Finding Love As A Black Woman In The South East Of England

When I moved to Portsmouth in 2010, I was a moody a 14-year-old who’s only concern was to be invisible and silently fit in. I enrolled at a local secondary school and realised my experience there would be quite the opposite, my sister and I were the only black people in the entire school and stuck out like sore thumbs. As time went on, the next challenge I faced was the societal pressure to date. Like every other secondary school, I witnessed the cycle of my friends having different crushes, beginning to date and the inevitable dramatic breakup. Dating at school had become a rite of passage and proof that you attained desirability. Whether it was just to experiment or find something meaningful everyone around me was going out with someone.