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I am a first and second generation black British woman who is also a wife, mother of three and person of faith. Somewhere along this life-journey that we all take, I stumbled upon the reality of my race and the colour of my skin. Now this may sound like quite a strange, far-fetched notion, which has you questioning how this is even possible, but if I am brutally honest, identifying as a black person happened subtly over time and not in one particular moment.
My earliest memory was when I was around nine years old. We had not long moved into a predominantly white neighbourhood and we were one of the only two black families that resided on our close. Normally I would play right outside my front door, but on this one day I decided to venture a bit further around the corner. I stayed strictly on the pavement as I knew not to go onto other people’s property, but clearly my mere presence affected someone as I was told to move away by the individual living in one of the houses. When I returned home and shared what had happened, I was informed that it had something to do with the colour of my skin. Before that point I just saw myself as an extremely shy child. Colour had never consciously been on my radar, but it began to slowly change my perspective from this point on. I do not share this to apportion blame or to highlight any potential racism which may or may not have been there, but just to state that I recognise that this specific turn of events, no matter the circumstances surrounding it, played a significant part in how I began to see myself.
Since then, celebrating and championing my cultural heritage has been at the forefront of my mind and led me to write and publish my first book of a series called, The Young Black Prince. Buy now: https://amzn.to/3sfINJK.
This book was created as a reaction to my then two year old son asking me why no one in the stories I read looked like him. I was stopped in my tracks because I had always thought that children that young were not even aware of colour, but I was proved wrong. My son is my only boy child and to me he is, and always will be, a prince. If you have children yourself, and you see them as mini royalty, then I am sure that you can relate. Looking back at that moment now has helped me to realise how important it is to embrace our heritage from the very beginning of our lives.
You may ask why I am sharing this, and why now? The simple answer is passion. Passion to see many more black businesses triumph, particularly in the area of funding. Passion to see young people from zero upwards embrace their whole identity and learn to love themselves inside and out. Passion to see Black History Month and other such campaigns get a much brighter spotlight in the UK because they deserve it. I set up my business, Mel Mase Books, and this blog around this passion because I believe that it is imperative to see the African and Black diaspora represented as much as possible in literature and beyond. I also wanted to show my support for my fellow female BME community that are business-minded and smashing it. This is why I write for young children of colour because it is so important to feed their young minds with images that will help shape a celebratory perspective of themselves.
I am black, bold and blessed and as a person of colour I embrace all that that encompasses. All of this has helped me to recognise that I come from a rich, extensive and vibrant heritage and this is how being black changed my life.
How has being black changed your life? I would love to hear your experiences, be they similar or completely different to mine.
If you liked, loved or just want to find out more after reading my blog then please leave a comment. Alternatively, if you are feeling particularly inspired and are saying, "I would love to connect!" please sign up for my fortnightly newsletter, Black British Business with Mel. It will include business tips and tricks, exclusive interviews from up and coming black business entrepreneurs, updates on my new book releases and more.
amazing