The team behind the Oxford Dictionary had the unenviable task of choosing it’s defining word of 2020. Realising that a singular word couldn’t sufficiently encompass the events and experiences of this year, one of the greatest authorities of the English language went from choosing one defining word to choosing 47.
A single year of events couldn’t be summed up in a singular word, yet so often our varied experiences as black people with distinct cultural identities and experiences is homogenised and absorbed under the universal descriptor of 'black'. Our identity as black people connects us as a community with many shared experiences, but it can also disguise our distinct and diverging cultures along with our contributions to the spaces we inhabit.
My family moved from London to Kent over a decade ago where, although collectively black people made up a small minority of the