Yomi Adegoke - Slay In Your Lane

4th Estate

An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

www.4thEstate.co.uk

This eBook first published in Great Britain by 4th Estate in 2018

Copyright © Yomi Adegoke & Elizabeth Uviebinené

Picture section photographs: here, here, here and here by Dorothy Oginni; here, here, here and here by Tish Greenaway.

Yomi Adegoke & Elizabeth Uviebinené assert the moral right to be identified as the authors of this work

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins

Source ISBN: 9780008235628

Ebook Edition © July 2018 ISBN: 9780008235611

Version: 2020-08-28

For Yem, who taught me to ‘Slay In My Lane’ before I knew what it meant to, and for Yinks, who inspires me to do so daily, and more than she will ever know.

Yomi

......................

In loving memory of Ingrid & Sidwell, thank you for everything.

Elizabeth

Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Interviewees

Foreword by Karen Blackett

Introduction

‘It’s Always a Race Thing With Her’

Education

Lawyer, Doctor, Engineer

Black Faces in White Spaces

Work

Work Twice as Hard to Get Half as Good

Water Cooler Microaggressions

***Flawless

Getting Ahead

Independent Women

When Life Gives You Lemons, Make Lemonade

Representation

Being Susan Storm

Fifty Shades of Beige

#RepresentationMatters

Dating

Does He Like Black Girls?

No Scrubs

Health

Black Girls Don’t Cry

TLC

Afterword

Picture Section

Endnotes

Bibliography

Acknowledgements

About the Authors

About the Publisher

Ade Hassan MBE

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Afua Hirsch

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AJ Odudu

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Alexis Oladipo

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Althea Efunshile CBE

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Amma Asante MBE

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Dr Anne-Marie Imafidon MBE

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Bola Agbaje

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Charlene White

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Clara Amfo

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Dr Clare Anyiam-Osigwe BEM

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Cynthia Erivo

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Dawn Butler MP

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Denise Lewis OBE

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Estelle

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Florence Adepoju

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Funke Abimbola MBE

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Gemma Cairney

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Irene Agbontaen

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Jamelia

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June Sarpong MBE

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Dr Karen Blackett OBE

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Keisha Buchanan

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Lady Leshurr

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Lakwena

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Laura Mvula

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Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock MBE

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Malorie Blackman OBE

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Margaret Busby OBE

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Melanie Eusebe

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Dr Nicola Rollock

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Patricia Bright

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Sarah-Jane Crawford

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Sharmadean Reid MBE

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Sharmaine Lovegrove

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Susan Wokoma

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Vanessa Kingori MBE

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Vannessa Amadi

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VV Brown

Teacher or nurse?

These were the only jobs that my career advisor at school thought I would be able to achieve. Both vocations are admirable and worthy, but come on, just two career options for a working-class girl from Reading?

I had several passions growing up in the UK as the second daughter of two Bajan immigrants. I loved sport, specifically athletics, and I loved travel. The excitement of going to the airport, getting on a plane and flying to a new destination was a very special and rare occurrence in my household. I treasured it. I also loved TV advertising as much as I loved the TV programmes. I would critique the ads, think about whom they were trying to talk to, and think of better ideas as to how they could get their message across.