French | Parsi
Growing up I thought of myself as both French and Indian, not a 'mix', other than when I had to tick forms. But I learnt more about being Parsi specifically during my teenage years I'd say.
Despite the constant struggle to convince people you are/aren’t X enough, being mixed-race doesn’t necessarily define me. My parents travelled a lot for work, we didn't have loads of money and I grew up in a co-housing community in Britain. So I'm lucky to have been raised as fiercely independent and resourceful with an immigrant family's work ethic. Ultimately that has defined me the most. The older I get the more I use these values to reclaim mixed-race liminality as positive rather than abject. Maybe the liminality is why I like travelling so much.
Being a mixed-race journalist and a woman, I’m really aware of the global power hierarchies reflected through language. Phrases like ‘tone it down’ or ‘opinionated’ are used as a put down. I wonder if they say the same about the male employees or students? So I look to other women for my inspiration. I’m inspired by Marie Colvin for making political conflict personal for example, and Joy Crookes for wearing traditional clothing down a red carpet.
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