‘As a child, my classmates said they wouldn’t let black people touch them’ ✍️ The singer talks about exploring her heritage in the new series of ‘My Grandparents’ War’ – and the racism she encountered growing up 🟠 KasiaLDelgado interviews emelisande
remembers playing tag in the playground with a girl from her class. Sandé caught her classmate, who then stopped, turned to her and said: “My mum says I shouldn’t let black people touch me.” This is one of many similar moments that singer-songwriter Sande, 35, experienced as the only black child at school growing up in 90s rural Aberdeenshire.
“I’ve never grown up seeing dad be a Zambian man fully, so in a way it wasn’t until my early twenties that I really met my dad properly, and that was when I really started to understand how hard it must have been in Aberdeenshire, and the sacrifices he made for us to be here and enjoy what the UK offers”.
Sandé ’s parents still live in the Aberdeenshire village she grew up in, and she loves going back there to see them and have a break from her life in east London.