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Moving from a diverse city to a rural town can be a daunting experience for young people who identify as black or from ethnic minority backgrounds. Nyarai, a 16-year-old originally from London, shared her experience of being called “exotic” after moving to Carmarthenshire, a predominantly white area in Wales. She said, “I would walk down the street and there’s like 20 of us, but here I walk around and see barely anyone [like me]. Being called things such as ‘exotic’ in school was new to me, and I had to adjust to being around mostly white people.”
However, Nyarai found solace in a youth-led group called We Move, established to empower young people to talk about and express their identities. Project coordinator Molara Anwen stressed that anti-racism work should not be limited to cities as rural areas often needed it the most, with predominantly white areas requiring support to protect young people. We Move provided a platform for diverse young people to connect with each other, allowing them to navigate racism and micro-aggressions encountered in school or online.
Funded by Children in Need, We Move offers a range of activities, such as singing and surfing, to black children and young people across southwest Wales. Nyarai and Indigo Young, 18, also attend We Move sessions. According to Indigo, “it’s important for young people to be able to talk with people that look like them and have similar experiences.” Molara Awen criticised the assumption that anti-racism work and diversity and inclusion only happen in cities.
The Welsh government recently updated its anti-racist action plan, outlining how to tackle racism, but the 2021 census showed that Pembrokeshire, where We Move is based, had only 0.9% of residents identifying as from mixed or multiple ethnic groups, up from 0.6% in 2011. Molara argued that primarily white areas like Pembrokeshire required support in protecting young people from abhorrent behaviour. She added that teenagers have a unique experience trying to figure out their identity and that those who are black and brown often face racism, including micro-aggression, and student targeting. Amidst this, We Move provides a platform for diverse young people to speak up and voice out.
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