And living in a metropolitan area which is ethnically diverse, our lives are very complicated, so our emotional experiences are going to be varied like that.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
My stories deal with multicultural situations as well as multigenerational settings.
I grew up in an environment in Birmingham that was really multicultural, with black kids, Irish kids, Indian kids.
It's really important to share the idea that being different might feel like a problem at the time, but ultimately diversity is a strength.
In a multicultural, diverse society there are countless ways in which people negotiate the everyday lived experience and reality of diversity.
Life is a very emotional experience.
I really feel that I had a genuinely diverse, multicultural upbringing, and I just don't find New York to be quite as diverse. Maybe I'm romanticising, but I feel that I was exposed to a real melting pot in terms of culture and pop culture. My kids are essentially middle-class, but I do try to remind them that they come from humble beginnings.
The experience of being a mixed person is all over the place - one of my best friends is Chinese and Italian; my other best friend is Lebanese and Trinidadian. The mix of heritage, culture or identity is something that our country is built on.
Each country has its own way of communicating a narrative and, through that, expressing family experiences in emotional stories.
Our minds do understand that people of all races find genuine love in many places. We dig that the world is full of amazing options.
I grew up in a culturally radical home, where strong emotions were forbidden.