Irish | Jamaican
I identify as a Londoner with Jamaican and Irish roots. My parents met in South London at a friend’s party. They started off as friends and their relationship grew from there. My Dad's parents taught my Mum how to cook Jamaican food and I grew up with reggae/jungle music being a constant in my house. I remember when my Dad would get annoyed with me and my brother he would start speaking in Patois which I didn't understand at all at the time. My Mum's ways in parenting were very different to my Dad's. She is more lenient and my Dad is more strict. I think this is to do with their cultural backgrounds. I have always felt connected to my Jamaican roots so I always imagined that my partner would have Jamaican roots too which she does. When I was younger I didn't feel connected to my Irish roots as my house was more of an English/ Jamaican household. I plan to explore my Irish roots in the future.
My parents had it hard growing up and told me stories of them receiving racism just for being with each other. Thankfully things have improved slightly today and I think it's great to see people from different backgrounds getting together. I have received racism from White people because I'm Black and discrimination from Black people because I'm light. As a young person it was a very confusing time for me but as I got older I embraced my heritage and I feel because of my mixed heritage I have a better understanding of certain things than others from one background.
I have two role models: my Dad and my Grandad. My Dad is the hardest working person I know. Since I was a baby he has worked 7 days a week to provide for his family and his work ethic has inspired me to be the best version of myself. People have always said I look like my Dad and I'm proud of that because when I look at him I see a good man, a man that cares about 'us' instead of just 'I' and it's because of his leadership that I am now leading in my own right. My Grandad was my best friend, before he passed I used to visit him at least once a week. We had a lot in common as he was a musician and creative too. I used to love hearing his stories of his early life in Jamaica and how much he hated the English weather. He inspired me to be a better person, he had an energy that I have never felt before and I laughed my hardest when I was around him. I don't think I would be half the man I am today without my Dad or Grandad.
The main challenge I have faced is losing my Grandad suddenly 7 years ago. We were really close and his death hit me hard. I remember being in a daze for about a month after he passed away and feeling like my life had just stopped. At the time I didn't understand how everyone else could keep on living, to the point that it used to bother me. After a while I decided that I wanted to do something to celebrate my Grandad's life so I created a documentary about him and put on an event to showcase the film to my family and the community. Working on that project really helped me and gave me purpose. Since then I have felt more determined than ever to celebrate my Grandad's life and continue to make him proud by serving the community.
In terms of my Jamaican side we have always eaten Jamaican food in my household and have traditionally had a mix of Jamaican and English food at Christmas. My Dad speaks Patois (mainly when he is annoyed) and I was around my Jamaican Grandad a lot so I definitely picked up the lingo and naturally have woven the Patois language into the English language. From a young age I have been ingrained in Jamaican music with my Dad always blasting out reggae music. In terms of my Irish side I have not grown up with any of those traditions unfortunately but I hope to learn more about this part of me and travel to Ireland soon.
I have visited Jamaica twice. Once as a child and as an adult 3 years ago. Going back there was an amazing experience, I got to visit where my Grandad grew up, I saw my great grandparents burial ground and even got to meet my great great Uncle who was 102 at the time. I want to visit the Republic of Ireland, specifically Cork where my family is from in the near future.
I'm Chief Executive of a charity called 'Poetic Unity', I remember going to a networking event with about 30 other charity CEO's and I was the youngest and only person there who was non-White. It's a big issue. One of the fuels for me starting my charity is to help create jobs in senior positions for young people of non-White backgrounds. When I was young me and my friends who were predominantly from Caribbean and African backgrounds never got the same opportunities and support as our White counterparts. It's imperative that we make senior positions in companies and charities more inclusive and I'm determined to be a part of that change.
The pandemic initially was very difficult as me and my Poetic Unity team have always delivered our programmes for young people in person, but after an emergency board meeting we worked out a way to deliver some of our services online. Our online programmes have proved to be very successful and the pandemic has fuelled my passion to support young people and the community even more than before. Poetic Unity was made to support young people in the most difficult of times and we have thankfully managed to support thousands of young people across the UK during the pandemic. As for my own creativity I haven't had the time to write in this time as much as I would have liked as my focus was on the community but I'm starting to get back into it now.
As a young person growing up in Lambeth I was marginalised and received mistreatment and racism from some teachers at my school. My friends and I realised all the people being marginalised were non-White and that we didn't receive the same opportunities as our White counterparts. This fuelled my passion as an adult to make sure no other young person goes through what I went through by creating numerous opportunities and a safe community with Poetic Unity. My Grandma had dementia before she passed and seeing her struggle with it when I was just 23 years old really changed me as a person. At the time I wasn't thinking about working with the community but she helped me see it’s not about 'I' it's about 'we' and I went on to volunteer for Alzheimer's Society charity to help people like my Nan for 4 years which led me to creating Poetic Unity. In the 6 years Poetic Unity has existed I would say we have positively impacted some of the most marginalised young people in London by giving them a voice, supporting their mental health and providing a safe space to be themselves with no judgement.
If I had the opportunity to be reborn I would like to return as myself but with the knowledge I have acquired over the years. My parents could have educated me more on my heritage from a young age. That would have helped me understand my identity sooner.