I’m a PhD candidate at @ExeterEnglish looking at journalistic archives from Caribbean writers in the UK from the 1950s-1980. Im hoping to share on 3 parts of my work today- PhD stuff, nature writing and I can never leave out reggae and Caribbean music.  

See mi yah=here i am

Obligatory about me, right? Lets go

Mum (RIP) was Jamaican and dad @idemamba is Guyanese. I was born in South London but all of my earliest memories are in Jamaica where I grew up. Here's a pic of my mum in the 70s and my Dad (and fave Uncle Dave) in the 90s. Little me in JA

Random fact: I had an unmedicated homebirth in Jamaica and it wouldnt be Kingston city if there wasn't a WATER LOCKOFF in the middle of it. Dont worry, the child is almost 8 and well. Here’s my Auntie (a midwife) who guided me through delivery a few days after this was taken

My auntie Tioma is Columbia and Yale educated but practices natural/holistic care. She is the reason I went into doula training. Ive been to more than 10 homebirths with her in NYC. I loved pregnancy and birthing and want more women to feel the same https://italmama.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/doula-diaries-my-first-birth-experience/

Told you I can never leave out reggae music, right? To anyone feeling a lil low today, listen to this tune from @jah9 and @ChronixxMusic . I often find myself repeating the hook, 'Im going to be okay, Im going to be okay'.

Auntie Tioma is in video too

You might be thinking, "this girl is all over the place". Trust me, it converges. I must say that even though my PhD is in lit, I have never really fit into 1 discipline. I’ve always used different methods of learning and understanding to interpret and plait my world together

I did a Masters of Research, part time, in Enviro, Energy and Resilience at U Bristol. I wanted to research land rights and indigineity spurred on by the case of Rasta at Pinnacle - the birthplace of Rastafari movement - which was slated for development https://zakiyamckenzie.com/2014/02/make-pinnacle-a-heritage-and-tourism-site/

**indigeneity

I ended up doing my final project on Guyana, Exxon and the billions of barrels of oil that have been found there. I spoke with reps from an indigenous peoples group, an environmental centre, an African reparations group and more. https://twitter.com/ZakiyaMedia/status/1192844416794472449?s=20

Other Guyanese people can attest to having to repeat, "Not Ghana in West Africa, Guyana in South America". This oil find had the potential to turn Guyana into another Dubai, the whole world would know it. That's not necessarily good https://twitter.com/ZakiyaMedia/status/1192844502047875072?s=20

While we're talking about dirty enviro practices I should mention that I lived and worked in South Africa as a journalist for 2 years before coming back to UK. I've written many things, but this headline, printed in the newspaper as such, is my proudest https://zakiyamckenzie.com/2014/02/zuma-says-frack-you-to-karoo/

I spent a few years in New York too, attending @SUNY_Purchase where again, my degree was interdisciplinary and similar to what I’m doing now. I made these short docs as a part of my graduating project. About Caribbean-American identities and migration.

These were made more than ten years ago, I dont wanna hear anything about sound and video quality LOL.

While in NY, I used to visit Latinx food and music spots with my friends and thats how I found the Orisha