On Thursday 20th August, 2 young people from Y&H  Regional Ethnic Majority Youth Group (REMY) , a young person from Authoring Our Own Stories – London and colleagues from PYL and YFSW came together to share training and insights that the groups have gathered through their peer research, with staff at the Department for Culture Media and Sport (DCMS).  The Young Leaders presented a snapshot of what everyday life is like for young people from the Global South, growing up in England.

Winnie, Ifti, Michelle and Ella have harnessed all that is positive about being, young ‘strong Black women’[i]. They have marshalled their research and are using it to influence change. The group spoke eloquently about creating REMY and co-producing a training model for professionals through Authoring Our Own Stories, to explore solutions to some of the recurring acts of aggression young Black and Brown people endure, as an ongoing reality. The data provoked curiosity, critical thinking and solution focussed responses from staff at DCMS, because it was grounded in the knowledge of those young women and shared directly from their hearts.

[i] ‘The strong Black woman’ is a colonial ideology that has been used as justification to objectify Black and Brown women. It is also a trope that has been harnessed by Black and Brown women to amplify their capacity to recover from adversity and continue to thrive. Data from Authoring Our Own Stories and other, existing research, strongly suggests that perpetuating the narrative of the ‘strong Black women’ can create ‘hyper-independence’ and ultimately harm young Black and Brown women’s mental health, which is why it has been an area of concern in our work.