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I interviewed my mother about her experience moving to the UK for the first time in order to understand from a first generation immigrants perspective of how culture can contrast and differ. Interviewing her helped me to comprehend the possible struggles of one’s ego and identity adapting and changing to fit their environment. It was interesting to see how her Nigerian culture and upbringing was something that I had to learn externally or through her whereas the things that I was brought up with and was fundamentally grounded within me or something that she had to learn for herself or accommodate to.

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Whilst experimenting with negative space and typography as means to visualize cultural identity in my Design Engagement module in term 1, I created a symbol reminiscent of Yoruba sculpture art. Yoruba sculptures are known for conveying ideas and narratives through the figures and symmetry of the pieces.

The form of the glyph vaguely resembles a person, with there being a head, torso and legs. I correlated the head/top third to the idea of self or the "ego". The body to outer image and how one expresses themselves externally and finally the legs/feet representing "roots" and heritage from which you came.

Following this semiotic figure I created in "Culture Contrast" and added narrative to in term 1, paired with the ideology of “The Archaeology of the Self”

I combined the theoretical frameworks of both to act as a structure for the visual outcome of my project. I crowned this concept "Rootz" which is not only a reference to the feet of the glyph I created but also to do the 1977 American miniseries "Roots" by Alex Haley.

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Interview with Don Akal - "Viral Wrappa Picture"

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Interview with Don Akal - "Viral Wrappa Picture"

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In the summer of 2021, Don Akal (@saintdonquixote), tweeted a series of pictures of him

outside a shop with a scooter with a “wrappa” which created a large discussion amongst

the diaspora. I interviewed him about this viral moment, as it recently resurfaced as a

result of him referencing it on his new account, to get his thoughts and an insight into his

cultural hybridity.

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Blinded By Your Potential - Abi Adebiyi (2023)

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Blinded By Your Potential - Abi Adebiyi (2023)

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Last year I made a series of introspective drawings using coal on paper. The concept of the drawing was based on the feeling of being overwhelmed by your own potential as you get older. Family, academic and general life pressures coexist with your ability to adapt and grow in order to accommodate and alleviate said pressures as you get older.

I scanned these drawings in used the threshold effect to better contrast and sharpen the line work, I then aligned them on top of each other and placed a gradient map over the top. Once then I turned these into frames and animated as a loop to show the effect of growing older.

This animation served as a foundation for my artistic response to my dissertation topic.

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We are: Black British Nigerian" is a multimedia project that critically examines the multifaceted nature of Black British Nigerian identity, particularly among those who have grown up either exclusively in the United Kingdom or partially between Nigeria and Britain. Through in-depth interviews with Black British Nigerians, the project aims to unpack the nuances surrounding self-identification, the conflicts and delights inherent in navigating this dual identity, the perceived value ascribed to it, and the hopes and aspirations Black British Nigerians hold for the future.

Initiated by Tols Abeni, a Black British Nigerian herself, the project serves as a platform for engaging with fellow self-identifying Black British Nigerians in exploring the ever-shifting dynamics of their hybrid identity within a broader sociocultural context . By providing a space for dialogue and representation, "We are: Black British Nigerian" seeks to encourage further exploration and affirmation of this multifaceted identity among those who resonate with its complexities. The project's multimedia approach, encompassing interviews, visual art, and other creative expressions, reflects the diverse and multidimensional nature of the Black British Nigerian experience, transcending singular narratives and embracing the richness of this diasporic identity.

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A multimedia project exploring the complexity behind the identities of Black British Nigerians.

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To further immortalize my trip to Nigeria in 2023, I made a playlist of all the songs I heard that I liked whilst there. The music played in Nigeria is almost strictly afrobeats or afrobeats adjacent which despite being straightfoward, I found it to be very interesting when comparing the UK charts/radio.

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The four main theories for judging art - Imitationalism, Formalism, Instrumentalism, and Emotionalism - offer diverse lenses to analyze art exploring Yoruba hybrid culture in Black British Gen-Z.

Imitationalism could evaluate how accurately the artwork represents or mirrors elements of Yoruba culture, assessing its realism and attention to detail in depicting cultural symbols, practices, or aesthetics.

Formalism would focus on the artwork's composition, use of design principles, and manipulation of materials to convey the hybrid cultural identity, examining how formal qualities like color, line, and texture harmonize to create a cohesive visual expression.

Instrumentalism might consider the artwork's ability to spark dialogue, challenge perceptions, or educate viewers about the complexities of navigating multiple cultural influences as a second-generation Black British youth. Emotionalism would prioritize the emotional resonance and expressive power of the artwork, judging its success in evoking feelings that capture the lived experiences and sentiments tied to a hybrid Yoruba-British identity.

By employing these varied theoretical frameworks, one can comprehensively analyze how the artwork authentically represents, aesthetically conveys, intellectually provokes, and emotionally connects with the nuanced cultural experiences of its subject matter.

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I often argue against labeling art-especially our own art-"Good" or "Bad". I believe there's something to be learned and gained from every piece of art we make, even if it's just a release of mental blobbies.

But our judgment often creeps in anyways, so it's worth digging into how we respond to our art.

4 Theories for Judging Art

Your response to your art stems from what you believe art is and what its overall purpose is. There are 4 main theories for judging whether a piece of art successful: Imitationalism, Formalism, Instrumentalism, and Emotionalism.

Chances are, you already believe in one of these theories, even if you've never heard of them. Realizing which theory resonates most with you can help you make crucial decisions in your artmaking. Or perhaps you'll find that you thought you believed one theory, but you actually believe another!

I purposefully did not include example artworks below, because I don't want to influence which theory you are drawn to based on the pieces I chose. Try to really see which theory fits best with your true core beliefs!

Ok, let's take a look at the four theories.

Imitationalism

Art is good when it imitates reality.

An Imitationalist artist focuses on mimicking and representing real life. In a successful piece of art, the textures, light, shadows, human proportions, and perspective are all highly realistic, as if you could reach out and touch them.

Formalism

Art is good when it masters the artistic elements and principles.

A Formalist artist focuses on an artwork's form-the way its made and what it looks like. In a successful piece of art, the visual features are most important: line quality, color, composition, and other artistic elements and principles.

Instrumentalism

Art is good when it communicates a message.

An Instrumentalist artist focuses on context and message. A successful piece of art is an instrument to persuade the audience or provide commentary. It is often political, social, moral, or thought-provoking.

Emotionalism

Art is good when it evokes an emotional response.

An Emotionalist artist focuses on the expression of emotion. A successful piece of art communicates an emotion, but more importantly, it pulls out an emotional reaction from the viewer.

What Makes Good Art to You?

Personally, I'm a mix of Emotionalism + Formalism. I focus on the expression of my own emotions and moods and aim to evoke those same emotions in the viewer. However, my background is in Graphic Design, so I also have a strong love for the formal aspects of an artwork, like composition, line, and color.

I am farthest away from Imitationalism, though it may be the most commonly held theory. I certainly believe it's technically impressive when art can imitate reality, but I have no desire to do so myself, and my personal belief is that realism is not the most important aspect of an artwork.

To find which theory (or a mix of theories) fit you best, you'll need to think about where your artmaking desires and your personal belief in what makes a piece of art good align.

What Theory Are You?

It's important to remember there is no right or wrong theory. Art is subjective, and the judgment of whether an artwork good or bad is a matter of personal opinion.

But realizing which theory you naturally gravitate to can help you recognize what you do or don't like about your own work. When we can see more clearly why we believe our art is good or bad, we use that knowledge to nudge our art more in the good direction.

So which theory fits best with you?

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What Makes Good Art?: 4 Theories for Judging Your Art

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I often argue against labeling art-especially our own art-"Good" or "Bad". I believe there's something to be learned and gained from every piece of art we make, even if it's just a release of mental blobbies. But our judgment often creeps in anyways, so it's worth digging into how we respond to our art.

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Do you ever hear a song your parents love and it resonates a feeling that transcends time?

Listening to it as if you were predestined to share the same feelings as well.

Memories that don’t belong to you flood your prefrontal lobe and then your retinas, colours you have not seen and places you’ve not been before.

Your brain overclocking at the emulation of a time before you.

- Abi Adebiyi

Konko Below by Lagbaja, released in my birth year of 2000, is a song that instantly reminds me of my parents. Anytime this song plays at a party, wedding or any event, a spark of youth is catalysed within them as they rush over to the dance floor.

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Based on the coal drawings of last term, I decided to experiment again with this medium hoping that it would act as a catalyst for how I wanted my visual exploration to form. Depicted here is myself as a child, the point of reference is from when I was one years old and visited Nigeria. What I was expressing through this drawing was that this was probably my first instance of being surrounded by complete Yoruba, yet despite it I am not able to recall or use this as a reference culturally in my latter years except through pictures. I felt like this experimentation was weak in its visual side and did not carry the narrative I wanted to convey efficiently enough.

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Jim Legxcy - Artist Profile & HNPM Album

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Jim Legxcy - Artist Profile & HNPM Album

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James Olaloye also known as Jim Legxcy is a South London based artist who's music taps into the vast tapestry of his cultural upbringing. His different influences cut deep through the mixes of his songs.

"HNPM, delivers a similarly vivid snapshot of modern-day Lewisham. Laid down by a kid born in the local hospital and raised in a household of Nigerian descent, the tape plays like an anthology of stories from southeast London’s streets, with a cover featuring spliced images of the community for extra home pride" [1]

In particular, songs like "eye tell(!)" that mixes together an indie guitar sample, afrobeat percussion and typical dance bass and drum pattern that all surprisingly fuse together seamlessly.

More obviously in the intro of his song "mileys riddim" he samples the voice tag line of a Nigerian website called "iROKING".

iROKING is a free digital music streaming service originating from Nigeria that provides users with access to a curated selection of musical content from various African record labels and artists. Users can navigate and discover music on the platform through direct searches, as well as by browsing categorizations such as artist, album, and user-generated playlists. This small but significant sample in his song was a powerful call to many of the Nigerian diaspora who grew up listening to Nigerian songs via iROKING and would be subjected to the voice line at the beginning of any stream.

When interviewed by Equate Magazine, Jim was asked

"In your last EP, you’ve touched upon your heritage, especially your dad being an immigrant from Nigeria. Has your heritage shaped you in any way as an artist, and how?"

To which he answered:

"My heritage has shown me a lot of good traits and values growing up such as sharing & overall kindness in general, but I think in a country like this it’s also led to a lot of mistreatment purely due to the deeply integrated ‘anti-blackness’ in the UK. The pain that comes from that will always be present in the sounds but also a lot of the positive traits like loyalty is something that’ll help me a lot on this journey I’ve embarked on."[2]

[1] Nguyen, D.V. (2023) Cover story: Jim Legxacy is going places, Crack Magazine. Available at: https://crackmagazine.net/article/profiles/jim-legxacy-cover-story/ (Accessed: 13 April 2024).

[2] Küenzel, A. (2020) Jim Legxacy, Equate Magazine. Available at: https://equatemagazine.com/jim-legxacy/ (Accessed: 13 April 2024).

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Family Ties - 4 generations By Sara Acheampong

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Family Ties - 4 generations By Sara Acheampong

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Sara on Instagram: "Family Ties - 4 generations

Family is one of the core foundations that dictate how our lives lead.

Trees are normally associated to family (tree of life, nature/ nurture, growth & seeds) However - I think family is more like a web. A Spiders web. No two webs are the same (no 2 families are the same). Each is carefully constructed and intentional (learnings, teaching & culture). The strong bond that cannot be seen by human eye, how they can stick anywhere, how the web can be broken but also be built again from scratch (turmoil and disagreements). The creative and decorative nature of spiders which showcases their beauty. 

We’re all connected.

Creative direction: @saramannn
Photography & Creative: @jannelladufo 
Producer: @eugeneldn 
Art director: @kellywustudio
Prop/flower design: @sali.conteh // @leafykinfolk 
Stylist: @femiariyibi 
MUA: @anushasolanki 
Set assist: @thenatashaaosei 
BTS videographer: @rightupanotch"

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1,409 likes, 164 comments - saramannn on May 31, 2024: "Family Ties - 4 generations

Family is one of the core foundations that dictate how our lives lead.

Trees are normally associated to...". 

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View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Sara (@saramannn)

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Documenting Yoruba Hybrid Culture in Second Generation Black British Gen-Z & the use of Sista Circle Methodology

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Documenting Yoruba Hybrid Culture in Second Generation Black British Gen-Z & the use of Sista Circle Methodology

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How do you illustrate a lived experience?

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How do you illustrate a lived experience?

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Bassem Youssef explains why he wore a qashabiya in viral interview

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Bassem Youssef explains why he wore a qashabiya in viral interview

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Don's interview and viral moment reminded me of Bassem Youssef's instagram post, in which he outlined the cultural importance of fabric and clothing especially within the Eastern and Sub-Saharan worlds.

He writes "The colors, the designs the vibrant patterns. All these people had that in common thousands of years ago. Maybe its the natural connection with the land. Maybe that’s the language of the indigenous people everywhere: colors, warmth and fabrics made with love. Maybe this is how they connected with the land. with colors, with love with history and memories and roots."

This sentiment I feel elevates some of the ideas that Don described within his own interview. The sense of connection one feels donning clothing that represents your heritage in a environment that can be considered its polar opposite.

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Bassem Youssef on Instagram: "Is it Native American? Is it Mexican? No its Saudi, Palestinian, Jordanian, Algerian, Moroccan, it comes from the Arab Peninsula, no it’s African. The truth is, it’s none and it’s all. When I was getting ready for the second interview, I have already prepared my outfit. Jacket, white shirt, black pants. The usual “interview look”. The night before I saw that jacket in my closet. A friend of mine in Jordan was starting her business and gave it to me as a gift. Is it “Tatreez” is it “Sidau” is it “Qashgabia”? It is all and its none. What was fascinating is that people who lived so far apart from each other, whether in Palestine, Arabian desert, African plains, North and south American mountains have so much in common without them knowing. The colors, the designs the vibrant patterns. All these people had that in common thousands of years ago. Maybe its the natural connection with the land. Maybe that’s the language of the indigenous people everywhere: colors, warmth and fabrics made with love. Maybe this is how they connected with the land. with colors, with love with history and memories and roots. Like those roots of the olive trees that stayed there for 600 years. These are not just colors. and Olive trees are not just plants. They are family. And if someone uproots a family member that has been there for 600 years, well they obviously never belonged to that family. I put by monotone colored jacket away and I wore this. May you all feel the love, the belonging and the colors that surrounds us and connect us to the land, the earth, the roots. And I think the least I can do is let people know about my friend in Jordan. This is the account. I am sure she will be pleasantly surprised. @qashabeyyeh"

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959K likes, 9,218 comments - bassem on November 3, 2023: "Is it Native American? Is it Mexican? No its Saudi, Palestinian, Jordanian, Algerian, Moroccan, it comes from the Arab Peninsula, no it�...". 

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View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Bassem Youssef (@bassem)

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In order to document cultural hybridity in black british Gen-Z, I began to look for it in the closest place known to me; internally.

I started by opening my baby photo album, locating archived pictures of my parents that I took from Nigeria last summer and scouring the SD cards of old digital cameras. I scanned these images at high DPIs and centralized the other images and curated them under the premise of images that show my upbringing, family, Nigerian culture & British culture.

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Multicultural London English - "Micro Accents"

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Multicultural London English - "Micro Accents"

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Micro accents of London (my person observation because I'm too inna and like to record stuff I notice) a thread 🧵:

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Micro accents of London (my person observation because I'm too inna and like to record stuff I notice) a thread 🧵:

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Micro accents of London (my person observation because I'm too inna and like to record stuff I notice) a thread 🧵:
— Eakuppls (@eakuppls) March 31, 2024

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Micro accents of London (my person observation because I'm too inna and like to record stuff I notice) a thread 🧵:

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Micro accents of London (my person observation because I'm too inna and like to record stuff I notice) a thread 🧵:

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Micro accents of London (my person observation because I'm too inna and like to record stuff I notice) a thread 🧵:

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Rachel Chinouriri, a London-born singer with Zimbabwean roots, is reclaiming the St. George's Cross on the cover of her debut album "What A Devastating Turn of Events." Despite acknowledging that the English flag symbolizes oppression or racism for many from minority backgrounds, she is determined to reclaim it as a representation of her identity and upbringing.

Born in London to Zimbabwean parents, Rachel confesses to experiencing racism and discrimination in the UK, yet she still considers it her home, "despite feeling unwelcome at times."

The album cover, featuring England flag bunting outside a London estate similar to her childhood home, reflects her background and life, with Rachel explaining, "It definitely represents my background, my home, my life."

While acknowledging the criticism, Rachel remains steadfast in her creative choices, asserting, "If art makes you question a little bit, it's doing the right thing."

Photographed by Yana Van Nuffel & Lauren Harris

More Images: https://x.com/harrisonjbrock/status/1764632201662967882

https://www.instagram.com/p/C6f7dAJNnA7/?img_index=10

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Ahead of her debut album's release next month, Rachel Chinouriri is prepared for people to have questions about its artwork.

"Your first reaction, especially if you're black seeing that, might be like, 'What on Earth is she doing'?," she tells BBC Newsbeat.

The singer's talking about the England flag, which features prominently on the cover.

Rachel includes herself among those people from minority backgrounds who have a complicated relationship with the St George's Cross.

Some would argue it has come to symbolise oppression or racism. But Rachel says she's determined to reclaim it.

Born in London to Zimbabwean parents, the 25-year-old tells Newsbeat her upbringing hasn't been without its challenges.

"I have had lots of things with racism and discrimination in the UK but I still feel like the UK is my home," she says.

"Even though there were points I felt really unwelcome."

Rachel's been releasing a steady stream of singles and EPs since 2018 and her upcoming debut album, What A Devastating Turn of Events, explores the idea of home.

"It definitely reflects my upbringing, my home, my life," Rachel says of the location for her album shoot.

Pictured in front of a London estate just like the one she grew up in, she says the photos are "like a snapshot of my entire life".

"Me standing in front of it all and standing in front of the memories - I think there's an element of ghosts in a house."

With the Y2K fashion, the bike and trampoline, Rachel says the artwork sought to reflect the nostalgia she felt for a time when she was "young and carefree" while writing the album.

But it was the bunting that caught people's attention and Rachel says she knew when she decided to include the England flag it would cause a stir.

"I think there's an element of seeing that flag that definitely holds a connotation, especially when there's black people involved with it," she says.

'A symbol'

Prof Kehinde Andrews is a professor of Black Studies at Birmingham City University and has previously spoken about the symbolism of the St George's Cross.

During a 2018 appearance on Good Morning Britain, he clashed with presenter Piers Morgan and Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage when he argued the flag had been co-opted by the far-right and had become a racist symbol.

Prof Andrews says seeing the flag can indicate a "no-go area" for minorities.

"To me, the St George's cross means danger normally.

"This flag became a symbol," he says. "If it's on a pub or something then you stay away."

Speaking about Rachel's album artwork, he says he would "question why anybody want to reclaim something which is so connected to whiteness".

"Why are we claiming to belong to something which doesn't want us?," he says, citing health and pay as examples of inequalities still affecting black and minority communities.

Rachel was prepared to be challenged on her decision to include the flag.

"I had zero hesitation when I decided to reference it," she says.

"My team were definitely like, 'Are you sure you want to do that?'

"Once I explained it, they understood it and I think once it all came together, it was quite powerful and impactful."

A BBC study in 2018 found that there was a large disparity between white and minority communities when it comes to pride in their English identity.

"Black and POC people have contributed to the culture so much," Rachel says.

"It's difficult because we're celebrated when we do well in things like football, the Olympics, or sports.

"But then on another day, when that's not happening, those flags represent a very different thing."

Prof Andrews says a prime example of this is the racist abuse directed at Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka after they missed penalties in the men's Euro 2020 final.

"We like to pretend [the flag] is unity and all these things, but it's not that," he says.

"When three black players miss penalties, you see all the racism comes in.

"Don't wave no flag for a country that doesn't have your best interests at heart.

"That's a big issue for me."

Rachel acknowledges the criticism but says "if art kind of makes you turn your head a little bit it's doing the right thing".

"And then when you listen to the music and understand what I'm saying, it makes you think of things in a bit of a different way."

She says there are "traumas and troubles that you can have growing up being black in the UK".

"But still, there are things to celebrate about being a black Brit."

Rachel describes her album, released on 3 May, as "almost like a trauma dump" as she confronts that legacy.

"By the end, there's definitely a healing element to it," she says.

Listen to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 weekdays - or listen back here.

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.

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Rachel Chinouriri: 'England's my home, even if I've felt unwelcome'

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Rachel Chinouriri says she wants to reclaim the England flag, which features on her album artwork.

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At the beginning of June 2023, my father presented me with a Panasonic NV-DS29 that he had found whilst clearing out his storage. It was perfectly timed for 2 reasons, I had been meticulously searching online for this type of camera for months prior to this and in addition this was days before our family trip to Nigeria. I saw this as the perfect opportunity to bring it along with me to document my journey.

I was able to film parts of my trip on the camcorder, however it being my first time in Nigeria in 10 years, I was reluctant to always have this camera on display, paired with infrequent access to electricity meant that it was not always available to me as I could not charge the batteries.

In addition to this another problem arose in which overtime the tape heads of the camera had gone bad and had a habit of damaging any tape inside. This did mean that my Nigeria footage was slightly damaged and this did cause some glitching when rendering. To combat this, I purchased a clearclick converter and created a tapeless rig for my camcorder set up.

Whilst organizing the conception of Rootz, I came to the conclusion that I wanted to shoot all or a majority of the documentary on this camera and in miniDV format.

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The Racial Literacy Development model theorized by Dr. Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz

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The Racial Literacy Development model theorized by Dr. Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz

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What is your favourite Black British English word or phrase?

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What is your favourite Black British English word or phrase?

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What is your favourite Black British English word or phrase? pic.twitter.com/UeATJTo1Nw
— Duchess of Brixton🇯🇲🇳🇬 ☭ (@fufuisonme) April 1, 2024

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Grace Nichols - Praise Song for My Mother

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Grace Nichols - Praise Song for My Mother

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Grace Nichols' poem "Praise Song for My Mother" is a beautiful exploration of cultural preservation and the enduring strength of maternal love. Through vivid imagery and metaphors, Nichols pays homage to her Jamaican heritage and the resilience of her mother, who embodied the traditions and values of their culture. Despite being of Nigerian descent, I can relate to this poem on a profound level.

The themes of honoring one's roots, cherishing familial bonds, and celebrating the sacrifices of our matriarchs transcend geographical boundaries. Just as Nichols immortalizes her mother's essence in verse, I too have found solace and inspiration in the unwavering love and wisdom of my own grandmother. The overlapping experiences of diaspora communities, the shared struggles and triumphs of women across generations, and the universal language of love and respect for our elders create a bridge that allows me to connect with Nichols' poetic tribute.

I recited this poem to my grandmother on one of her birthdays, honoring her as a pillar of strength and a keeper of our cultural heritage.

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Praise Song for My Mother

You were
moon's eye to me
pull and grained and mantling

You were
sunrise to me
rise and warm and streaming

You were
the fish's red gill to me
the flame tree's spread to me
the crab's leg/the fried plantain smell replenishing replenishing

Go to your wide futures, you said

from The Fat Black Woman's Poems (Virago, 1984), © Grace Nichols 1984, used by permission of the author

Copyright © 2021 All rights reserved. Charity No. 1093858. Registered No. 4336052

The Poetry Archive is a not-for-profit organisation with charitable status.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. We use cookies. Accept Find out more

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Praise Song for My Mother - Poetry Archive

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You were water to me deep and bold and fathoming You were moon's eye to me pull and grained and mantling You were sunrise to me rise and warm and streaming You were the fish's red gill to me the...

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Young British Nigerians attempting to preserve Yoruba as a language.

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Young British Nigerians attempting to preserve Yoruba as a language.

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In the diaspora, students with Nigerian heritage are retracing their roots with Yoruba language classes. The lessons aim to inspire confidence about a culture and heritage that might otherwise feel beyond reach. Xaymaca Awoyungbo explores how Yoruba lessons, poetry and music are breaking down barriers.

I grew up in London, the son of a Jamaican heritage mother and Nigerian heritage father. My countries of origin were undoubtedly a part of my identity but for the most part I connected with them indirectly. Much of London's food, music and slang is derivative of both cultures so I picked up some phrases in patois and pidgin. But since my parents' first languages are English, I was rarely exposed to Yoruba in my household.

For me, being Yoruba was a fact rather than something I embodied. I was aware that I could never be as Nigerian as someone from the country so I didn't try to be something I wasn't. Coming into contact with more first and second-generation British Nigerians however, I met people who were more familiar with songs, customs and a language that was foreign to me. As people questioned my knowledge it was easy to feel a sense of shame. I also began to question whether I should embrace my heritage more.

So, when I saw the University of Warwick's language society was collaborating with the Nigerian society to teach biweekly Yoruba classes, I was excited. Learning Yoruba language would help me to access the culture more deeply.

Stepping into the classroom I see familiar faces among a sea of enthusiastic students. I sit beside my friends, asking them questions about their experience with the language. The room is so full that people are bringing in extra chairs, sitting on tables and standing on the outskirts.

Zoe Ogunode, the Vice President of the Nigerian Society stands at the front of the class. As our teacher, she candidly admits that we won't leave the lessons speaking fluent Yoruba. But she hopes the lessons will plant a seed inside us to continue learning and feel confident about our culture.

Speaking to Zoe after the lesson, I get a sense of why she started teaching Yoruba to her peers. As an international student, raised in Lagos, she noticed that many of the British Nigerian students "felt bad about not knowing their language. They felt embarrassed," she says "I just wanted to make a safe space for people to understand you don't have to feel ashamed to learn Yoruba."

Shame seems to be a recurring concept when discussing Yoruba language learning. Despite growing up in Lagos, a Yoruba majority state, Zoe didn't know the language beyond a few phrases until recently.

Her parents predominantly speak Yoruba among themselves unless they're scolding Zoe. From a young age, she knew she would move to the UK so it was best not to learn Yoruba too fluently for fear of adopting the dreaded H factor.

The H factor refers to people, typically Yoruba, adding an "h" on or dropping an "h" off of certain English words. Egg becomes hegg and heavy becomes eavy.

While the reason for the H factor among Yoruba people is not entirely clear since the language apparently has an "H" sound, the idea of certain sounds not transferring across languages, is a common experience among non-native English speakers.

Spaniards might add an e to a word like special, making especial (the actual Spanish translation), because Spanish doesn't have any words that start with an "s" followed by a consonant. Many French speakers also have difficulties pronouncing "h" in English because the letter is silent in French.

Either way, "parents don't want to run the risk of confusion [between languages] so they will just make sure their children only learn English," says Zoe. "You don't want your language to affect your accent," she adds.

"Why?", I ask. "Why don't you want your language to affect your accent?" For Zoe the answer is simple. It's a result of colonialism.

Britain came and changed people's perception of what is the right way to be and the wrong way to be," she says.

British people were essentially the standard of civility. Switching the focus onto me, Zoe exclaims, "If you went to Nigeria everyone would love you! Because of your accent you just sound smarter than everyone. Your chances for success are higher."

Speaking to Zoe makes me realise how much I differ from someone born in Nigeria. Although we share the same ethnicity, our attitudes to our language and culture differ. For her, Yoruba was something she knew but didn't previously embrace. For me, it's something I don't know but I'm increasingly trying to embrace.

It comes from an understanding that as much as I can say I'm from London, it's not where I'm really from. Unlike my Jamaican heritage, I'm able to trace where I'm really from as a Nigerian. Since I can access Yoruba culture through relatives, some of whom live in Nigeria, I should lean into it more.

It's a sentiment held by some of my peers such as Tomike Olukanni, a Law student at Warwick. While at sixth form, she wrote a poem called Ile aye akamora for the Arts and Humanities Research Council's Remembering Yoruba anthology.

"All my friends know of a secret place/Which was shut off to me, I felt out of place," she laments in her stanzas.

Similar to Zoe's story, Tomike's parents mainly speak Yoruba among themselves, apart from a few warnings aimed at her. Unlike Zoe, Tomike grew up in the UK but is still immersed in Yoruba culture at home. "I know I grew up in this country, but my family is Nigerian through and through" she tells me, from the food they eat to the music they listen to.

Yet for Tomike the language is still missing. When her Nigerian-born family members and friends speak to her in Yoruba, she can understand but tends to respond in English. The few phrases she can say are not always enough to fully access the "secret place" she referred to in her poem.

As she tried to learn the language by listening to her friends at school and work, she recalls being ridiculed when she tried to put their teachings into practice at home. While her listening skills improved, her oral skills were still rudimentary. Her parents would "start laughing like 'the way you said that is so funny and just not right.'"

Jokingly she explains that she'd reply crying "'you're the reason why I can't speak this language!'"

Since Yoruba is a tonal language, the way a word is pronounced can drastically change its meaning. Tone marks are crucial because a word like "ogun" can refer to war, the god of iron and a southwest Nigerian state depending on which tone marks are used and the context of the sentence.

Her pronunciation of the dò, re and mí tone marks on the vowels in each syllable of words are probably why Tomike's parents found her Yoruba so amusing.

The ridicule from family members is something Zoe also acknowledges.

"You can't learn Yoruba from the older generation because they will clown you for your pronunciation."

Many Yoruba children are subsequently stuck in a bind, lacking the confidence to speak it with their family members yet needing to speak and hear the language to learn its pronunciation.

Faced with this dilemma, the next best option is to listen to the music coming out of Nigeria. Afrobeats, the umbrella term for pop music from West Africa, (not to be confused with Afrobeat, the fusion of jazz, soul and highlife, pioneered by Nigeria's Fela Kuti in the 1960s and '70s) has seen a boom in popularity over the last decade. From Burna Boy headlining a concert at Madison Square Garden in 2022 to Tems winning a Grammy for her contribution to the song in 2023, the music and its artists are internationally recognised.

Many of the artists combine English, pidgin and native languages like Yoruba in their genre-blending songs. Tems mainly sings in English; Burna Boy incorporates pidgin into his lyrics; popular singer, Asake, predominantly sings in Yoruba. This blend of languages is nothing new for British listeners who listened to artists such as Naira Marley and Mic-L during the birth of the Afroswing music genre in the mid-2010s.

For Tomike, listening to and singing the songs is one of the ways she demonstrates her belonging in Yoruba culture. The call-and-response nature of learning a language in this way developed her intonation. She also looks up song lyrics and asks her friends for help translating them since they might be too vulgar to share with her parents.

"Afrobeats has helped people want to claim their country more," agrees Zoe. "It makes people more likely to learn the language." While Zoe eventually learned Yoruba out of a desire to understand the gossip in her local hairdresser, her learning was also driven by a fear of being unable to pass the language on to her children.

She feels happy she knows the language now because it's "something I can pass on to my kids and I'll actively try to pass on." She says young people are "looking forward and thinking, 'If I don't learn it now it ends with me'."

All artwork by Oreofe Morakinyo
Read more:

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Meet the young British Nigerians who are taking Yoruba language lessons - Lacuna Magazine

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In the diaspora, students with Nigerian heritage are retracing their roots with Yoruba language classes. The lessons aim to inspire confidence about a culture and heritage that might otherwise feel beyond reach. Xaymaca Awoyungbo explores how Yoruba lessons, poetry and music are breaking down barriers.

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As I've expressed myself, the topic around talking about ones cultural identity can easily become an overwhelming conversation especially when being prompted to position yourself in relation to your heritage or being asked to explain your identity as a wholistic coherent statement.

As such when designing these questions for the participants of the Rootz documentary I took this into mind and tried to tailor it towards more narrative and qualitative driven responses. I tried to make sure these questions broke down the elements of cultural identity into digestible segments.

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Future Remembrance - Photography and Image Arts in Ghana

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Future Remembrance - Photography and Image Arts in Ghana

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In the realm of visual anthropology and cultural studies, the film "Future Remembrance" by Tobias Wendl and Nancy du Plessis offers a captivating exploration of the photographic traditions and contemporary visual practices in Ghana. This documentary holds significant relevance to the discourse on documenting Yoruba hybrid culture among second-generation Black British Gen-Z individuals.

The film delves into the vibrant world of studio photography in Ghana's small fishing towns, where the photographer's studio serves as a cultural hub for capturing and preserving personal narratives. Through the lens of these photographers, the film unveils the intricate ways in which individuals construct and project their identities, aspirations, and cultural affiliations.

This notion of visual self-representation resonates deeply with the experiences of second-generation Black British Gen-Z individuals, who navigate the complexities of their hybrid identities. Just as the Ghanaian subjects in the film adorn themselves with the latest fashion or pose with cherished possessions, these young Britons often employ visual mediums to assert their multifaceted cultural heritage and challenge societal perceptions.

"Future Remembrance" not only showcases contemporary photographic practices but also traces the historical lineage of black and white photography in Ghana. This duality of past and present offers valuable insights into the continuity and transformation of visual traditions within diasporic communities.

For second-generation Black British Gen-Z individuals, this exploration of visual traditions holds particular significance. As they grapple with their hybrid identities, they often seek to reconcile the cultural legacies of their ancestors with their lived experiences in contemporary Britain. The film's examination of the evolution of visual practices in Ghana serves as a powerful metaphor for the dynamic nature of cultural expression and the ability of art to bridge generational divides.

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Future Remembrance - Photography and Image Arts in Ghana

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This is a preliminary piece I created from the photo album pictures and poems that I scanned in.

The image is a focus on motherhood and maternity through generations. My grandmother stood as figurehead amongst my family and my own mother has been crowned as her successor especially around and after my grandmothers passing.

The image placement illustrates the continuity of the love that is passed onto me as well as honor and legacy of my grandmother to my mother.

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This is a reflection I wrote in Term 1 about the meanings formed through the placement of images of a canvas. My methodology of juxtaposing and layering images on a canvas provides a powerful avenue to explore the cultural hybridity that defines my experience as a second-generation Nigerian immigrant in Britain. By carefully curating and arranging visuals that represent both my Yoruba heritage and my British upbringing, I can create compelling narratives that highlight the contrasts, similarities, and intertwining elements of these two distinct cultural identities.

The scale, placement, and overlapping of images can symbolize the hierarchies, parallels, and interconnections between my Nigerian roots and British influences. For instance, a larger image depicting a traditional Yoruba ceremony could be juxtaposed with a smaller snapshot of a quintessentially British scene, representing the dominant role of my cultural heritage while acknowledging the presence of my adopted home. Alternatively, overlapping visuals of Nigerian and British landscapes or cultural artifacts could signify the blending and coexistence of these two worlds within my lived experience.

By strategically manipulating the visual elements and their relationships, I can craft narratives that explore the complexities of navigating dual identities, the challenges of cultural assimilation, and the richness of embracing a hybrid existence. My designs can celebrate the unique perspectives and experiences that emerge from straddling two distinct cultures, inviting viewers to contemplate the nuances of cultural hybridity and the multifaceted nature of identity formation.

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This piece I titled "Growing Up(?)" introspectively explores the nuances of growing up in an immigrant household.

Layered above the scanned red floral fabric;
the picture of myself as a baby was taken around when my family first moved to the UK and we lived in a flat in Battersea for the majority of my former years. This unknowingly to me set the precedent for my cultural identity.

The purposefully intangible text highlights this as my mother would often tell me as I grew up that when I cried as a baby, she would take me to the window at night and show me the lights emitted from the millennium dome (now O2) as our flat back then was conveniently facing the structure. These lights would instantly soothe me and calm me down.

I felt that there was a sentiment about this often retold story, something rooted in my British adjacent childhood interplaying with my migrant mother’s care.

The digitally drawn portraits layered above illustrate how stories and narratives like this stay with an individual their entire life, despite their changing outlooks on life and varying cultural influences.

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“Transmitter of Culture” is a node to my mother’s role as the main mediator for relaying my heritage to me as a second-generation immigrant. She recognises that being born in the UK presents me with many opportunities but she also understands that this means I can lack in cultural affluence is not tended to correctly.

The piece itself is a reference to the saying “You Are Your Mother's Child” in which I think I carry a lot of her behaviours and characteristics as an individual as well as her physical features too.

Layered on top a red crested pattern fabric, is a picture of myself as a baby with my mother holding me whilst donning white lace fabric and a red gele.

As I’ve aged my face has fluctuated between looking like my father and mother but I digitally illustrated pictures of myself and my mother where we particularly looked alike. Followed by another layered digital camera picture taken of us in my adolescence.

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This piece “Baby Mat” features my father proudly holding a baby me in a vibrant multicoloured mat.

Going through my baby photo album saw a lot of textures and fabrics that felt extremely nostalgic to me. The 35mm film pictures also aid in conveying this sentiment as they give the images noise grain and warm filter.

Inspired by Hassan Hajjaj, I wanted to immortalise the rich colours, so I digitally recreated each pattern seen on the mat and used them as a frame for the picture. Reintroducing the grain from the picture into the tiles to create a sense of cohesiveness and immersion.

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As mentioned earlier, I dug through an old family digital camera SD card and extracted all the pictures. They showed many images of my family through my former years as well as images in Nigeria. I began a curation process of pictures that showed lifestyle and culture of not only Yoruba culture but British too. I selected some of these and placed them next to each other, stringing together a sense of unity amongst the contrast of the colours, content and individuals occupying the frame.

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culture wins @peaktelevision pic.twitter.com/rbqlp8qqOA
— +Jay Aaron (@AirToTheManor) June 11, 2023

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I made an experiment of overlaying a Nigerian fabric over the top of these pictures, I thought it was interesting how the pattern of the fabric almost seamlessly intertwined the pictures into its sequence.

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pic.twitter.com/hN0q83YKfH
— redday.jp “Dope” (@dopesolitary) April 27, 2024

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One powerful way to illustrate the cultural hybridity that shapes my identity as a second-generation Nigerian immigrant in Britain is by juxtaposing visuals of my current self in Western attire with images of my younger self adorned in traditional Yoruba wear. This contrast creates a compelling dialogue that encapsulates the duality of my lived experience, bridging the gap between my Nigerian roots and my British upbringing.

By placing a photograph of myself today, dressed in contemporary Western fashion, alongside an image of my childhood self draped in vibrant, intricately patterned Yoruba clothing, I can visually represent the coexistence and interplay of these two distinct cultural influences. The juxtaposition of these contrasting visuals invites viewers to contemplate the complexities of navigating multiple identities and the constant negotiation between traditional and modern values.

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Flavour - Nwa Baby (Ashawo Remix) [Official Video]

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Part 1 Histories Polaroids are shackled to nostalgia. Its aesthetic perfectly embodies the past tense, especially in the cold light of today’s digital world. The presence captured, however, makes e…

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In the research method known as "participatory design," facilitators assist those who will be impacted by a product or service's final design in taking part in its creation. The specifics of participatory design might vary greatly, much like co-design or design charrettes in other fields, but the overall objective remains the same: involving those who will be impacted by the product in a series of guided activities to help shape its design. This is not to argue that this approach treats "the user as a designer," but rather that it's an excellent way to bring to light political views, mental models, emotional states, and a host of other situations that may help shape the remainder of the design process.

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Participatory design is a research practice where facilitators help people affected by the end design of a product or service to participate in its construction. Similar to co-design or to design charrettes in other disciplines, the particulars of participatory design can vary widely, but the central goal is consistent - having people affected by the product inform the design of the product through a series of guided activities. This isn't to say that this method is treating "the user as a designer" but instead is a great way to surface mental models, politics, emotional states and a variety of other conditions to inform the rest of the design process.

For a masters level course in UX methods, I sent a call to HCI researchers and UX designers for their favorite sources on participatory design. Here's a slightly annotated list of those sources. I can't say I've read all of these (yet) but they are recommendations from a good set of folks [almost none of whom I'm giving credit here].
Liberating Structures Gamestorming IDEO Tool kit Google Design Sprint Methodology
Really cleanly laid out co-design plan, with some very nice detail to help people get going. The sprint is a longer process, but the docs they have in here are all really helpful. Alex Leavitt recommended this to me. How to make an impact - design thinking meets participatory video
This is more about design thinking and participatory video, but it presents some great case studies of co-design in the field.
This is a lovely resource. Lots of different co-design methods that are laid out very well, and a nice set of case studies as well.
Full disclosure - I don't like the term "gamestorming." But this resource is wonderful, with tons of standard co-design activities and prompts, with some of the best detail I have found as a free resource.
This site provides a ton of activities that can be used to structure group design processes.
Professional group readings

These are all articles from what I would broadly call the "practice" community.

Charrettes (Design Sketching): ½ Inspiration, ½ Buy-In
Nielsen/Norman Group
This is a nice resource for people looking to conduct a charrette, which I think of as a particular type of co-design.

Participatory Design in Practice
UX Magazine
Really nice, fleshed out article that includes case studies of PD in action, specific prompts, and general advice. This was an article I had everyone in class read since it was so comprehensive.

Rahul Barghava
This source was given my by Nate Matias. A really lovely selection of "design in the wild" cases that are sure to inspire.

Academic readings ON participatory design.

John Vines, Rachel Clarke, Peter Wright, John McCarthy, and Patrick Olivier. 2013. Configuring participation: on how we involve people in design. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '13). ACM, New York, NY, USA, 429-438. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/2470654.2470716
Great reference for people who are doing PD with people in contexts different than typical North American or European samples. Thanks to Shaimaa Lazem.

Emma Rose and Alison Cardinal. 2018. Participatory video methods in UX: sharing power with users to gain insights into everyday life. Commun. Des. Q. Rev 6, 2 (October 2018), 9-20. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/3282665.3282667
One consistent constraint we are finding is the need to do UX work over mediated channels. It's a mix of the right stakeholders vs. the channels we can use. This article gives some good tips on making PD work over video.

Liam Bannon, Jeffrey Bardzell, and Susanne Bodker. 2018. Reimagining participatory design. Interactions 26, 1 (December 2018), 26-32. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/3292015
This rich article gets into the history of PD, and then also describes some cutting edge conceptions of it.

Emilson, Anders, Per-Anders Hillgren, Anna Seravalli, Sanna Marttila, Mads Hobye, David Cuartielles, Erling Björgvinsson et al. Making futures: Marginal notes on innovation, design, and democracy. MIT Press, 2014.
This book has lots of great information, though I found the cases of co-design to be the most compelling. I love that it's open access, and found Chapter 3 to be my favorite.

Greg Walsh, Elizabeth Foss, Jason Yip, and Allison Druin. 2013. FACIT PD: a framework for analysis and creation of intergenerational techniques for participatory design. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '13). ACM, New York, NY, USA, 2893-2902. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/2470654.2481400
This group has done a ton of co-design work with children, and this paper is a nice, practical breakdown of different co-design methods.

Fails, Jerry Alan, Mona Leigh Guha, and Allison Druin. "Methods and techniques for involving children in the design of new technology for children." Foundations and Trends® in Human-Computer Interaction 6, no. 2 (2013): 85-166.
Another great piece from the UMD folks about running participatory design workshops with kids.

Cooke, Bill, and Uma Kothari, eds. Participation: The new tyranny?. Zed books, 2001.
I've only had a chance to skim this book so far, but it raises some great points about how participatory design is always laden with the politics of the organizers, and as such can actually reify power imbalances and exacerbate injustice. Great points. Thanks to Katta Spiel for turning me on to this.

Simonsen, Jesper, and Toni Robertson, eds. Routledge international handbook of participatory design. Routledge, 2012.
Wow, what a great book. The wonderful Carl DiSalvo pointed me to Chapter 7 in particular. He also points out that participatory design is values-driven, which separates it from co-design. This is probably the most complete resource on participatory design that I've seen.

Academic research that uses participatory design as a method

Hong, Matthew K., Udaya Lakshmi, Thomas A. Olson, and Lauren Wilcox. "Visual ODLs: Co-Designing Patient-Generated Observations of Daily Living to Support Data-Driven Conversations in Pediatric Care." In Proceedings of the 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, p. 476. ACM, 2018.

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Participatory design is a research practice where facilitators help people affected by the end design of a product or service to participate in its construction. Similar to co-design or to design...

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Championing Linguistic Justice: BLAM UK's Open Letter to tes magazine

In a bold move towards promoting linguistic justice and dismantling racial discrimination, BLAM UK, a prominent grassroots organisation advocating for the Black community in the UK, recently penned an open letter to tes magazine. This letter addresses concerns regarding the article titled 'Slang Safeguarding Risks', published on February 14th, 2024.

At the core of BLAM UK's mission lies a commitment to advocating against anti-Black racism and injustice, particularly focusing on its detrimental effects on the well-being of Black communities and safeguarding the legal and child rights of its members. Our organisation's letter articulates three main points of contention with the article, highlighting its racially discriminatory and harmful nature:

1. Harm to Racial Esteem and Well-being: BLAM UK stresses how the article's characterization of Black British English (BBE) as "slang" perpetuates negative stereotypes and undermines the linguistic identity and self-esteem of Black children.

2. Normalisation of Anti-Black Linguistic Racism: The organisation emphasises how the article contributes to the normalisation of linguistic racism by flagging BBE words and phrases as "misogynistic" or "sexist" without understanding their cultural significance and context within the Black community.

3. Violation of Children's Rights: BLAM UK argues that the article's approach to policing BBE in schools violates the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which emphasises the importance of minority children enjoying their own culture and language.

Moreover, BLAM UK challenges the concept of "Slang Safeguarding," advocating for a more inclusive approach that acknowledges and respects linguistic diversity among children, particularly Black children.

The letter concludes with a call to action, urging tes magazine to remove the article, provide training on language discrimination for its team, and adjust future articles to celebrate and educate on BBE and other languages used by students from Black backgrounds. BLAM UK also extends an olive branch, expressing willingness to collaborate with tes magazine to promote linguistic justice and provide education on Black British English and heritage.

This open letter exemplifies BLAM UK's unwavering commitment to advocating for racial justice and empowering the Black community. By challenging harmful narratives and advocating for linguistic inclusivity, BLAM UK continues to pave the way for a more equitable and just society.

In the face of silence or inaction, BLAM UK remains steadfast in its determination to pursue further action, underscoring the urgency and importance of addressing these issues.

As we move forward, let us heed BLAM UK's call to action and strive towards a future where linguistic diversity is celebrated, and all children are empowered to embrace their cultural heritage without fear of discrimination or prejudice.
Our Letter to TES magazine - Re: Banning and Policing of the Use of Black British English
This is a letter from Black Learning Achievement and Mental Health ("BLAM"), a Black grassroots organisation that supports the Black Community in the UK under three limbs: cultural education, advocacy and wellbeing.

In a very short summary, we have a shared commitment to advocating on anti-Black racism/ injustice with particular concern for the impacts of these injustices on the well-being of Black communities and/or safeguarding the legal & child rights of members of our community. More details can be found about BLAM here.

Fundamentally, we write to raise our concerns with your 'slang safeguarding risks' article published on the 14th February 2024 and ask that you revise your article with immediate effect as it is racially discriminatory and harmful. We state this for the three following reasons:

1. It harms the racial esteem and in turn well-being of Black children

2. It reproduces and normalises Anti-Black Linguistic Racism

3. It is not in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989)

We note from the tes magazine article, that you want to ensure parents, teachers and carers are 'vigilant about the world that our students are living in and, as much as possible, make sure that we are part of it'. We hope to work constructively with you and your team to address this issue and to ensure Black British English speaking students' rights are respected going forwards.
History of the Black British English Language
Oxford Dictionary defines language as
"the principal method of human communication, consisting of words used in a structured and conventional way and conveyed by speech, writing, or gesture."
Black British English ('BBE') is a Black language form. It is a Creolised language including influences from Patois, Nigerian Pidgin, African-American Venacular English (AAVE) and BBE terms. BBE is sometimes incorrectly referred to as 'slang' as it is in your article. BBE has its own syntactic and grammatical structure which is different to white mainstream English. However, the differences does not mean that BBE is or should be referred to as slang.

The freedom to use and embrace BBE is crucial. Words such as 'bunda' and 'nyash' have derived from Nigerian Pidgin and Gambian Creole. Flagging words like this as possibly 'misogynistic', 'sexist' or a 'potential safeguarding issue(s)' is gross misinformation and discriminatory. Highlighting these words and phrases with origins in Black heritage, without an understanding of the cultural practices of BBE speakers, aids in the continued negative perception of Black British English. In fact, using 'sexist' and 'misogynistic' when referring to BBE phrases such as 'bunda', speaks to the lack of cultural analysis and awareness of this article. It is ill-informed as there is a clear and ongoing history of these phrases being used to celebrate women of Black heritage. Whilst it can be argued that those words, like all words, can be used in ways that can be deemed problematic, the assumption that these words are inherently problematic emboldens education providers that have for years been policing BBE in school with long-term consequences such as exclusions. The urgency to revise the article becomes especially important when we understand that BBE speakers are 'five times more likely to be excluded than their white peers'. The article facilitates the use of racist practices and policies around language which have, and will, result in Black children being negatively labelled, harshly sanctioned and ultimately excluded.

It is harmful and degrading, in particular to the identity of Black students who use this language. It can also lead to the internalisation of negative perceptions about themselves and their fellow language speakers. To that effect, it is important to highlight the policing of BBE speech amounts to institutionalised code-switching. We at BLAM UK along with many Linguistic Activists reject code-switching because it places whiteness and white mainstream English on a pedestal while showcasing Blackness and Black Language as inferior, lesser, and secondary. Instead, we encourage, utilise, and elevate the beauty and brilliance in Blackness and Black Language. The American academic April Baker-Bell explains that Black students
" - - are being asked to switch their language, their cultural way of being and knowing, their community, their blackness in favour of a white middle-class identity."
It encourages Black students to arrive in educational, and personal, spaces as half of themselves, internalising their policing. We reject the guise of professionalism and preparation for the future as explanations for the policing. The BBE words identified on the list allow for expression, personality, celebration and creativity. Subsequently, enabling Black students to enjoy their own culture.
UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, emphasises the importance of minority children being able to enjoy their own culture or use their own language (Article 30). The Convention highlights minority groups as including linguistic minorities.

As a respected journalistic organisation, tes should be promoting the enjoyment of international children's rights within learning environments, and advocating for the unlearning of anti-Black linguistic racism. tes should instead be using its article as an opportunity to celebrate the ways in which BBE is a rich and diverse landscape of the language within the Black British community and the creative role students are taking in preserving it. tes should also be seeking out experts within the community ( for example - BLAM) to ensure that their articles are legally and historically accurate.
Radical Safeguarding
Radical Safeguarding is 'a radical approach to child safety...that traces the root cause of harms to children'. It is the understanding that current safeguarding measures do not do the work of creating safety for all children, particularly young people and children of colour. It is a commitment to reduce harm by taking an informed and diverse look at safeguarding issues.

Resources such as Radical Safeguarding - A Social Justice Workbook for Safeguarding Practitioners can be used to further build conviction on linguistic discrimination, and how it is harmful to the children policed by it. It can be used to educate readers on what inclusive safeguarding really is, how it is not a one-size fits all approach or how different uses of language isn't a case of right or wrong.
Conclusion
We invite tes magazine to use the current experience as a chance to promote the understanding of the culture and history of Black people. Our organisation BLAM UK would be happy to assist in a collaboration to educate as to Black British English and heritage and find ways your organisation can promote linguistic justice.

BBE is a rich language and a form of expression amongst Black children in particular. The association of this language with 'slang' and noting the use of words from BBE such as 'plug' and 'nyash' found in songs, spoken by our parents and form part of our day-to-day speak as 'safegaurding concerns' reinforces white linguistic supremacy. The policing and demonisation of a language used primarily amongst Black students is disproportionate and is incompatible with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Further, the conflation of 'safeguarding concerns' for children's day-to-day speak ignores that some safeguarding measures, when inflexible to conditions such as race, end up doing more hard than good.

Please, therefore:

1. Remove the article with immediate effect;

2. Ensure your team attend professional training on language discrimination;

3. Adjust your articles to honour and educate on BBE and other languages used by students from Black backgrounds.

We are open to collaborating with your organisation and provide appropriate training and education on Black British English and heritage and find ways your organisation can promote linguistic justice.

In the event that this letter is ignored, we will have no option but to take further action in regard to this matter.

Yours faithfully,
Black Learning Achievement and Mental Health (BLAM UK)

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Championing Linguistic Justice: BLAM UK's Open Letter to tes magazine

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Championing Linguistic Justice: BLAM UK's Open Letter to tes magazine In a bold move towards promoting linguistic justice and dismantling racial discrimination, BLAM UK, a prominent grassroots organisation advocating for the Black community in the UK, recently penned an open letter to tes magazine. This letter addresses concerns regarding the article titled 'Slang Safeguarding Risks',...

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“Blue is a royal colour” was a statement my Dad  told me growing up that stuck with me. Being referred to as a prince in his village back home means that he has a lot of pride, which also extends to the colours he dons.

Aside from it also being his favourite colour, blue is a colour that has been present with me my entire life.

Depicted in this picture shows me as a baby seated on a plastic straw mat, that has been with my family for as long as I can remember,
wearing a blue one piece coat with a tartan like pattern on the innings of the material. The tartan pattern became a motif for me when looking at this photograph, almost acting as a signifier for my british identity in juxtaposition to the family mat I was seated on.

I analysed the pattern, recreated it in photoshop and used it as a frame for the picture.

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By contrasting vibrant, intricate Yoruba motifs with the sleek, minimalist aesthetics of TfL's branding, I can visually represent the interplay between my Nigerian heritage and my British upbringing. The dialogue between the Yoruba patterns and British designs can represent the contrasts, similarities, and interconnections that shape my identity as a second-generation Nigerian immigrant in Britain, celebrating the richness that emerges from embracing diverse cultural perspectives.

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Kabir Animashaun's "Travelling Aunty" project offers a poignant exploration of the cultural hybridity experienced by second-generation Black British Gen-Z individuals of Yoruba descent. By juxtaposing the regal presence of Yoruba women adorned in traditional attire against the gritty urban backdrop of New York City's subway system, Animashaun creates a visual metaphor for the duality that these young people navigate.

The vibrant colors and intricate patterns of the Yoruba garments symbolize the rich cultural heritage they carry within, while the bustling modernity of the subway station represents the contemporary Western influences that shape their identities. As the women gracefully traverse this liminal space, their journey mirrors the constant negotiation between tradition and modernity that second-generation Black British Gen-Z individuals of Yoruba descent experience. Animashaun's work invites viewers to contemplate the complexities of forging a hybrid identity, where the ancient and the contemporary coexist, creating a unique cultural tapestry that defies rigid boundaries.

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Silky Sammy (Samuel Burney Jr) is a 24-year-old illustrator and animator from New York whose introspective artworks delve into themes of identity and emotions. His digital illustrations often incorporate pop culture elements, original characters, and self-portraits as vehicles for self-expression and exploring his inner world.

Although Silky Sammy's artistic journey only commenced in June 2020, he has since wholeheartedly embraced art as a lifelong pursuit, constantly striving to push his creative boundaries. One of his thought-provoking pieces, "Everything I Am," contemplates the multifaceted nature of human existence, encompassing not only the physical components like the skeleton and vital organs but also the intangible essence of the soul. Through his art, Silky Sammy invites viewers to ponder the complexities that shape our identities and experiences.

Identity is a multidimensional concept that encompasses various facets of an individual's sense of self, shaped by personal attributes, social connections, and life experiences. For Yoruba Gen-Z individuals in Britain, their identity is intricately woven from the interplay of their cultural heritage, personal narratives, and the complexities of navigating multiple worlds. Their physical traits, such as age, gender, and appearance, contribute to their self-perception, while their Yoruba roots instill a deep connection to traditions, values, and customs that have been passed down through generations. Simultaneously, their experiences as part of the British Gen-Z cohort expose them to diverse influences, shaping their worldviews, beliefs, and group affiliations. The roles they assume within their families, communities, and social circles further mold their identities, creating a rich tapestry of personal and collective narratives. Moreover, the unique challenges and triumphs they encounter as young individuals of Yoruba descent in Britain profoundly impact their evolving self-awareness and self-confidence. Ultimately, their identities are dynamic, constantly negotiating the intersections of their cultural backgrounds, personal journeys, and the ever-changing societal landscapes they navigate. Through rigorous questioning of my own upbringing and environment, I aim to capture part of the multifaceted essence of cultural hybridity within my own life.

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'you exist in the context of all in which you live and came before you'

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PG Picasso (Ato-Obong Ini-Abasi Akpama) is an interdisciplinary visual artist currently based in New York. Their vibrant and emotive artworks are a celebration of human culture, drawing inspiration from their nomadic upbringing and admiration for the richness of diverse traditions.

Through their dynamic use of bold colors and deep black strokes, PG Picasso's art transcends mediums, ranging from fictional caricatures to realistic oil paintings. Each piece is a vivid expression of their thoughts and emotions, inviting viewers to immerse themselves in the artist's unique perspective on cultural identity.

Whether depicting whimsical characters or capturing the essence of lived experiences, PG Picasso's work is a testament to the endless inspiration found in the world around them. Their art serves as a bridge, connecting viewers to the artist's journey and the myriad of cultural influences that have shaped their artistic vision.

A piece that particularly resonated with me was one called 'you exist in the context of all in which you live and came before you' made with colour pencil on paper. Which features the artist in a room looking back at portraits on a wall which are wearing west-African headwear. My interpretation of the illustration is that they have superimposed their face on what would typically be portraits of parents, grandparents or ancestors, showing the metaphysical link and connection between the past and present. In addition, this piece connected with me as I personally tweeted months prior a similar statement, which said "who are we but an amalgamation of those around us, before us and the people yet to come?"

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I tested the questions on a pool of Yoruba 2nd generation immigrants as well as non-Yoruba participants (altering the wording of the questions for this group) in an anonymous questioning.

After this, I realized some questions were either redundant or repetitive in nature, so I only opted for the ones that yielded relevant answers and used these for the final questions that I ask participants of my mini documentary.

I also designed and animated these questions for the title cards of the film.

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This piece titled “Doorstep Tiles” shows my cousins Sumele and Tosan holding me for a picture at our family home in Alakuko, Nigeria. This would’ve been around my first ever visit to Nigeria when I was a baby.

Whilst inspecting this picture, weirdly enough I was drawn to the patterns of the doorstep tiles we were posted on. Upon my visit to Nigeria in 2023 I noticed the same tiles were present on the house.

It evoked a reflection of how the physical spaces of one’s cultural environment may remain, despite the subject growing, changing and even being temporary in permanence and proximity.