Candice #mixedmonday
Hey, I'm Candice (she/her), I'm 28 and currently based in the South West of England. I'm a dancer, a co-owner of an adult dance group and a psychological wellbeing practitioner.
Family is everything to me and I am 1 of 7 children, 5 girls and 2 boys. Beyond that my extended family are HUGE and are spread out around the world in locations like Jamacia, Barbados, England, Birmingham, Bristol, London, America and the list goes on. I could write a book about my upbring and the important things that shaped me as a person but I will try to keep it short and sweet. I grew up in Bath with 4 of my siblings and was raised by my incredible mother after losing my father in 2008 who suffered with sickle cell disease.
How would you describe your ethnicity?
From a young age I was unsure about my identity but had always described myself as mixed race; I'm Jamaican, Bajan and English. My mum is mixed race and born in England (her dad from Barbados and her mum from England). My Nan came over from Jamacia while pregnant with my dad and he was born here in the England. I never knew either of my grandfathers and I lost both grandmothers when I was young, so the history of my family is something I'm still learning about now.
Has your mixed-ness influenced your career in any way?
Yes it has, but I still feel there is so much more that I want to do to give back to the Black community, especially the younger generation. It wasn’t until I got a bit older that I really noticed the disconnect from my heritage. I look back and I realise that I felt quite lost growing up, especially after losing my dad. There were things about my culture, my characteristics and my personal features that I didn’t understand.
The lack of diversity affected my confidence growing up and I don’t think I accepted myself. I have a tea towel from primary school with drawings of my year groups faces on which we had drawn ourselves. If it wasn’t for my name you wouldn’t be able to guess which one was me as I had given myself straight hair and other features that did not match mine.
I also remember hating world book day because I couldn’t find anyone to relate to and never felt like I had anyone to dress up, as whereas now I feel like we have more representation than we ever used to.
Fast forward at least 6 years, I started to embrace myself, my differences and my culture more but this is something that took time and I had to dig deep. Representation is important and Its lacking in certain fields, as a dancer and someone who works in the field of mental health I feel it's important to empower and inspire others because sometimes all it takes is one person to help you see your pow
If you could describe your mixed identity in one word, what would it be?
CONNECTION - This is part of me, it connects me to so much and it special for so many reasons: Family, culture, identity, history, growth, journey, discovery, travel, empowerment, inspiration, learning, teaching, role model.
er and purpose. My mixed-ness is part of my journey and will continue to lead me.
