Untold stories of the global majority: what’s yours?

Sheffield is blessed with an incredibly diverse population, including British communities of colour and people from all over the world who have come to Sheffield, perhaps to study or work, and made this beautiful city their home. Long-time Writers Workshop member Narimaan Shafi is launching a new workshop called Untold Stories that aims to help people who identify as global majority* to explore their identities, perspectives, and histories in a welcoming and relaxed environment. We asked Narimaan to share with us why this is important.

Where are you really from? It's a question I'm often asked. The most recent interrogation: a volunteer at Oxfam repeated the question three times, unable to accept my offer of the name of a northern town as the place I was from. 

I confuse people. I’m brown and, therefore, not indigenous to the UK. Eastern? When I open my mouth, I puzzle people even more because my accent is unmistakably Northern, my clothes, Western. I can almost hear people shouting, ‘Fit into a category, won't you?’

My answer is no, I won't. I actually like being an anomaly. And like a superhero, I have an intricate origin story. But it’s not just my story. Before my story, it’s my parents’ story. And before theirs, it’s my grandparents’. Generations of people before me making decisions and journeys that culminate in me being me, living here in Sheffield. 

I’m at a time in my life now when I want to record those stories for the generations that come after me. I’m sure they’ll be asked the same questions, and I want them to be armed with answers. I want them to know the experience their great grandparents had being part of the largest mass migration of people on the planet during the partition of India and Pakistan and the experience their grandparents had when they moved to the UK. I want them to know my experiences in the 1970s and 80s being someone who looks different but claims to be from here. I do this by writing it all down. I make the journeys my ancestors made not in miles travelled but in words written. 

I’m often the only global majority* writer in a room full of writers, but I know I’m not the only one who is out there, writing. I've started writing my story. I've learned a lot so far, but it is only the beginning of this journey. I want to share my experience and encourage people like you to write your stories. Join me at Untold Stories; a series of creative writing workshops for anyone who identifies as global majority, where we'll start writing and sharing our stories and lived experiences, because they’re important. Don’t let anyone tell you they’re not. 

*Global majority refers to people who are "black, Asian, brown, dual-heritage, indigenous to the global south, and or have been racialised as 'ethnic minorities'" and "represent approximately 80% of the world's population", according to educator and activist Rosemary Campbell-Stephens MBE, who coined the term.