Not Quite Right For Us

Our early years should be carefree, stress-free, worry-free. Yet all too often we’re made to feel ‘not quite right’ in some way, whether that’s because of the way we dress, the music we like — or, more insidiously, because of the colour of our skin. School days bring their own issues of peer pressure too, teaching lessons way beyond the classroom...

In this episode we hear ‘The Nod’ by Joshua Idehen ‘Prodigal’ by Maame Blue, and ‘Bodies’ by Shagufta Sharmeen Tania. Our guide is writer, curator and producer Amina Jama.   We take family for granted, don’t we? Even when they may be dysfunctional, there’s always the odd memory of some happy moments, at least. But family – whether blood or chosen – can be hard work too...

Friends, the people we choose to let into our lives, can be a joy and give us the support we need … but they can also make us feel ‘not quite right’...

When is a job ‘not quite right’? For Colin Grant it was when he encountered structural racism in the heart of the BBC establishment; for Johny Pitts, it was when he learned the hard lesson that the 1990s wasn’t a post-racial world; and for Fergal Harte’s narrator, it’s when an editor suggests only certain people can be ‘bad guys’.   Very few of us can avoid working but, even if we do manage to hook that ‘dream’ job, it doesn’t stay perfect for long...

The idea of travel brings with it the promise of exotic places filled with interesting people, and images of glittering beaches and crystal clear water, or adventure, relaxation, or even a family holiday. But that’s for those who are able to come and go as they please: one person’s exploration is another’s exploitation...

Love touches us all at some point — from dependable familial bonds to the warm comfort of childhood pets, from the heady perfume of romance to the cherished appreciation of community, culture, country. The physical and emotional connections transcend barriers, cross generations and borders. And yet, love can sometimes be ‘not quite right’, taking where it should be giving, causing destruction — even as we still love...

In these days of restrictions, the quieter, slower pace of the world is a good time to reflect on how our yesterdays have created what we are today. From the personal trials of overcoming prejudice and creating ground-breaking, often lonely, paths, to the political decisions to stand up for equality and make visible that which has been hidden, these are stories of being ‘not quite right’ that need to be shared...

Looking back at history and relating it to today helps us all reach for tomorrow. Although things may have been ‘not quite right’ at one time or another (or even now) there is always hope — and there are always things we can do to come together to make real change.   Today & Tomorrow collide as our three unflappable authors shake off the burdens of the present; examine and explore today’s unequal world with precision, instinct and guile; and re-imagine a different (better?) future...