I am black, my partner is white. Stop asking me if this is my baby
When I gave birth to my baby more than a year ago, I expected to receive the standard comments.
"Oh she's so beautiful, aww look at her little nose, she's so cute, aww what a big baby..."
I did get those, but also received negative remarks from friends and strangers about the colour of my baby’s skin. I started speaking to other women and realised I wasn’t alone. I went to meet two other mothers - Fariba and Wendy - to talk about our children and the Colourism they have faced.
The feature was followed by a panel discussion. Natalie Morris, journalist and the author of Mixed/Other: Explorations of Multiraciality in Modern Britain and Dr Aisha Phoenix, Social Justice lecturer at King's College London discussed the history of colourism and how it impacts people of colour.
This story hit a nerve.
The response to my radio feature and online article was overwhelming.
2.5 million hits in less than 24 hours.
Over 100,000 Instagram reactions.
Over 1000,00 Facebook reactions.
Average time spent reading the article 1 minute 39 seconds.
Thousands of comments created a lively much needed debate.
Hundreds of people reached out to me privately with similar stories.
LISTEN: BBC Radio 4
READ: BBC Online
Wendy and her daughter Olivia. ‘Is that your daughter? Did you actually birth her?’
Fariba and her daughter ‘Do you still love her even though she’s that dark?’