Reggie's voice

I was born in Hackney and grew up in Edmonton, the eldest of three brothers. I spent most of my younger life in the Scouts, and I was always very active as a child. I went to an all-boys school where there was a lot of racism – mostly against the Indians, but we were called names too. There was a lot of bullying, this was when the National Front were active. I knew from when I was young that I wanted to be an Electronic Engineer – my dad was one and my grandad before him. I worked hard to get a degree because from the age of eleven I felt that as a Black person I had to get better qualifications than others. At school there was a lot of pressure for the Black boys to do sports– I quit the football team in my final year to focus on my studies but there was pressure to keep playing. Many years later I met a teacher from my school and she said the other boys – especially Black boys – looked up to me, because they could see I worked hard as well as being good at sport. 

It took me a year to get the job that I wanted after I got my degree. In the 90s l worked for a stockbroking company – IT was getting really big then and you could earn tons of money. The company was made up mainly of middle-class White men.  There was very open discrimination against anyone that was different. Women had to put up with sexist jokes. I was called the N word, ‘black bastard’ – ‘normal’ things for the time. That lasted a few years, but there’s a happy ending because I became a supervisor and by then the brokers really respected me. If they wanted a job done they came to me. After four years as a supervisor I became a project engineer. I learnt a lot, technically, mentally and physically. When I was a supervisor I was interviewing people, and it just so happened that 70% of the engineers were Black or Asian – it wasn’t positive discrimination – I always picked the best person for the job – but they probably had a better chance with me interviewing them.  

In my 20s, I helped run a Saturday school for African/Caribbean children. It was totally independent, we had to raise our own funds. It was hard but so fulfilling, and feeling that we were educating the next generation really balanced out working for a stockbroking company that was all about money. We had a reunion recently and it was really moving, all the ex-pupils saying it had a really positive influence on them. That was one of the highlights of my life and I’m really proud of what we did. Currently I mentor young Black boys in Hackney.

I’ve always been into sport. I played golf for about 18+ years, and I was one of the early founder members of the African/Caribbean golf society. I‘ve been doing triathlons for the past eight years – and there aren’t many Black people doing that. I’m lucky to have the resources for things like golf and triathlons, which aren’t cheap. I also help run a group for polymaths – people who are curious about many things. I play the African drums, the guitar and the keyboards. I juggle and help run a group where we go to London parks and juggle and people can come and learn if they want to. I’m into art, mostly sketching and painting. I do other things but too many to mention! I’m not the type of person to just sit in front of the TV. I’ve taught my family, plus lots of adults and children how to do the Rubik’s cube – my son can do it in 24 seconds, my daughter in 27. I’m a slacker – it takes me 29. 

I’m currently working as a Network Engineer and happily married for 21 years with two children in their early 20’s. I don’t see myself as middle aged – as recently I got a personal best doing a triathlon. Growing old at the moment so far is ok, as my body and my mind are still holding up. If you rewind, my dad didn’t do half the stuff I’m doing. It’s different times now, as we are able to do much more at this age than people used to.