Black Lives Still Matter
From Planet 252
by Beti Thomas
As Black Lives Matter falls away from the media agenda, Beti Thomas draws on her own experience and interviews with activists to assess the success of the movement, and how participants negotiate cultural hybridity, Welsh Government policy and contestations over protest methods.
Growing up as a Welsh-speaking mixed-Asian person was a distinct experience. I tried absolutely everything to fit in. I remember hiding from the sun in fear of turning browner. I would say from a young age that I wanted to have surgery to change my features (particularly my nose) to have more ‘European’ features. These were my own insecurities. In fact, I get comments a lot about not being ‘dark enough’ to have these issues, or that I was ‘White passing’ from some. But yet, these feelings have always followed me, and upon reflection, have shaped me into the adult I am today. I would always be left feeling like I wasn’t ‘Welsh enough’ by other people’s standards.
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Beti Thomas is a second year PhD student at Liverpool John Moores University. Her research seeks to explore the impact of the Black Lives Matter movement in Wales and raises questions about identity and race within the Welsh landscape.
