Yomi

Yomi, 31

Nigerian ethnicity: Yoruba

City/County grew up in: London

City/County of residence: London

*audio below

Describe your heritage

I would describe my heritage as Black British, in specific African, born and bred in London. Both of my parents are Nigerian, first generation over here.

What to you, makes you Black British Nigerian? How do you define it?

First and foremost I’m Black, born and raised in London (so for that reason I’d identify as British), Nigerian descent being that both of my parents are from Nigeria, that’s what I guess would classify me as being a Nigerian.

What challenges do you/have you faced that relate to your identity as a Black British Nigerian?

I’d say the challenges I’ve faced being a Black British Nigerian would be more when I was younger, just for the simple fact that I feel like growing up when I grew up, in the area in which I grew up, being Nigerian or African wasn’t really the cool thing. So in school you’d have a lot of banter with the Caribbean’s and they’d say remarks that I guess in this day and age wouldn’t really be tolerated - just like “African Booboo” and things like that. It didn’t really make you have a sense of pride in being African. Yeah I’d say that was it. More in my younger years.

What do you love about being Black British Nigerian?

What I love about being Black British Nigerian, is as I’ve gotten older, there’s a real sense of pride in our community, like when you attend things such as weddings (especially traditional weddings), you see that our parents and those that have come before us have made a real conscious and intentional effort to preserve our culture. And as much as they’ve been here for many years, they still have this sense of pride in being Nigerian. When people take Aso Ebi [traditional cloth] and things of that nature, you just really feel in touch with the culture – wearing the clothes, the food and things of that nature. It just makes you really understand elements of what it means to be a Black British Nigerian or just a Nigerian in general.

Do you think this country values your identity?

I wouldn’t say so. I think this country coins itself on being diverse, but I think by definition of what diverse means, I don’t think so just because England has one way of thinking, and every other way of thinking is almost considered absurd. So I think they pride themselves on being diverse but not really what it means to be diverse, because to be diverse is to be open to different ways of thinking, different ways of life, understanding different people and I think England doesn’t do a good job at that.

What does the future look like for Black British Nigerians - what are your hopes for us?

What I see is a lot of Black British Nigerians going back to Nigeria and establishing different types of businesses and just a real sense of pride being from Africa and being from Nigeria. I feel like the future is bright, and I feel like [for] a lot of us (as opposed to when we were younger - me in particular), there’s a real sense of pride and dignity that we carry being African, being Black British, being Nigerian, and I feel like as opposed to maybe the ones coming before us, we’re considering a lot of different options as opposed to just coming and being a doctor and an engineer(the jobs that are considered the most respectful), and things of that nature. We’re just following our passions more and just doing things that we really feel for.