I loved my cap when I was younger. It wasn't any old cap but a Chicago Bulls cap circa 1992-3. And I considered it to be a lucky cap. Though you have to understand that for a 17 year old young man of colour, living in pre-gentrified East London was not always a breeze.
Read MoreI have now been away from my hometown for two years, almost. You might think that at some point you get used to it, being far away. Well, not exactly. I don’t know about all of you out there, but I need some certainties in my life. Like knowing where to get a decent coffee, or which street is better to avoid when coming home at night, or which cashier is nicer in my local supermarket.
Read MoreThe whole world is on pause and yet we are still being told that we need to have a stiff upper lip and not worry. If we do as we are told and stay positive, that it will be okay. However, a lot of the time it isn’t okay, for many of us, the struggle to stay positive becomes the very thing which weighs us down.
Read MoreThis isn’t all about my dear old Aubrey and his life, the kind of man he was, and how much I and so many others will miss him. I could go on forever with that. It’s really about how moved I was on the day of his funeral… I learnt on that day that we as people adapt with the tenacity of compassion and love, by any means necessary. How we need to connect in order to survive or, more plainly, to cope.
Read MoreAlthough interracial relationships are great and, let’s face it, natural, interracial dating experiences are usually tied inextricably with racism. Interactions with some of my partner’s friends have been interesting to say the least…
Read MoreWhen I was in school I used to self harm. The last time I did it was at university. It’s something I still think about a lot; not that I tell people that but I do still struggle. I still battle with something that feels like a craving; like wanting a cigarette or a glass of wine at the end of a hard day.
Read MoreIt would simply cease to exist if I hadn’t given up dieting and discovered Intuitive Eating, which is a philosophy that pivots on honouring your hunger and eating what you want to. I used to think my hunger was the enemy: a devious scheming bastard whose calling card was an empty Penguin wrapper and a stomach full of guilt.
Read MoreThere's no such thing as a normal family. Seriously… I'd seen my real mother at various intervals over the years believing her to be my oldest sister. I never knew that her other two children were my half brother and sister - I'd always thought that they were my niece and nephew.
Read MoreThe idea came about one boring evening indoors. It had been a year since we all graduated and we decided we wanted a creative project to really have fun with, something outside of our usual routine. As black Muslim women, there is an evident lack of representation, particularly in the podcast world and so it was important for us to create a platform which would be considered relatable and accessible to many like us. We wanted a platform where we could openly express our thoughts and personal experiences whilst just having fun with it
Read MoreI know something is wrong, so we take my friend’s Mum car and as we walk up the hill and around the corner we see two ambulances and several police cars. I run towards the house and am stopped in my tracks by a policeman - ‘you can’t go that way you don’t want to see that’… but I am looking for Dad. ‘He’s gone’ I am told.
Read MoreThe winter sun is streaming through the window, I sit with my coffee and edit the photographs I took at last weekends’ monthly drag show. Each photograph I bring up on the screen is a reminder of the wonderful people that I get to work with, hang out with and call my friends. It’s a reminder of how far I have come
Read MoreIn 2018 she tried to take her own life after experiencing a breakdown at Law School in Bristol. Today, Loo is truly shining as much light as possible on this important societal issue.
Read MoreIn 2013, we met an awesome woman, C, who was already helping another couple to become parents. And when she had helped them by carrying their daughter, she offered to help us. We had become good friends, and bonded over our love of food, particularly curries.
Read MoreI spent 11 months in Australia and a month travelling home (via various countries). During that time I heard the term ‘opportunity of a lifetime’ frequently. I heard it from other backpackers, from people I met, from people at home. I never liked the phrase.
Read MoreA brown skirt suit, Jesus, what was I thinking? I thought borrowing something smartish from my big sister would help, and maybe it did, but it absolutely wasn’t me! I felt like a total fraud. I sat on the coach at Maidenhead bus station thinking it was the start of the rest of my life! That 11 quid fare was my ticket to freedom! It was the summer of 1989.
Read MoreCandle lit table in an Italian restaurant. The soft glow of the flame creates dappled shadows around our wine glasses - mine, half empty, his, near gone. His hand slowly glides across the table cloth, gently falling on top of my palm. He looks up at me, burning curiosity in his cool eyes, “so”, he says, “tell me about your family?”
Read More"Cartoons are not art."
Cue the sound of my heart, hopes and dreams shattering into a million pieces.
Fourteen-year-old me was being told that my kind of art didn't count.
Read MoreHaving a side hustle is the first step towards this, but it also gives you something to focus on outside of your full-time job. When I leave my office at 5pm, I leave all the stress, worry and problems of that job behind, and I come home to my side hustle. Its taught me that your job should be just that – a job, and not your whole life.
Read MoreMy Mum died very suddenly in January, 12 years ago. She went to the doctor on the Friday, got taken straight into hospital and died on the Monday. For years before that, I worried about how I would cope when she died, how I would be able to function in a world that didn’t contain her.
Read MoreI was called from next door where I’d been playing with my best friend, they were crowded around the end of the piano where the phone lived, a space opened up and I was enveloped inside it as the news was told. Dad was dead, drowned.
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