Combating the Under-Representation of People Of Colour In The Workplace

I moved to a new department last month and it’s very different to what I have been used to during my three years with my current employer. I am one of the oldest (in age) within the team (I’ve not left my 20’s lol). The majority of the staff are trainees and apprentices, so aged between 16-22 years old and from Black and other ethnic minority backgrounds.


I’ve never worked in a team so diverse like this. I was quite surprised because of the nature of the work we do and the people we serve (our local councillors). However, the more I am here the more I see why the team is so young and diverse; representing the community we live in and preparing the younger generation for work within a large organization, corporate office or for a career in politics (one of our councillors is only 21 years old), social policy, law, or whatever field they choose to embark in where at present, black and ethnic minorities are underrepresented.


The apprentices and trainees are working under a training scheme that provides equal opportunities for people of colour and from low income backgrounds and who do not have higher education qualifications. The organization is called PATRA incorporating ACDA. I am familiar with the organization because I did voluntary work and training with them back in 2010 while I was unemployed.


I remember having a discussion with a former employee of mine who was against the idea of such traineeships only being afforded to people of colour and that it should be ran for everyone. Although I understood her point of view and agree that everyone should be given the same opportunities, this particular organization and others were specifically set up to give black and ethnic minority groups an equal standing in the labour market where once upon a time, this was not happening.


Although times have changed, why devalue the work and stop it when it’s actually been successful? Some of these apprentices have gone on to have full time permanent positions and are doing well. Who’s knows where they would have been if such opportunities were not created specifically for them?


We have to remember that people of colour were not given opportunities to work in corporate offices or in senior positions before and it’s through these types of initiatives and organizations that tackled this issue under legislation, such as the Equality Act 2010, that more opportunities for us were created.


I can remember as a law student at university being told (by another black person) that I shouldn’t think about a career in law because that’s a “white man’s job”. And true it was, until people of colour stepped up and decided to fight for equal rights for us to establish careers in predominately white sectors.


Maybe that particular person who made the comment grew up in a household with that mentally and therefore couldn’t see beyond that. But having organizations such as PATRA opens the minds of our young black men and women, where at home, they are not being aspired to see beyond race as an obstacle.

Why Black History Is Important To Me

Last Thursday while I was going through some old things at home, I came across my school picture from 1998 when I was 11 years old. I remembered the picture so well because I had just come back from a five week family holiday to Zimbabwe and South Africa. Zimbabwe is the birth place of my parents and I have family living in South Africa too. It was my first time stepping foot on African soil and learning about where I come from, where my parents grew up etc.

Over the years I have been learning more about my family’s history how and why they left their home country to study in America and settle down in the UK.

Growing up in a predominately Caucasian neighbourhood and school, I didn’t understand where I came from, why we were classed as a minority, why we were treated as insignificant and the only lesson on black history we received was in year 9 in two one hour classes during Religious Education which baffled me because I didn’t understand why Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and Rosa Parks were taught in Religious Education. It should have been part of the history class, but anyway that’s all I got. I remember going home doing my own research as a 14 year old school kid wanting to find out more.

Over the years that’s what I have been doing and learning more about the history of not only my country of origin but also my race. It has actually helped me to understand the struggles my forefathers went through, why family members, especially from the older generation had a particular mind-set and attitude towards certain things and why my parents were so insistent on us furthering our education all the way to university. I remember we even had a private tutor for subjects we weren’t excelling in and we had to get jobs the moment we finished school at 16 instead of depending on my parents. They sacrificed a lot, even their own lives just for us to not have to struggle and live the life they did.

When we know where we come from and what those before us have had to go through, it motivates you (well at least it does me) to work harder, to aim higher, because we have access to things that they weren’t allowed to by law. Because of them, we are able to advance academically, professionally and socially like never before, because of what they did for us! That’s why black history is important for me.

This time of the year is the only time we have events and workshops dedicated to our history where we can learn and appreciate where we come from and continue to invest in ourselves so we can be an example for the generation to come, because boy are they in need positive examples!

Modern DIY: Sugar and Oil Exfoliate

This week I tried a DIY exfoliate using sugar and oil. I was actually supposed to use olive oil but I had none left so used normal cooking oil this time.

The purpose of this was to scrub off the dead skin from my hands and feet. I left it on for about 15 minutes before washing my hands and feet.

My hands and feet had been feeling rather dry and "rough" but afterwards my hands in particularly, we super soft. I was really amazed, I even asked my siblings to feel my hands!

Black History Month

So, Black History Month is fast approaching (starting on Saturday) and I have decided to dedicate some posts on my blog to share my personal experiences and thoughts about being black during the month of October, what I think about certain initiatives and movements that are current which has helped to promote black people in society and created opportunities that before we did not have.

You know those thoughts and opinions that you’ve always wanted to share but the timing wasn’t right, the platform was inappropriate or you lacked understanding on the topic so decided to educate yourself on it first? Well now I see I’m ready to voice my opinions so I’ll be sharing those kinds of things too!

It’ll be a mixture of written blog posts and video blogs.

Stay tuned J

My first attempt doing a Bantu Knot Out

Last night was my first attempt to curl my hair with Bantu knots. I know of few people who curl their hair this way and it comes out beautiful. 

I want to go as long as possible without straightening my hair (so far I am on day 3) and thought this could be a way of keeping my hair curly and presentable without having to apply heat to it.

I followed a YouTube tutorial I found after searching through a few and voila, below is the final result. 

Some parts were a bit frizzy because I didn't use a product that controls frizz which was recommended so I'll ensure to buy one when I can, but despite that, I really liked the volume the style gave my hair and I will definitely be doing this more often. 

Embracing my hair

So, Sunday night I washed and conditioned my hair with the plan of straightening it in the morning. Morning came and I looked in the mirror and decided that I would leave it out natural. I combed it out into a little afro (or at least tried to lol) and didn't think anything of it. In fact I thought it looked cute. However, the moment I set off on my journey to work, I started a feel a little vulnerable and insecure.

I don't even know where it came from but all of a sudden when I caught the bus and saw people looking at me, thoughts like how ridiculous I looked; I shouldn't be sporting my afro hair like this because it's ugly; it's not 'normal'; it's not nice and sleek like when it's straight and so many other thoughts bombarded my mind. However, not one to feel sorry for myself (finally overcame this annoying trait haha), I became ruthless towards the thoughts and eliminated them quickly.

I liked the way my hair looked. I did not see a problem with it (and neither did my mom because if she did she would have told me straight away - momma doesn't sugar coat things lol). Yes it may not be everyone's cup of tea but I don't care. I was not about to go back home and straighten my hair so I didn't look the odd one out and neither was I about to walk around feeling insecure all day.

Constantly straightening my hair only damages it because of the heat. So I want to keep it out natural (ish) for a least two days in the week before I straighten it. The less I strengthen it, the better.

  This experience actually inspired me to have my hair out natural more often. Kind of like a statement of embracing my afro hair and not being ashamed of it. Letting young girls know that they don't have to have long straight hair to be beautiful and cute.

  I wash and treat my hair on Sunday evenings and until I put them back in braids, which will be soon (the weather is getting colder so it needs protecting) , I'll be leaving it out and doing different styles at least twice a week (I'll try and stretch to thrice.

As strange as it may sound it's quite liberating.

Using Mayonnaise for beauty treatment

Mayonnaise! Oh how I love my mayo. I know it's quite fattening but I do like to use it when making tuna sandwiches or when eating fries! When a fiend of mine sent me a list of beauty treatments using mayo, I raised my eyebrows while reading her message lol! Straightaway I thought about food because that's what I always associate mayonnaise with.

A few weeks later, I decided to do a few DIY beauty treatments using Mayonnaise. I searched online and found out the benefits of using mayo for my hands, nails, feet and face. 

My feet: As the back of my feet has been feeling quite dry recently, I used the mayonnaise to exfoliate whatever dead skin may be on my feet. I simply put mayonnaise all over both feet, slipped on some cotton socks, and tied two plastic bag over both of my feet to prevent the product from seeping out and get all over the floor (hence why my feet is covered in plastic bags in the picture).

My face:  I applied the mayonnaise on my face as a facial mask and let it set for 20 minutes before washing it with warm water. I did this to remove any dead skin cells.

My hand / nails: I slathered mayonnaise all over my hands and massaged them. Not only is this good to soften dry cuticles but it also helps to strengthen our nails. 

After the treatments I noticed how softer my skin felt. It's definitely a cheap and cheerful way to take better care of our skin without having to spend lots of money. As DIY homemade treatments are the trend nowadays. It's worth a try :)