Hello again and welcome back

Wow, it has been a minute since I’ve written here. In an attempt to revive my old blog and get a bit more writing into my life, I thought I’d blow the dust off my little place on the internet to catch up with you all. 

J and I celebrated two years in London last month which feels absolutely insane because the London we’re currently inhabiting is much different than the London we moved to. As month four of lockdown draws nearer, it’s crazy to reminisce on a time when we could spend a day drinking coffee and roaming the streets of Soho. Later tucking into a delicious meal and passing the evening sipping pints in an overly-crowded pub with a window-view of Londoners making the most of their night out. 

The past few months have been a blur of uncertainty and learning. At the beginning of quarantine it was all about learning to live, at home, with each other, for 24 hours a day. Now, there’s a new kind of learning happening. 

The Black Lives Matter movement has (embarrassingly for me) opened my eyes to the world and systems around me. While I can’t believe it has taken until this point to really listen, I’ve been spending the past month really digging into my life, the companies I’ve worked for previously, the brands I support, and my own role in racial oppression. While it’s not something anyone is comfortable admitting, I’ve discovered how some of my own thoughts and understandings fall in line with racist tendencies. In my life, I would never consider myself racist but after diving into an informative reading list shared by a close friend from university, I realised I was very likely playing into a narrative I was not happy with.

While I still have a ton of work to do (to be perfectly honest, the work has barely even started for me), I couldn’t morally pick up blogging again without first recognising the recent events that have changed the course for my learnings and priorities. Below, I’ve included a few posts/blogs/articles that I’ve found particularly informative.

This read on the act of centering and why it’s so problematic (especially) right now is really informative and helpful. It also provides information on how to decenter instead. 

I’ve also found this read on racial reckoning in women’s media really interesting. In a time where every brand and publisher is posting blacked-out images to their social feeds, this article is really holding them accountable.

Particularly eye-opening, this blog post about detours into white guilt and defensiveness really shook me. I’m embarrassed to admit just how much I was unaware of – and could even identify variations of some of my own behaviours in a few of the points.

These definitions can assist with getting the most out of your anti-racism research/work.

I’m sure most of you have seen the recently-popular Instagram series Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man. Watching on IGTV, this series gives me an uneasy knot in my stomach but it’s so necessary.

I’ve always been someone who firmly believes you can consume popular media, love a good skincare routine and still care about politics. Alongside my love of beauty, current events and reality TV lies my absolute thirst for crime thriller novels. I loved this Instagram round-up of crime/thrillers/mystery novels by black authors. This is an easy way to support black artists while satiating your bookworm needs.

While this blog is not BBC News, I wanted to share a few of the discoveries I’ve sourced over the past month. I am trying my hardest to hold myself accountable and continue learning (and un-learning!). I hope you will too.