“Walking into a room full of people, and finding that no one looks like you, sounds scary right? But to me, this is normal, and I know that I’m just as British as anyone else there, so why would I feel different?”
These are the words of 24-year-old Lem, a born and bred Londoner of Jamaican and Ghanaian descent. I spoke to Lem casually one day about his experience as a black British man and how his experiences growing up British, with parents who aren’t, shaped him. The thoughts and feelings he spoke about triggered a great deal of understanding for me as a Londoner of dual heritage myself.
“The phrase second generation migrant makes no sense to me; I am not a migrant so how can this possibly be a good definition?” He said poignantly, whilst showing me his British and Ghanaian passport. “I know that my values are ultimately passed on from my Mum, the person who raised me, so they are inevitably going to be influenced by Jamaica, but there are so many things that my Mum and I see differently because of my upbringing here, I have experiences that she doesn’t understand and vice versa.” These particular words resonated with me, they reminded me of a few months ago when my Mauritian Dad got a new flashy phone for my Mum and when testing out how amazing the new camera was, he said “it’s so good that if you zoom in, you’d see a monkey sitting in the tree”. A monkey? Why would he choose a monkey out of all animals? And then I reminded myself, in Mauritius this is actually very common. It’s little moments like this that remind me, that my father and I, had totally different upbringings. And although my parents and Lem’s also had different upbringings to each other, Lem and I have a very important shared commonality- we both are brits, with parents who are not, which opens us up to a whole host of nuances that only we understand.
“I see a lot of joy in being part of this community, being part of a group of people that create their own reality of what it means to be British, and actually we are changing the landscape of Britain altogether”.
As a passionate videographer, Lem recently attended a film festival celebrating Black British film creatives, he reminisced on how refreshing it was to be part of a supportive collective that grew up with similar experiences. As a group their parents or grandparents as well as their own struggles is a central tool for creativity. “It’s brilliant because we are able to see and envision many perspectives and therefore create film which speaks to a wider audience with rich meaning”. He and other creatives are pioneering the way for Black British film, and marking their territory in the industry which is enabled by the sense of community support they are able to provide each other.
However, Lem admits there often can be an internal battle and a bitter feeling when reflecting upon the historical context of the country he is a part of. “A lot of us feel very proud to be British, but also proud of our other heritage, and sometimes historically as a child you learn in school about the great empire, but when you dig deep, you realise the atrocities one of your nationalities did to the other, it’s a somewhat helpless feeling”.
Conflict is a part of the identity for those of us who grew up with multiple cultural backgrounds and nationalities, however, as Lem puts it, “I embrace the difficulties, pressure creates diamonds, and you can see that within our community”. The music scene is certainly a good example of this, such as the rapper Stormzy, who blends his heritage and nationalities, and often creates music which is Gospel inspired but nonetheless sung in his charming South London accent- an example which Lem particularly echoes, also hailing from a Baptist Christian background.
“When I meet other people that also have non-British parents, even if their parents aren’t from the same place as mine, we all know what it feels like to have fish and chips for lunch at school and then have something completely different waiting for us for dinner at home.- its the little things that make us who we are.”
Lem candidly talked about his love for Arsenal, as an avid supporter he proudly showed me his team top and spoke of how perfect it is, with the colours of the Jamaican flag, but with the Arsenal emblem on it. He was keen to show how it illustrated his nations and cultures coming together in a top which he can wear like a flag.
“I think being a mixed heritage brit is not just enlightening but also inspiring, I am 100% British, 100% Ghanaian and 100% Jamaican…also, Arsenal will win the league next year, mark my words”