Where are you from? No, where are you really from?
Interlude episode 3 (part 1) explores the all too common question faced by the millennial diaspora, discussing the coded language and delivery of the query whilst picking apart the ingrained effects of being under constant examination.
“I feel like I belong in London, having been born here and living here my whole life I feel like this is my home and then [being asked where are you from] it’s like you’ve just been taken out of the context because you look like all of you isn’t from here” – Hannah
Associating yourself with multiple locations is a common practice in contemporary Britain and yet the experience for non-white members of the diaspora often involves being subject to a range of inconsistent and unpredictable external opinions. A select group of us are plastered across diversity campaigns and heralded as part of the British melting pot whilst our culture and existence is simultaneously deemed by the country’s leaders as a threat to the elusive concept of ‘British values’.
“If you look at Britain in terms of its politics and the way women, especially women of colour…are so marginalised and not thought about in how our political proceedings run…then I’d say how can the wider structure see me as British if they don’t care to protect my rights and development within that kind of framework” – Liv
The call to constantly define our identities through procedures that fail to acknowledge multifaceted experiences can be an exhausting and isolating process. Interlude episode 3 draws familiar, underlying connections between members of different diasporas whilst the women share their varying experiences of what it means to live in limbo.
“If you say London they say ‘oh I mean your background’ or if you say ‘actually I’m half Guyanese half Jamaican’ they say ‘but you’re born in London so you’re British’. What do you want me to say? I am all of them.” – Chelsea and Georgia
Look out for episode 3 (part 2) coming soon.
This is interlude, a moment to consider subjects you may have disregarded or never even noticed. It’s us digging up buried conversations, working our way through dialogue from the often silenced perspective of people of colour. We’re examining the norm, reversing patterns and asking questions – uncomfortable ones.
The traditions that keep us connected to our heritage
Five on it: Hold the Girl sees Rina Sawayama find peace with her past – and herself
Where to find black and queer POC nightlife in Spain
These short Netflix docs prove that Britain is not boring
