Where You From?

Kwajo Tweneboa: “People are dying in poor living conditions and poor housing.”

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Episode notes

Those who use and exploit others must be held to account. I really hope that the receipts that Kwajo is airing, bring about the accountability and change that we need to see across the board. There is pride and strength in what “Where you from?” means to Kwajo - yet the concept has also seen him fight for drastic improvements to social housing. It’s cutting to hear Kwajo talk candidly about what he has seen both in his own life - and while out visiting people who are being mistreated by their housing associations. “Where you from?” isn’t solely about the location of where Kwajo grew up, or the places where he and his family have lived. And the idea of where we’re from isn’t solely about global geography, either. It’s about our background amongst other people - and how society responds to that. It’s about how society perceives that background, how it treats us as a result… and how ‘authority’ and a sense of hierarchy is built around all of this. Kwajo has witnessed first-hand, learned about, and held to account - the parts of society that are using others’ “where you from?” to their own advantage. He is addressing those who have been looking down on the people they are meant to be serving. It’s eye-opening to see Kwajo taking on the generic PR responses from some of the biggest corporations in social housing. Words are not good enough excuses anymore - they never were. So, I look forward to seeing real accountability across the sector - and across other spaces which use and abuse people because of where they are from. Let me know what you think of all of this - what stood out to you, what connected with you? I’m @lilliealmond on Twitter and @almondsweetness on Insta - see you there.