Welsh | Jamaican
I identify as a mixed-race (White and Black Caribbean) male. I have type 1 diabetes and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. My parents were both born in Wales. My Grandma is from Jamaica and she moved here with her Mother when she was around 11 years old. The main thing my parents combined in terms of culture was food. We always have rice, or rice and peas with our cooked dinner! It took me years to find out that my friends did not do this, as I thought it was normal! Banana fritters are my favourite and my Grandma is the best cook! My parents split when I was around 3 years old. There was always a stuck in the middle feeling when growing up. But I love my Mum and Dad and they are so supportive.
When I was younger in school my ethnicity made me a minority. I remember my hair not being the same as my White friends and I tried to style it like them, I failed. For years I would refuse to grow my hair, I kept it short. I feared that I was ugly with longer hair, or that I would not be seen as a mixed-race Black person and have my race questioned, as my hair begins thick and wavy before curling over.
Being older I now look back and I can clearly see the 'blind racism' I faced growing up. I just thought it was normal, especially through sport, often being the only person of a different ethnicity. I am more confident and I understand the forms of racism now I am older and I now challenge these views straight away.
Racism is educated, by past generations, by social groups, by ignorant bigots, but if these people are given the correct education, it can break the chain of the same ideologies being passed down. The world needs to be educated from a young age on racism and inequality, we all need to be rapping the same bars! Schools have a responsibility, as much as parents or guardians do, to combat racism and teach equality to children, as well as the correct British and worldwide colonialism throughout. The world needs to offer equal opportunities to everybody, full stop. Sport needs to punish racism within its culture. The government needs to do more to keep on raising awareness of racism and point it out when it happens, to educate others. We as a human race need to stop referring to each other with labels, as they often divide us, rather than define us. We need to be seen as one human race. We all bleed, we all smile, we all cry, we all laugh, yet the beauty is we are unique individuals, yet simultaneously connected.
I have been told by Black people that I am not Black, I have been told by White people I am not White. I have had to argue the question, well then what am I? I say that I am Black because of my heritage, but often labels are what divide this society. How can an individual be Black enough or White enough to fit into a category? When you think about it, it is kind of a weird thing to do, place people in categories because of their shade of skin, yet we have done this for centuries.
I have received discrimination and ignorance towards my health condition and my race in my full-time employment. I resolved this by writing multiple letters and by having multiple meetings, demanding for equality and diversity training for all staff, as well as type 1 diabetes awareness. My aim was to educate people and give them a chance to learn, to change their perspective. There is far more change needed for me to feel that I am taken seriously by all and for better representation to be implemented. More opportunities are needed for people of ethnic background within Wales in the poetry and rap scene.
I have visited Jamaica, it was a beautiful experience being with my Grandma in her place of birth.
I created a song called Johnny and Bobby last year about how racism is educated, it is on all streaming platforms. If you search Duke Al then Johnny and Bobby is track 2 of my debut EP called 13.03.1994. I write poetry about racism, my experiences and inequality. I share my work on my social media channels.
Although the pandemic has thrown many challenges our way, I have taken the positives out of a negative situation and used the time to chase my goals, make music and write poetry. I have always believed that time should be seen as wealth, and we have the power to spend it however we want. I feel the pandemic has opened many people’s eyes into realising that life is not about working a full-time job, or ‘working for the man’. There is a lot more to life and our time is precious on this Earth. I would encourage everybody to do what they can, to chase their passions in life. The way human beings have constructed society and the modern way of life, is not why we were put on the planet. We should all have the opportunity to explore the Earth in all of its wondrous beauty, rather than struggle to make ends meet every month. We should all feel connected rather than divided. We should all value time, not human-made money.