How is British Identity defined?
I lived in Ghana for five years as a child before moving to England.
I was born in England but my mother found it difficult as a young single parent so she sent my older brother and I to Ghana to live with our grandparents.
Although I was young when I moved, I still remember living in Ghana.
Initially, I found the transition to English life and education difficult. Despite my reservations about English culture I did my best to adapt. I can still remember the first time I had processed ham after begging my mum for weeks to make me an ‘English packed lunch’.
The ham was bought from the corner shop and it had a Union Jack printed on the front of the vacuum packed casing promising to be the epitome of British food.
You can imagine the anticipation I had built up in the process only to find processed ham pointless, cold and flavourless - the taste of ham hasn’t changed much since.
Along with my dislike for ham, I was the centre of taunts courtesy of my consistently dry legs - ( coco butter became my salvation), my accent and ‘African’ mannerisms. My surname even suffered from a pronunciation coup. What was a strong vocal African ‘Mae-Nu’ became reduced to a verbal skeleton of ‘Menu’s and ‘Man-U’s.
For those of you who have been kind enough to read on and are wondering why the sudden change of topic from Olympics to my personal history, I guess it’s all down to George Alagiah’s autobiographical book, A Home from Home.
Seemingly far removed from my experiences, age group and culture; George Alagiah’s A Home from Home has been an enlightening read with many parallels with my life. As one of the most prominent figures in British broadcasting, his autobiographical narrative suggests his experience as an ‘immigrant boy’ forced to rapidly adapt into life at public school and all the trappings of Englishman, helped forge a strong character and identity that has informed him in his role as a journalist and commentator.
His cultural diversity has strengthened, rather than weakened his identity and his voice. By sharing his story, he moved and prompted me to share mine.
Prior to reading A Home From Home I was admittedly ashamed (if not scared) of my heritage. The playground taunts and lack of primary school friends haunted me for a long time.
But I’ve grown up and into my heritage. Now I am proud to say I am African (and British) and make an effort to learn about the history and customs of both cultures.
A Home From Home is a narrative about this transition and the process of marrying two seemingly different cultures so they can co exist. In the process he questions multiculturalism and British identity, using his personal experiences as a case study.
Published it 2006, I came across it whilst doing some research for Two Nations - a youth led inquiry into who Londoners want to win at the Olympics and how their cultural background affects their patriotism.
Presented by DJ, reporter and broadcaster Gemma Cairney, Two Nations brings together young Londoners from A New Direction’s Headstart programme to present an evening of poetry, debate and film asking who Londoners want to win at the Olympics, and why. The evening will feature performances from poets and performers Hannah Lowe, Jasmine Cooray and James Massiah.