Stories Seldom Told

"I remember going into the Miss England competition being told by my organisers, just go take part -the Asian girls never do  well. And I basically got told you're not going to win because the Asian girls don't do well. And I remember being at the competition and confirming this bias. "

Dr Bhasha Mukherjee is the reigning Miss England and NHS front line worker in the battle against the Covid 19 pandemic.

"I mean, I say to people in this country, you know, not everybody who voted for Trump is an idiot. There were a lot of smart people who voted for the guy, just look at the numbers. You look in London with Brexit, a lot of smart educated people voted for Boris Johnson. And I don't think you can dismiss that."

David Knaus is a collector and patron, focused on photography and  contemporary arts - he works actively with photographers consulting on the placement of their archives so their work is both preserved and accessible.

“If you're able to speak many languages, this means you're able to live many lives, or be immersed in many identities.”

“Be the best version of yourself and then the world will adjust to you eventually.”

Dr. Ghida Ibrahim is a global citizen with many hats; a technologist, a data scientist, a tech for good entrepreneur, a community builder, a lecturer, a speaker who has appeared on TEDx, a World Economic Forum appointed domain expert and an occasional standup comedian.

“You are different - your accent speaks of privilege. Foreign living and foreign exposure, and therefore you're not authentically one of us is what some people think. Accent can be used to separate people from the person noticing the accent.”

Shashi Tharoor, author of 20 books, former Under Secretary General of the United Nations, current Member of Parliament of Trivandrum, Kerala and my brother.

"What happened to me is that because of unconscious bias, I was stolen from my mother, I was stolen from my family. I was brought up in institutions, with foster parents who I believe, had a lot of unconscious biases towards people of colour."

Google the name “Lemn Sissay” and all the returning hits will be about him, because there is only one Lemn Sissay in the world. Lemn Sissay is a BAFTA nominated award winning writer, international poet, performer playwright, artist and broadcaster and Chancellor of The University of Manchester. He was awarded an MBE for services to literature.

"I was injured in 2011 while working in Afghanistan. I stepped on a landmine and lost my legs and my arm. I was 39 years old when that happened. And I went from being a white, privileged, middle class English man who travelled the world who had a very privileged position( and I was aware of that) to somebody who's living with a very serious disability. And it was interesting because I suddenly saw how the world treated me differently."

Giles Duley is a documentary photographer and storyteller, whose work focuses on the long term impact of conflict. Giles is also the CEO of the charity, Legacy of War foundation. https://www.legacyofwarfoundation.com/

"I was at an international conference and had a very interesting conversation with one of the speakers who had walked up to my table. But when I met him outside at the end of the conference,  he was shocked with disbelief on his face when he saw me walking with a caliper because he had no idea that I had a disability."

Neena Bhandari has been a career journalist for over three decades. She has worked in India, the UK and Australia, writing on a range of issues from Health and Science to Environment and Development, gender and human rights to travel and indigenous issues.

"The minute I would do the role of an educated woman, an affluent person, I will immediately be told either by the director or the camera person or the makeup person that I know you don't like to lighten your skin. But just for this, could you, because this is an educated open character."

Nandita Das is an actor and director who has acted in more than 40 feature films in 10 different languages. Nandita has passionately supported the campaign against colour bias,  ‘India’s Got Colour’. She was conferred the ‘Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters’ by the French Government and was the first Indian to be inducted into the Hall of Fame at the International Women’s Forum.

The charity Nandita supports  "India's Got Colour"  

"I accepted transgender people, but in my head, and this was something that I wouldn't say to anyone, I sort of thought, oh, isn't that weak to change your body like, shouldn't you accept your own body?"

AJ Juer is a transgender guy living in New Zealand. He's currently based in Christchurch, where he studied at the National Academy of singing and Dramatic Art. AJ has a degree in performing arts, and is now pursuing a career as an actor.

"And one thing about our culture that makes it a little challenging for us when we come abroad and places like the UK and the US, some of the biases and the discrimination goes straight over our heads, because we're not accustomed to it."

Cheryl Hernandez is an executive trainer, life coach, author and international  speaker from Trinidad & Tobago who has spent over 40 years helping clients to improve their personal and professional relationships – from CEOs to teenagers. Formerly a music teacher and ordained minister, Cheryl is known for her ability to turn difficult students and employees around.