Wait, I'm Black?!

In this episode of Wait, I’m Black?!, Michael sits in conversation with Brenda King MBE FRSA – CEO of ACDiversity.

Growing up in Barbados, Brenda never saw herself through the lens of race. Returning to the UK, she gradually came to realise that other people often did, and that those perceptions could carry consequences far beyond a single encounter.

Together, they explore how racialisation can give ordinary people the perceived authority to exercise extraordinary power over the lives of others: to define who we are, police our presence, diminish our humanity, and sometimes leave wounds that endure long after the moment itself has passed.

This is a conversation about identity, belonging, and the hidden power of assumptions, and what happens when one stranger's judgement is allowed to shape another person's life.

If you’d like to follow the journey, subscribe wherever you get your podcasts or follow us on Instagram @wibpodcast. And if you – or someone you know – has a “Wait, I’m Black?!” moment you’d like to share, we’d love to hear from you.

In this episode of Wait, I’m Black?!, Michael sits in conversation with Tjivejo Pennylope Kapere – Founder and Director of Ubuntu Community Network.

Growing up in Namibia under the legacy of apartheid, Pennylope never expected that some of the biggest barriers she would face in the UK would come not from overt hostility, but from the assumptions people made about what she was capable of.

Together, they explore how low expectations can influence education, opportunity, and confidence, the importance of challenging other people's assumptions, and the determination it takes to define your own future.

This is a conversation about identity, resilience, and the quiet assumptions that shape opportunities and futures.

If you’d like to follow the journey, subscribe wherever you get your podcasts or follow us on Instagram @wibpodcast. And if you – or someone you know – has a “Wait, I’m Black?!” moment you’d like to share, we’d love to hear from you.

In this episode of Wait, I’m Black?!, Michael sits in conversation with Maurice Mcleod – CEO of Olmec, Councillor, social commentator, and media executive.

Growing up in the UK, Maurice came to recognise something many people never have to think about: the constant awareness of being seen as Black before being seen simply as a human being.

Together, they explore what it means to carry that awareness through everyday life, the rare moments when it falls away, and the profound freedom of being seen as a human being first.

This is a conversation about identity, belonging, and the subtle ways racialisation shapes not only how others see us, but how we come to see ourselves and move through the world.

If you’d like to follow the journey, subscribe wherever you get your podcasts or follow us on Instagram @wibpodcast. And if you – or someone you know – has a “Wait, I’m Black?!” moment you’d like to share, we’d love to hear from you.

In this episode of Wait, I’m Black?!, Michael sits in conversation with Grace Mosuro – inclusion specialist, speaker and advocate – about moving to the UK as a child, and the experiences that transformed her understanding of race, identity and belonging.

Grace reflects on being called the N-word for the first time. Her first reaction was not outrage, but confusion, only gradually realising it was directed at her.

They explore what happens when the way you see yourself collides with the way the world sees you, and discuss identity, belonging, exclusion, representation, and the subtle ways people learn where they are – and are not – expected to fit. Grace also reflects on how these experiences have informed her work and her commitment to helping create environments where people feel seen, valued and able to thrive.

This is a thoughtful conversation about race, self-discovery, and the moments that can fundamentally change how we understand ourselves and our place in the world.

If you would like to follow the journey, you can subscribe wherever you get your podcasts or follow us on Instagram (@wibpodcast). And if you – or someone you know – has a “Wait, I’m Black?!” moment you’d like to share, you are welcome to reach out.

In this episode of Wait, I’m Black?!, Michael sits in conversation with Christine Kinnear – award-winning Founder and CEO of With Insight Education – about growing up Black in the UK, the lasting impact of early racial experiences, and the quiet ways underrepresentation shapes what people, especially young people, believe is possible for them.

Christine reflects on encountering racism at a painfully young age. But this conversation also explores something less obvious: the impact of what isn’t present – the absence of representation, visibility, and affirmation in the spaces young people grow up within.

They discuss how children absorb messages about belonging, value, and potential long before they fully understand race, and why seeing yourself reflected in positions of possibility matters more than many realise.

This is a thoughtful conversation about identity, aspiration, and the subtle ways the world teaches people where they do, or do not, belong.

If you would like to follow the journey, you can subscribe wherever you get your podcasts or follow us on Instagram (@wibpodcast). And if you – or someone you know – has a “Wait, I’m Black?!” moment you’d like to share, you are welcome to reach out.

In this episode of Wait, I’m Black?!, Michael sits in conversation with Fizza Qureshi – CEO of a migration charity, campaigner, and mother of two.

Growing up as a Pakistani girl in a predominantly white working-class area in the UK, Fizza reflects on the subtle and overt ways race shaped her childhood long before she had language for it.

From school experiences and neighbourhood hostility to feeling pressure to hide parts of her identity in order to fit in, she explores what it means to grow up learning how not to stand out.

This conversation touches on belonging, racialisation, assimilation, and the journey of reclaiming identity – not only for yourself, but for the next generation.

If you would like to follow the journey, you can subscribe wherever you get your podcasts or follow us on Instagram (@wibpodcast). And if you – or someone you know – has a “Wait, I’m Black?!” moment you’d like to share, you are welcome to reach out.

In this episode of Wait, I’m Black?!, Michael sits in conversation with Martha Awojobi – a consultant, coach, and creator of Uncharitable Political Education.

Martha reflects on growing up navigating identity without always having the language or clarity to make sense of it.

She shares what it felt like to exist between worlds as a mixed-race person, where belonging wasn’t always straightforward, and where external perceptions didn’t always align with her internal experience.

As the conversation unfolds, she explores how those early dynamics shaped her understanding of race, power, and the systems we move through, and how that awareness has evolved over time.

This episode explores complexity, contradiction, and the ongoing process of making sense of who you are when the world doesn’t always make space for nuance.

If you’d like to follow the journey, you can subscribe and follow us on Instagram (@wibpodcast). And if you – or someone you know – has a “Wait, I’m Black?!” moment you’d like to share, you are welcome to reach out.

In this episode of Wait, I’m Black?!, Michael sits in conversation with Wellington Makala – a Chief Nurse in the NHS and an experienced, passionate healthcare leader.

Wellington grew up in Zimbabwe with a strong sense of who he was – shaped by family, belonging, and purpose, not race.

When he moved to the UK, something shifted.

He reflects on the moment race stopped being abstract and began to carry weight – and how that realisation has shaped his experiences of work, belonging, and identity ever since.

This episode explores what it means to lose a certain kind of ease, to become newly aware of how you are seen, and the ongoing effort to hold on to who you are in the face of it.

If you’d like to follow the journey, you can subscribe and follow us on Instagram (@wibpodcast). And if you – or someone you know – has a “Wait, I’m Black?!” moment you’d like to share, you’re welcome to reach out.

This introductory episode sets the stage for Wait, I’m Black?! — a podcast about the moment when race stops being abstract and starts to matter.

These are stories about the moment when race stops being abstract and starts to matter. It’s a reflective space with moments of warmth and humour, and honest conversations that make visible how race shows up in everyday life – sometimes quietly, sometimes suddenly, sometimes in ways people only understood years later.

In this episode, I share why this series exists, what inspired it, and what you can expect from the conversations ahead. The first guest episodes are coming soon.

If you’d like to follow the journey, you can subscribe and follow our page on Instagram (wibpodcast) or on YouTube (www.youtube.com/@WIB-Podcast). And if you or someone you know has a “Wait, I’m Black?!” moment you’d like to talk about on the podcast, you are welcome to reach out.