In many ways, London is exactly what I’ve expected it to be. Perhaps, that's due to me being a little overzealous this summer having spent my days, watching an abundance of vlogs and obsessively updating my Pinterest board on things to do in London it almost feels as though I’ve been here before. To describe London as beautiful feels like an understatement. In short, it’s a grand and varied City with a rich and colorful history, and I can’t wait to further explore that it has to offer me.
My favorite place I’ve visited thus far has been Brixton Village Market. Brixton was one of the places I’d been most excited to see as I’d heard it was the “black” section of London, with a large Carribean and West African population. While London is indeed very much a diverse city and there’s hasn't been a shortage of black people near my hotel and while I’ve been walking around the District of Brixton had a palpable energy exuding from it from from the minute I stepped out of the Tube Station. The main strip had an abundance of shops, street vendors, people passing out flyers, a man with a microphone preaching his religion, I was immediately reminded of 52nd street in Philadelphia. I was very much interested in how my dad and I would be received when we arrived in Brixton because although we are indeed black, we are African American with little knowledge of where our “roots” lie. The waitress at a Nigerian restaurant was all too excited to encounter us as she told us she’d only seen African Americans on tv, and as we know, that's not always the best or most accurate representation!
Although, Brixton was for sure a majority black area, all too familiar were the first stages of Gentrification. The gap between the old and new stores was very evident and it's interesting to note that the issue of gentrification and the displacement of black and brown communities much be talked about from a global perspective. Just a thought! xx