24 – Ghanaian
I was born and raised in North London. I went through primary school, I did my GCSEs and did my A Levels. I went on to do nursing, at Kings College. When I went to King’s, my eyes opened, because I met other black people who were passionate, who were ambitious, and being surrounded by black people like that wasn’t an experience I really had beforehand. I was part of the African Caribbean Society, which was the best part of my experience at Kings. I graduated, worked in the NHS for a year, did agency for a while and now I’m at Harley Street as a Paediatric Nurse.
Growing up, my parents always made it known to me that I was different – I was growing up in a “white man’s land”, but to be honest, I didn’t take it in; I didn’t think racism was an issue for me, but more for my ancestors. The older I’ve become, the more my awareness has increased, especially going into a working environment. The thing is, it’s not an obvious thing; it’s not someone coming up to you saying, “I don’t like black people” or saying “nigger”. It’s a systematic thing. When you look at people in senior positions; none of them are black, but then when you look at the people working on a grassroots level, so many of them are of black and ethnic minorities. They are just as qualified and able, but why is it that they are not going up to the same level as their white counterparts?
THE WOKE NETWORK 