Who exactly do I say I am?

I remember watching the film crash, when it stirred up thoughts about my heritage and what it really means’s to be mixed race. The particular scene in Crash (2005) that stuck out to me was where a black man in the film was a movie director of a black comedy show. The producer of the show came to the man who was the director and said that a actor in the show 'wasn't talking black enough and his accent was to posh'

I then began to ask myself 'was I black enough?' All I had ever thought before being apart of the mix-d:uk was that my mum's white and my dad was black so that made me mixed race. Was my identity that I was mixed race? Was that all people would think when they saw me and give me a status of being a colour rather then an individual?

When I was asked to be apart of mix-d:uk I didn't fully understand how this was relevant, I wasn't confused, worried or messed up young person.
I quickly began to understand that this project isn't trying to say that mixed race people are different and that we need special treatment but just giving up the opportunity to have a voice. To say things that perhaps we couldn't talk to family or friends about.

After having training and being apart of the mix-d:uk team I now believe that this is a relevant, essential, beneficial to all individuals that are dual heritage. In today's society young people are scared to really talk about how they feel or what's really going on in their head. The workshops that are held at the mix-d:uk conferences are relaxed, chilled and easy environment for young people to share some of their real life experiences.

I have had a great opportunity to be able to facilitate at 3 conferences. I never get tired or bored of seeing young people's face light up when they have the opportunity to stand up and be proud that they are mixed race.

I believe that the mix-d:uk is the start to many great things to come for mixed race people in the UK. It's a great privilege to be apart of this work. I hope that other young people will be able to unlock their potential in knowing that they are much more then a colour and that they don't have to fit inside a box but be the person that they are called to be in life.

Dani x