‘I was waiting for the ghost of Martin Luther King Jr to appear and be like, “We did not march on Washington so you can fantasise about getting beat up by some white guy”.’  This is how African American BDSM practitioner Mollena Lee Williams-Haas, 57, felt the first time she ever considered participating in race play in 1994.

The Black British community is as diverse as it is nuanced. Though many of us have skin tones, facial features and hair textures in common, our (ethnic) roots lead to lands far beyond the birthplace of the diaspora.

Ask yourself this: who’s that one friend you always think about alongside their partner? Or the couple you couldn’t ever imagine splitting up? Is it possible you no longer think of them as two separate individuals, but instead view them as one unit?

Society teaches us that our childhood years should be some of the best of our lives – a time when we should experience the most joy and have the least responsibility.