South London, my home away from home

October 2017 was the first time I set foot in Elephant & Castle. It was actually my first-ever visit to any part of South London, but it has since become a place that I can call my home away from home.

My actual hometown is Gravesend, Kent. It is the place where I was raised but not born, the area where my parent chose to settle all those years ago. But why doesn’t home feel like home?

I guess it could be one of several reasons. Growing up in a predominantly white neighbourhood was not simple. Yes, there were other ethnic minorities where we live, but I would never really feel as if I really belonged. Going to a school where you were the only black girl (not including your sister) didn’t make things any easier, either.

Being Nigerian comes with your parents making Nigerian food, and that means going to the only Afro-Caribbean food shop in town to buy the ingredients for said meals. Not to mention the hair, and having to go to the only existing afro-hair shop.

‘There’s a feeling of belonging and community that I have never really felt back home, and though I’m only here for uni, with each passing day that I am here, the more at home I feel.’

Having this be your reality can feel isolating, especially when you have no-one to share your experiences with outside of your immediate family.

Fast forward a few years from my childhood and teens, and I was making 20-something miles journey to South London to start my studies at university, and realising that all the things in short supply when I was young are abundant and be accessible in the capital.

I couldn’t count the number of times I’ve branched off to one of the many market stalls to buy ingredients for the jollof rice that I had been craving all week. I find myself at one particular shop on the Walworth Road quite often, and always get the same things: three plantains for £1, which is a bargain, the occasional cassava and some scotch bonnet chillis – all together and it’s less than a fiver.

Gravesend cannot compete with this, and it is one of the many small things that make me want to call this corner of South London my home forever.

Black-owned hair shops are a rarity, not just in Kent but in general. So for there to be one on Walworth Road is refreshing. TJ’s Beauty Products is another place where I’ve become a regular whether its to buy hair accessories or hair care, I’m always there. It’s definitely passed the point where I start learning the names of the staff.

Until these past three years, I’d never had the (welcome) problem of not knowing where to get my hair done because there are so many hair salons.

A few months ago I was in Peckham walking towards the Peckham Palms hair salon, when a lady came up to ask if I wanted my hair done. The only other time I can recall that happening was when I was in Nigeria a few years ago.

It’s also the pleasure of walking past one Afro-Caribbean food market thinking I didn’t need anything when in reality I did, but it was okay because there was two more up the road.

Being in an area where you are no longer a minority, is nourishing, to say the least. There’s a feeling of belonging and community that I have never really felt back home, and though I’m only here for uni, with each passing day that I am here, the more at home I feel.

Photo of East Street Market, off the Walworth Road courtesy of Alex Drainville via Flickr Creative Commons licence CC BY-NC 2.0