have not been shaped by all of the three cultures.
In some parts my workplace is inclusive of my culture, but there is definitely a glass ceiling. I have been lucky to be part of the Ethnicity Diversity Group and Women's Network both striving to empower groups to achieve a better status in society, but sadly on paper there is still a long way to go. The only good thing is that we now overtly celebrate various cultural days and make more emphasis on equal opportunity.
If I had the opportunity to be reborn I would definitely come back as myself. My life journey has not been an easy ride, but I would not swap it for anything else.