My uncle fought for Black Britons – until it killed him
Len Garrison made it his life’s work to ensure that the experiences Black British people bring to British culture was documented and preserved.
I fell in love after 15 minutes and he hadn’t said a word
On the first night, I gave him a nude lap dance for about 15 minutes, but we barely even spoke a word to each other.
Sam thought her aches were new mum pains – 9 months later my wife was gone
It’s still so hard to make sense of what came next.
I’ve had to lift up my shirt to prove I’ve had breast cancer
I had one supervisor who laughed and called me ‘a joker’ when I told him.
I knew something was wrong with Mum when she changed her stew recipe
She cooked it the same way for decades then one day it was full of these random unpeeled new potatoes.
My smoking habit was so bad I used to pick butts off the street
I used to pick up butts from bus stops and pavements, scrounging like my life depended on the next fix.
My wife and son were told they were going to die – one chose assisted dying, the other didn’t
Only five years after his mum's death, our son Max was diagnosed with cancer.
Doctors were shocked when I told them to remove my breasts
It took an hour to get any pain relief.
My daughter’s manners upset my dad – so he cut me out of his life
He told me that he no longer wanted me in his life and he was washing his hands of me.
I overheard a woman and her friend chatting – one word crushed me
How can it be a problem of the older generation, when just last month, I heard a teenage boy call his friend the R-word?
Here’s a plantain recipe so good you’ll be left dreaming about it
I love teaching people to cook my recipes because I feel like I’m sharing my culture with the world.
I drove down the same road every day – now I can’t go back
What became immediately clear was that the driver was frustrated by my presence – he just sat there staring at me, as though willing me to disappear.
A stranger paid £50,000 to make me into his dream woman then disappeared
I met him at his hotel where he had a surprise for me.
I was told I shouldn’t have kids because I’m disabled
It’s felt like an uphill battle liaising with schools or medical staff about the fact that I’m a disabled single mother.
I was harassed so often on the Tube, I stopped getting it altogether
After seeing several trans and non-binary people create GoFundMe pages to help with private transport, I decided to give it a go.
I’ve outlived two of my children and there’s no heartbreak like it
I registered my babies' deaths while sat next to joyful new mums.
Earl Cameron was 50 years my senior but I was lucky to be his friend
Earl made a rule for himself early on that he would only accept roles that portrayed Black characters with dignity and sensitivity.
A common STI left me in hospital unable to walk
The second day, the pain in my legs was so excruciating that I could barely get out of my bed.
When Sam had a second helping of dinner, I knew we would be ok
It’s been a thrilling, challenging and edifying three years and the more we do it, the more we realise this is exactly what family looks like to us.
Days after our third date, he demanded I pay him £300
He called me a ‘shallow model with tacky tattoos’, before comparing me to a sex worker.
As a comedian, every man I date says one thing that gives me the ick
Often around the second to fourth date, I would suddenly hear: ‘I always thought about doing stand-up.’
I couldn’t survive on £95-a-week so I had to work throughout cancer
One of the worst things about cancer is the uncertainty of what might happen – you have no idea how long you might be out of action.
Here’s why 69 is my new favourite number
Before you throw the 69 – or any other sex act – out the window, hear me out.
Guessing someone’s sexuality isn’t the flex you think it is
Trying to deduce someone’s sexuality can also be dangerous.
I was travelling to take my own life – until I saw the name of a train station
I sat on the train in tears, desperate for someone to intervene.
