Claire #mixedmonday
This weeks #mixedmonday is the lovely Claire @coco_the_yochonuk.
Hi I am Claire! I am currently living in Bristol and have done for around 15 years, but I feel a bit like I am from everywhere. 23&me certainly backs that up too!
I was born in Milton Keynes, spent most of Childhood in Somerset and went to secondary school near Sherborne, Dorset. My heart is in the North having paternal grandparents from Lancashire and doing my undergraduate degree in Dundee, Scotland. I haven't spent enough time in West Africa, but I do feel very connected to that side of myself through my mother, my cooking and love of music, but I regret not being able to speak any Nigerian languages such as Ijaw or Yoruba.
My career for the last 20yrs has been in Social Care, starting out helping run family care agency, then Youth Work, Learning Disability Support, before becoming a social worker in safeguarding teams and now I am working in a mental health charity.
My identity has been bound up with trying to help people and find ways to give back and prove my worth. I think being mixed race plays into this, as that feeling of not being enough of one thing or another and feeling have to prove myself is something very familiar to me.
My next birthday is the big 4-0 and I am resolved to try and come to it feeling more self-belief and with a greater sense of identity and confidence in who I am.
How would you describe your ethnicity?
Anglo-Nigerian, Mixed Race, Nigerian and European mixed background.
My mother is Nigerian, although she identifies with specific tribes from the South and doesn't like the concept of a homogenised Nigeria that only exists as one country due to colonialism. She keeps the concept of it being an amalgamation of strong kingdoms with unique identities a live concept for us. My father is White British, although through my Paternal side there is Eastern European with Jewish ancestry that I didn't know anything about until I was an adult and am trying to make more sense of now, as I am a Christian and don't know much about Jewish culture.
Has your mixed-ness influenced your career in any way?
Being mixed race has always been a driver for me working hard in order to be praised and respected for my professional identity. The idea of being half of something and a bit of this amd that, has made me struggle at times to feel whole. However I am on a journey to try and fix that and rewrite that narrative for myself.
If you could describe your mixed identity in one word, what would it be?
Motivating
What is the best thing about being mixed heritage?
It is enriching to have lots of diversity within me! I think being mixed race makes me more interesting and also more curious about other people and their backgrounds in other contexts. I am also keen growing and learning about others so that I can understand myself more too, and I don't think I would be like this if I wasn't mixed race.
