Diaspora Diaries: Our University Experiences (Issue Four)

“You must get an education. You must go to school, and you must learn to protect yourself. And you must learn to protect yourself with the pen, and not the gun.“

Josephine Baker, DANCEr & Activist

EDITOR’S LETTER Dear Reader,

Hey, I’m Quenelle! I’m currently a third year English Literature and Philosophy student, and the editorin-chief for this amazing magazine.

I’m also the Ethnic Diversity Officer for UEA’S African-Caribbean Society, so I love the fact that we now have Diaspora Diaries at UEA. Writing is my biggest love and passion which is why I own a blogging business that supports upcoming bloggers and offers services to other businesses and companies. Other than that, I’m just your average, very tired, uni student who is so very proud of her culture.

The vision of Diaspora Diaries is one that I talk about with so much pride. Being a UEA student, my peers and I have sometimes struggled when it came to our representation with student media. I would look around at all the work students were creating and whilst it was amazing, I just couldn’t fully connect because I wasn’t being represented.

Having Diaspora Diaries is exciting and gives me a community to belong to.

In this issue, I am celebrating the opportunity to have Diaspora Diaries. I am celebrating the representation I now have. I am celebrating the success we have had so far and hopefully the success we will receive in the future.

Thank you for supporting Diaspora Diaries! The whole team hopes you enjoy this issue!

- Quenelle Forbes, Editor-in-Chief

/DIASPORADIARIESUEA @UEA_DIASPORAD @UEA_DIASPORAD DIASPORADIARIESUEA@ GMAIL.COM uea.su/ opportunities/ society/16429/

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CONTENTS

01.

02.

FEATURE ARTICLES

03.

03. My uni experience so far Koshesai Fundira, p. 12

01. Time measured through 04. Back to school music clapbacks Elodie Mayo, p. 6 Cara Ow, p. 15 02. ‘I miss my mum’s food’ Kamala Hajialibayova, p. 8 DiASPORA DiARiES

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04.

05.

06.

07.

CREATIVE WRITING ART 05. Sorry to tell you Whiteness, but...

Thai Braddick, p. 19

07. Who are you?

Rahul Mehta, p. 22

Acknowledgements & meet 06. ‘Fifteen minutes stood in the committee line’ p. 26 Anonymous, p. 21 DiASPORA DiARiES

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FEATURE ARTICLES

Time measured through music.

And with each new season came different sounds; synchronising with different feelings. First year was no less exciting.

by Elodie Mayo

To reminisce, I decided to give it a ‘Desert Island Discs’ treatment

Sometimes when I walk in the street, a music video is created in my head, choreography, storyline and everything.

I treat every year as a season in a continuous comedy-drama that is life.

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• Justin Timberlake ‘Can’t Stop the Feeling’ - This reminds me of my first night in. From what I can remember, this was the first song played in halls. A

flatmate done this dodgy dance and it became a running joke the whole year. It was quite sad when we did it for the last time!

• Rihanna ‘BBHMM’ - This was *that* anthem when my student finance took it’s time to arrive. Guys, I cannot stress enough that it’s better applying for your student finance before summer begins!

• Solange ‘Cranes in the Sky’ - This reminds me of a rough point in first semester, as I was emotionally tired of figuring out if I was going to fit anywhere and make stable friendships.

I TREAT EVERY YEAR AS A SEASON IN A CONTINUOUS COMEDY DRAMA THAT IS LIFE.

• KING ‘The Greatest’ - This massage if a tune was on repeat whilst writing my final summatives as a fresher. The tropical, airy sound matched the sun outside, me exploring the Polaroid (and rarely succeeding), and orange flavoured Red Bull to keep me up.

Music is often used as nostalgia and can also be part of what we’re looking • The Killers ‘Mr Brightside’ - Freshers, forward to. Now currently in my final prepare your ears, nuff said. year, I’d have to say Radiant Children’s ‘Poke Bowl’ and 702’s ‘Where My Girls • Bruno Mars ‘24K Magic’ - The way At’ are some of the key ones. Hopefully my friend and I shouted lyrics to this tune I listen to more jazz, but enough about (and every other new jack swing songs, me. Enjoy this academic year readers, to be frank)! We then spontaneously got make fantastic memories and take care tickets for his concert last minute, it was of yourselves in the process. so irresponsible, yet really memorable.

• Nina Simone ‘Love Me or Leave Me’ - I immediately think of when I started considering journeys on my bike as ‘me time’. Though only listening to it once as a fresher, I started valuing authenticity in relationships through accepting that not everyone will like me - and that’s okay.

• J Hus ‘Friendly’ - This was the one song everyone had to know at ACS parties, cause who doesn’t love an ugly man making sexy money?

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I miss my mum’s food.

will get a nice flavoured rice. Literally requires no talent, no extra time, no complicated procedures! (just please don’t add it to pasta, it tastes horrible!)

Tip #2 “Fresh herbs.”

I can’t speak for all the Asian countries, but in Azerbaijan, we use One of the most common phrases a lot of FRESH (it’s important, cause I used to hear from fellow Asian dried herbs are not the same) herbs students at University was: “I miss in everything we cook, so whenever my mum’s food”. And since, of I add a little bit of coriander, parsley course, I was complaining about it as or dill (these are my favourite) they well, I decided to put an effort into literally change the whole taste of the diversifying the range of food I cooked dish - whatever you cooking becomes at University (in other words cooking very aromatic and yummy! So, if you something apart from pasta with know you are going to cook dinner Bolognese sauce from a jar). today, buy some herbs beforehand, The biggest issue was that the time wash them well, use in your food and was limited so was my patience and store the rest in a piece of tissue (a little I needed something quick, easy but secret of how to keep them fresh, you yummy to remind me food from back are welcome!) home.

by Kamala Hajialibayova

Now, I appreciate the fact that dishes vary from country to country, so I will try to stick to the most common tips that I would love to give to Diaspora Diaries readers.

Tip #1 “Turmeric is your best friend.”

The most popular Asian spice is your solution way to every plain food.

Frying some plain chicken? – add a tea spoon or two of turmeric. Making some rice? – after you boil it, add a spoon or two with some melted butter (or without), stir well and you

Tip #3 “Fresh salad.”

Whenever my mum cooks dinner at home we always have a fresh salad on the side (so do many families back home). If your family does so as well and you are used to it, trust me, making a little portion of salad will change your dinner experience

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so much! From the moment I started making a small bowl of salad for myself I was so excited for dinner/ lunch because it would be “just like back home”. You don’t have to go crazy if you don’t have time, so the quickest recipe is: sliced fresh cucumber (1/2), sliced tomatoes (use cherry tomatoes so you don’t have to spend a lot of time as you can just cut them in halves), chopped red onion (1/2) and some fresh coriander (yes, I love coriander, okay?).

I hope this piece is useful and will make your University experience tastier! On another note, enjoy your time at UEA and take the most out of these three years!

ONE OF THE MOST COMMON PHRASES I USED TO HEAR ... AT UNIVERSITY WAS “I MISS MY MUM’S FOOD”.

My university experience so far

by Koshesai Fundira So like some of you reading this, once upon a time, in a land far away, I was indeed a Fresher, but I’d say I wasn’t your ‘typical fresher’, if that were to ever be a thing.

In my ignorance of researching everything uni, and taking it as law, I went against my predetermined fresher stereotype. I wasn’t looking at freshers ready to paint the town red, or brown in vomit from countless nights of drinking beyond my limits the funny thing is that I don’t drink. I didn’t look at freshers and think about all the freebies I’d get from freshers fayre, and even more funnily enough, I didn’t go. I didn’t look forward to starting uni as it was an escape from the bondage of living at home and a release into a new world of freedom, because at home although under my parents’ roof, I was given a lot more freedom than I realised.

In not being a ‘typical fresher’, if there was to ever be a thing, I found comfort in just being me, and being unapologetically me. My uni experiences? The key word here is ‘my’. They were, and they are mine, not anyone else’s and there is a real

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beauty in that. Yes, we meet people, attend events together, laugh at the same jokes, two step to the same bangers and sing our hearts out to the classics, but our experiences will undoubtedly be different. Having watched countless uni vlogs and reading endless blogs, you are made to believe that uni feels, smells, tastes, sounds and looks a particular way, and if it doesn’t then you are doing something wrong, obviously. We have become so repetitive in the ways in which we speak, think and act, that we feel as though individualism only happens in certain aspects of our lives.

You are made to believe that uni feels, smells, tastes, sounds and looks a particular way...

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Apparently uni isn’t one of those aspects, but really and truly it is one of the most individualistic elements of my life I have come across, and in that, one of the most exciting. In not going out to paint the town red, but in not being judgemental to those who do, I’ve been appointed the duty of being a mother on basically all nights out. No, I don’t have kids, but I have adopted so many, some who will remember mother Koshesai, and others who just won’t, but that’s okay, that’s part of my experience. In being a mother, I learnt to support my kids on nights out, being the greatest hype man to ever live, and I mastered a pretty solid two step to anything and everything music.

So my uni experience so far? It’s my own, and that’s not only been the highlight of the last year, but will be the highlight for the remaining two, or three, or more. Uncertainty is incredible.

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my uni experience so far? It’s my own, and that’s not only been the highlight of the last year, but will be the highlight for the remaining two, or three, or more.

Uncertainty is incredible.

Back to school clapbacks

by Cara Ow My dad spent a large part of his life as a proud Boy Scout, and the lessons he learnt from navigating the wilderness always made up an active part of our upbringing. One of his favourite sayings is “Be Prepared”, the Boy Scouts motto.

I never thought I’d need his advice— after all, the rain-stained concrete of uni isn’t exactly comparable to the

deep greens of the tropics—but still, I find my body readying itself, getting prepared to face…another kind of wilderness here.

I haven’t found the words to it yet, but it’s the kind that smiles with pointy teeth. Not a tiger but not far from it either, it’s the kind that looks one way but acts like another, harmful but harmless, it’s a mosquito, a sandfly; a monitor lizard scampering across.

It’s the kind that springs up at my 9am, the kind that prowls around the café.

It’s the “you speak English so good” and the “you don’t have an accent”.

The “ni hao” and the “konnichiwa”,

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the “ling ling” and the silence, the suspicious eyes and basically everything inbetween strained civility and outright violence that tells me, finally, that I do not belong.

Being prepared is so important. You don’t just walk through the jungle without at least knowing what to do when the tiger strikes, or when the sandfly bites. I’m thinking I could have done a lot better in the past two years

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being somewhat prepared, but this year I know I’m ready!

So with a bit of humour and a lot of asking around, ya girl has got you covered in some of the most relatable PoC sandfly-esque struggles. It’s a small list of compiled clapbacks to intrusive questions and comments spoken by anyone who feels entitled enough to speak of your existence; use as necessary, and good luck.

“[THERE’s] ANOTHER KIND OF WILDERNESS HERE ... I HAVEN’T FOUND THE WORDS TO IT YET, BUT IT’S THE KIND THAT SMILES WITH POINTED TEETH ... IT’S THE KIND THAT LOOKS ONE WAY BUT ACTS LIKE ANOTHER.” DiASPORA DiARiES

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“Can I touch your hair?”

Uhh, I’m not a pet.

“You don’t have an Asian accent!”

And your accent makes you sound like you’re native to the continent of Ignorant!

“Speak English!”

I was just discussing my 2h wart extraction, I’m so glad you want to hear it in English.

How does my discussing lecture notes in _____ offend you again?

“You speak English so good!”

Aww, I’m sure with a bit of hard work and motivation, you can catch up to my standards too.

“Ni haooooo/Namaste/ Konnichiwa.” (insert other lazy slurs like “chicken chow mein” and “pho”)

Thanks, it only took my people years of forced assimilation to get it right.

I’m surprised that after centuries of colonisation, the British still aren’t aware of how they imposed this language onto our ancestors.

(white boys like to shout types of food at me, I’m constantly underwhelmed by the variety)

“Do you eat curry every day?”

And do you eat unseasoned potatoes every day? My condolences.

Year 2018, and my study continues… the white man still disappoints in terms of originality.

“You’re so pretty…for a ______ girl.”

It’s a shame, because if you were _____ like me, maybe you could be pretty too;-) “Are you a Maths major?”

Are you asking that because I look East/South Asian?

“Your food stinks!”

Well at least I’m better off having flavour than making do with underseasoned shit.

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**take out your phone, record a voice note**

THANKS, IT ONLY TOOK MY PEOPLE YEARS OF FORCED ASSIMILATIONS TO GET IT RIGHT.

CREATIVE WRITING Sorry to tell you, Whiteness...

by Thai Braddick Sorry to tell you Whiteness, but the university has a racism problem. I shouldn’t have to teach my white teacher about racism in a class about racism.

I shouldn’t have to explain why Western (read: white) society systematically oppresses people for being black or brown. I shouldn’t have to explain racism to my white counsellor before the counsellor can counsel me. I shouldn’t have to make a joke about my name and my race (“I’m Thai. Name and ethnicity”) to make my introduction more comfortable to my white class.

Sorry to tell you Whiteness, but higher education has a racism problem. When a black student hears the chants of white men outside her door, “Blacks get out”, there’s a problem. When a white student is surprised an Asian student speaks English perfectly, there’s a problem - “You speak English so well!”

“Thanks, the British colonisers really taught us brown people well!”. When there’s a twenty-five percent average BAME attainment gap in the UK, there’s a problem. Why are BAME people with the same A-Level grades not earning equivalent to their white counterparts, if not racism? If not a white curriculum? If not some students never seeing a

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a lecturer who looks like them for the entirety of their time at university?

Sorry to tell you Whiteness, but I’m angry. My mother was just trying to survive; make a living; work a job; feed her children. Now I’m here and I’m loud and I have a voice. And yes, you should be listening. I’m going to be a thorn in your side until the day you die, and I have an extensive portfolio of experience. Here’s my racism resumé: I survived a racially-targeted sexual assault. The day after the Brexit referendum, a man in a white van chased me along my street and threatened me with his barking dog. I was 17. He told me to go back home, so I did – it was two streets away. I didn’t feel safe to go to work the next day and called in sick.

Sorry to tell you Whiteness, but we’re changing the world. We’re influencing university policy. We’re writing poems. We’re making art. We’re being excellent and unavoidable.

Sorry to tell you, Whiteness, but I’m not sorry at all.

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Fifteen minutes stood in line,

by Anonymous Fifteen minutes stood in line, Let’s hope this latte is worth the time.

Even Livewire’s tunes seem sublime, As you battle the hangover from last night.

Shuffling feet and hooded eyes As you listen to the barista’s cries.

The syllables, you start to recognise, But they don’t add up to the name with which you identify.

The order is the same as the one you gave, But doubt drags you into a caffeine-less grave.

Looking up from your phone, you walk forwards and say: “I think that might be mine”, red hot with shame.

What was the point of the spelling and pronunciation If the barista can’t even pass on your preferred designation?

Do you use a simple nickname next time, in resignation?

Or do you try again next time, with limitless patience?

In memory of every name that has been butchered.

We’ll get there one day, I’m sure.

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ART GALLERY Who are you?

by Rahul Mehta

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MEET THE COMMITTEE

Quenelle Forbes

Elodie Mayo

Hi! I’m Quenelle Forbes! I’m currently a third year English Lit and Philosophy student. I have a strong passion for writing, if you can’t tell already,and want to make a change within the way students of colour are treated which is why I am part of DD!

Bonjour! My name is Elodie and I’m the Vice President. I’m in my final year, studying Culture, Literature and Politics. I’m a professional chatterbox who loves long walks in the fields.

PRESIDENT / EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Thai Braddick UNION COUNCIL REP Thai is from Cambridgeshire. He’s studying American Literature with Creative Writing and is currently a Non-Portfolio Officer at the SU working on tackling the BAME attainment gap.

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VICE PRESIDENT

Farah Mostafa

Alice Lyczia

Farah is a third year in English Literature with Creative Writing. She’s obsessed with Audre Lorde, Nina Simone, and nearly every tv show that comes her way, and she’d really appreciate if you asked before you touched her hair.

Alice is from London. She loves reading.

TREASURER

SECRETARY

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Committee and Editing Team: Quenelle Forbes - Editor-in-Chief Elodie Mayo Farah Moustafa Alice Lyzcia Thai Braddick Formatting and Design Team: Thai Braddick Cara Ow Contributors: Elodie Mayo Kamala Hajialibayova Koshesai Fundira Cara Ow Anonymous Rahul Mehta

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