"Collaboration" Background Summary
Inspired by a Portuguese initiative featuring 45 authors and numerous editors
(https://escapegoat.world/ ) Slough Libraries & Culture have formed a group of Slough writers to create a collaborative novel that explores the very pertinent themes of oppression, prejudice, kinship and love similarly addressed in Noughts and Crosses (one of the BBC’s ‘Novels that shaped our world’). Writers and editors aged 18 and over of all levels of experience are welcome to get involved, for further details email Volunteer & Development Officer Joseph Sammon at joseph.sammon@slough.gov.uk
Each chapter will be written by a different writer and edited by members of the group and will be released on Tuesdays and Fridays each week on this website. Chapters will be accompanied by a short biography on each writer.
"Collaboration"
Chapter Four
Legacies
By Sudhana Singh
(Edited by Y. Moodley)
‘I’m losing her’, Brandon raked his fingers through his hair.
‘No mate, it’s just Keisha’s passion for Equality Now’, Andrew replied.
Brandon looked around the pub. It had been frequented by the Williams family for generations. He leaned towards Andrew: ‘How do I compete with a bloke like Kwame? His activism stirs something deep within her. A call to right their legacy of prejudice and microaggressions. Her eyes light up when he speaks at rallies.’
‘Look, Keisha’s just worried about Kwame being in the hospital - that’s all. But yeah, they do share that dark legacy - Keisha, Kwame and Jamal.’
Brandon nodded: ‘Yeah bro, I didn’t realise how that legacy hovers over them until I met Keisha. I’m beginning to see what she means by white privilege. She says Equality Now isn’t about rebellion. Rebellion gives it the connotation that equality is not her right. I just don’t want to lose her.’
‘Remember she chose you mate. All the ladies fall for the Williams blue eyes. Besides, I’ve never seen you catch feelings so quick. You guys have something real.’
Brandon allowed that truth to sink in. They were good together, sharing their dreams and supporting each other. And he would be lying if he didn’t admit to enjoying having heads turn when Keisha walked into a room. She was the complete package - hot, smart, beautiful. But she brought out a tenderness in him that he had never felt for any girl.
He thought back to their first meeting. His PR firm was retained by Morgan & Blake LLP, the most prestigious human rights law firm in Sharnford. Their new client, Unity Crusade, needed local PR to manage the narrative in the growing media storm surrounding their case.
He was taking the lift to the meeting room when he saw her. She was a junior solicitor then. At first, in the vein of all his previous relationships, it was just fun. A few months after they started dating, she introduced him to her estranged friend Kwame. He saw their connection immediately. Brandon was no fool; he was going to lock this one down. He asked Keisha to move in with him.
The lockdown brought them closer. For the first few weeks, he had chafed at the restrictions. He felt caged, unable to work, hang out with his mates, or follow his daily gym ritual. Keisha introduced new rituals. They cooked together. Who was he kidding? She cooked and he cleaned up after. They talked for hours, swapped family stories, and laughed about their mutual friends’ dates. Then, one day it deepened. He felt a fierce desire to protect her as he recalled the first time, she confided in him. They were out taking their exercise:
‘Babe, can we make a run for it and go beyond our neighbourhood just once? This two-metre distance is driving me crazy. How can anyone tolerate it?’
Keisha stopped jogging, removed her face mask, and looked deep into Brandon’s eyes.
‘I’ve been told to keep my distance my whole life. So has my family. When we moved to our new home, a neighbour rang the doorbell. I ran to answer expecting the usual casserole and welcome. A lady popped by to tell Daddy to maintain our flower beds so that house prices didn’t fall. Daddy’s email application at the local golf club somehow didn’t reach the intended recipient for months. I was constantly asked where I learnt to speak such good English. Mum was told that she was destroying the planet with her big car, even though the entire neighbourhood was strewn with Chelsea tractors.
After a few months, I was thrilled when I was invited to a sleepover. Finally, we were accepted. When I got to my friend’s, we all raced upstairs to call dibs on our space with our sleeping bags. At bedtime, I saw that it had been moved from the middle of the row of bags to the far end; more than one-metre distance away from the others. My colour was like a virus that they were afraid to catch. The adults had a party that night and our host introduced me first, showing me off. I was the “sweet, little girl” with cornrow braids amidst the others. It was not my last invitation. Everyone always wanted pretty Keisha, who was so articulate and well-mannered. Optics, right?’
Brandon felt a knot of pain in his belly as he recalled Keisha sharing the bigotry she encountered as she went through other milestones. But this was modern-day Sharnford. It didn’t happen here, did it? And it would be terribly rude to name it. It simply wasn’t the done thing. That would give it power and meaning. Worse still, a platform to be addressed.
Racism in Sharnford, like the rest of the country, was very real. Subtle but chilling. Keisha was made to believe that she was making it all up. What was the term she used? Gaslighting. He shook his head as if to erase her hurt.
He missed her. She laughed at his lame jokes, rolled her eyes when he burnt the food and they talked about everything. Except, the one thing he never shared with anyone. The Williams men were not just famed for their legacy of blue eyes. Their wealth and social standing had begun 250 years ago with hard work and perseverance. As slave traders. As a PR man, Brandon understood perfectly well how optics worked.
‘Hey Brandon - your phone - it’s Keisha,’ Andrew interrupted his reverie.
Brandon slid to answer: ‘Hey Babe, my spag bol was so bad, even I ran off. I’m coming home. I need to tell you something.’
Writers Biography: Sudhana SinghSudhana Singh gained recognition as a storyteller when her memoir Kindness, Kale & Kettlebells: A journey to self-awareness earned international acclaim. It is a Silver Winner in the prestigious Nautilus Book Awards and was shortlisted for the Next Generation Indie Book Awards in the Social Justice category. The Wishing Shelf Awards write that it is ‘A powerful look at racism… an awakening for a reader who is not directly affected by racism...[and that] ....only by speaking out will things ever change…’ This narrative positioned Sudhana’s brand as one that elicits social justice and imbues resilience. Before venturing into writing she was a business school lecturer and Headteacher. Her latest book Boss Branding: Seven Ways to Craft a Legendary Story Brand enables you to extract the story residing deep within you as you rewrite your narrative during turbulence. Sudhana is an executive coach and Director at Imbue Coaching & Publishing.
CHAPTER FIVE COMING 28/08/2020
Disclaimer: This chapter is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organisations, and places are used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead is purely coincidental.