Voices of Colour

EDITOR'S LETTER

Having a Jamaican and Bajan heritage, diversity has always been important to me.

Education in such a topic is vital to becoming more aware and inclusive of others around us.

'Voices of Colour' was created in order to show how we have been marginalised and not accepted but to also uplift young people of colour and highlight the positives of one's culture.

My first experience with racism occurred when I first moved to Thanet from Croydon when I was 5. Being new to the area and being in Year 1, I hoped to make some friends and get along with everyone.

However, this wasn't the case as I got turned down to play with a group of girls because, in their words, I wasn't "peach".

After hearing this I was mostly confused.

This had never happened to me before since growing up in London for the first 5 years of my life, I was surrounded by people from all different backgrounds.

I hadn't even realised that I was different to anyone else until

this point. Of course, with the confusion came the upset.

I didn't see a problem playing with these girls but for some reason they did.

Looking back, I understand this to be a lack of education and potentially influence (from what parents or other adults around them have said about people of colour).

Because the colour of a persons skin shouldn't be the first thing a 5 year old thinks of... right?

With this magazine, I'm hoping to allow others to understand the importance of inclusivity and why it's necessary to grow as a community.

Alexis

"I INTEND TO KEEP STICKING TO MY ROOTS"

OSMAN YOUSUF

As a gay, brown (Kashmir) person being born into a Muslim household, I struggled a lot. Most of my friends were white/British and I felt like I was quite left out and couldn’t relate to them at all. Any problems I had, anything that made me upset, I couldn’t talk to them because I feared they wouldn’t understand.

I desperately wanted and needed my own people (people of colour) so I could feel like I belong and be happy. Not only that, I felt betrayed by the brown and Muslim community for simply being gay. I felt marginalised by society, constantly hated & facing oppression. I lost faith and left my religion for the benefit of myself and Islam, to protect and stabilise the religion.

"I FELT MARGINALISED

BY SOCIETY"

"WEARING A SUDITHAR EMPOWERS ME" "IT GIVES ME A UNIQUE IDENTITY"

"I WOULD NEVER CHANGE MYSELF"

ROSSHANI RAJKAMAL

I personally think being POC has many positive experiences as we get to embrace our culture through different forms.

For example, in Hinduism we attend many family events and go to the temple. And, of course, you go through racism as it's unfortunately inevitable but you have to overlook it and carry on with your life. I would never change myself as of right now as I am extremely comfortable to express and spread awareness of my culture. I am also very comfortable with my skin colour.

IN MY CULTURE

One positive thing about my culture is when we have family gatherings.

We all wear our best attire, eat together and catch up.

The elders speak our own unique dialect (Gojri). The majority of us are sitting on the floor, sometimes eating with our hands, indulging in traditional Desi foods and desserts.

The most common practice is doing Mendhi (Henna) on others. The unique technique and intricate deatils which last weeks look beautiful on us Desi people.

It makes us feel good and in touch with our culture and reminds us of the beauty of it.

One positive aspect of our community is that we are a long standing community, as Tamil is the longest spoken language on earth. This makes the culture full of ancient history and also withstands many historical architecture. Also, our culture has multicultural beliefs - every family has their own beliefs which vary across South Asia. Furthermore, food plays into a large aspect of South Asia. Every country - whether it’s India or Sri Lanka - has different dishes that represent each area.

FOUNDED AND EDITED BY ALEXIS GARNER