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Listening
to the short stories, which were inspired by personal photographs,
is an intimate experience.
The
tales range from the nostalgic to the dramatic - from living through
the violence of early 80s riots, to discovering your racial identity
as a teenager in 2003.
Fifteen-year-old
Kylie isn't even seen as black by many of her schoolmates.
"When
I was younger it didn't really occur to me that I was different
race to the rest of my friends." says Kylie in her story.
"I
look white like the rest of my friends, only our hair and features
were different.
"White
people see me as a white girl and sometimes fail to notice that
I am mixed race, so then they talk racist in front of me."
Race
and racism have had an explosive impact on Rob Smith's life. He
grew up in Liverpool at the time of the Toxteth riots.
As
a black man who had grown up in care, daring to become a writer
and pen his autobiography made him feel exposed.
He
faced a hostile reaction to having written about the riots:
"The
gun was out and pushed into my face. 'Who are you and who do you
think you are? Think you're better than us now. He thinks he's better
than us now, he thinks he's better than us. A faggot, a dirty grass,
a police informer, a traitor, shoot him, get on your knees!'"
Paulette
Edwards and Annmarie Alexander used the storytelling workshop at
BBC South Yorkshire's Open Centre to reflect on happier times. Both
have written about favourite people from their childhood.
A Jamaican
auntie with a whiff of glamour and a whole lot of personality made
a big impression on Paulette.
"Every
six weeks or so she would land on us out of nowhere, with her gold
lame tops, her mini-skirts and her mules." says Paulette.
Annmarie,
who grew up in Firvale, remembers a white doctor who served a mainly
Afro-Caribbean community giving her a sense of self worth.
"Do
you realise how important you were to me?" is what she would
say to Doctor Moll, if she knew what had happened to him.
"The
fact that you always called me your child and you always listened
so attentively to my childhood chatter."
Roger
Edwards' story takes the listener on a walk through the multicultural
Pitsmoor of his childhood - from his home to his favourite playground.
The
quirks and contrasts of a Sheffield community are puzzling when
seen through a kid's eyes.
"On
the corner was Tim's shop." recalls Roger.
"I
couldn't quite understand why a white man was selling green bananas,
hard dough bread and speaking patronisingly in this self-made Jamaican
accent."
Take
some time out to listen to the stories - they might just spark off
a memory of your own.
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