I come from the English and American Lowlands.
My mother was born and raised in the British Fenlands. Lowlands stretching to Holland.
Fenlanders defended their right to common land and culture. ‘Tamed’ marshlands and meres, mazes of waterways and rich silty soil. Dominated by a web of monasteries and churches towering over the landscape. Difficult land to navigate, insular, hostile and distrusting of outsiders.
My biological father’s homelands were rural South Carolina – salt marshes and swamplands. Mazes of shallow waterways, magical old trees laden with Spanish Moss, old plantations heavy with the legacy of African- and Native- American terror.
Both are landscapes perfect for hiding, disappearing. Cultures driven by a strong sense of who they are and their place in the world.
Early Life
I grew up in the 1970s and 80s, surrounded by bee bop and British jazz, pubs and mystery about who I was.
I was raised by my English mother, Val, and her husband, Colin on a council estate in Peterborough, a working class city in the UK’s East Anglia.
Despite them telling us we were their children, my brother and I did not look like our parents. Their skin was white. Our skin wasn’t.
We’ve had a lifelong journey of discovering who were are and what that means for us and our families.
Professional Career
I’ve been a sociologist for over three decades, working in the not-for-profit, academic and public sectors across the UK and Australia.
I inform social policy, through research and advocacy.
I focus on how to address disadvantages that are created by the way we think and act and the way our societies construct barriers for some people to thrive.
I’m interested in how to nurture positive identities and wellbeing for all of us – no matter where we start in life.
My work is driven by my commitment to social justice, social equity, and enhancing community wellbeing.
You can see examples of my work in ‘Research and Policy’.
