Young non-white voices heard

Young non-white voices heard

Wed, 20 Jan 2021

A collection of conversations between five young people has been released exploring the experiences of those growing up in the Isle of Man as people of colour.

The recordings released by Culture Vannin were recorded by POC IOM and they cover everything from primary school friendships to relationships with people off the Island. They are both entertaining and enjoyable, but they will also be very eye-opening and perhaps surprising for anyone not of a similar background.

James Franklin of Culture Vannin says:

“I was shocked by how different these stories of growing up in the Island were from the youth I was privileged to enjoy. I found the conversations not only enjoyable the listen to, but also incredibly thought-provoking. These sorts of recordings are very important to who we are as a nation.”

The recordings have been released as a part of Culture Vannin’s online oral history collection of over 100 individuals reaching back over a century of Manx life. The collection aims to capture the “changing face of the Isle of Man.”

The interviews were carried out by POC IOM, an organisation set up within the last year as a support group for People of Colour in the Island. The interviews were conducted as a part of their mission to start conversations and widen the appreciation of the fact that we all have a role in shaping society in the Isle of Man.

“It was an honour to take part in this project with Culture Vannin, and it will be really interesting to see if over time things do change. We interviewed a Black Manx-man who grew up here in the 70's, and his stories hardly differed from ours. We think these interviews will be a great gauge as to how the Manx community reacts to all the work we have been doing.”

The interviews are with POC Catherine Reid, Dominique Moran, Elsa Wilkes, Haafizah Hoosen-Charles and Joel Padi, all of whom are in their 20s.

All of the interviews can be found on the Culture Vannin website here:

POC oral history interviews

Samples from within the interviews can be heard here: