Growing up as one of the few black girls in her area Summer Davies said she was met with racist comments and bullying as soon as she started secondary school. "People would rip my trousers and stand on them because they were too big for me. They'd call me names and make fun of my hair texture. If I tried a new hairstyle they would make fun of it and mime things and laugh. It was really tough growing up and going to school because it felt like an additional challenge to actually studying," said Summer, who grew up in Swiss Valley, Llanelli.
Now Summer is 22 and works at a gaming company in London. She recently won an award for her outstanding academic achievements at the National Black History Youth Awards 2023 as a result of her excellent work on her graphic design degree at Swansea College of Art. But the years of bullying have left their mark on her as Summer said she still experienced low self-esteem and social anxiety.
"Once I went into the secondary education system I started to understand a bit more and see the lack of diversity in my area. This started to affect me more when I started getting bullied. I didn't see myself. I didn't see any representation of myself in the media or at school. There were barely any black pupils at school and I was bullied a lot," said Summer. For the latest Carmarthenshire news sign up to our newsletter here
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"Coming to school and having to deal with those issues as well as going to my lessons was really tough. I started to realise more and more what was happening and I didn't know how to defend myself. I just felt helpless. I didn't know why I was being treated so differently and it made me feel like I stood out for the wrong reasons. It was a really tough time and something developed [from the bullying]. I started to become more insecure and try to fit in even more and change my appearance. But no matter how much I changed myself it would still happen."
Summer, who is now an out and proud lesbian, said she tried to hide her sexuality in an effort to "fit in" amidst the daily bullying. "I wasn't into makeup or making my hair long with extensions. But I tried to do that. Even though I was really against that I still tried to fit in and appear more feminine," she said.
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Despite Summer's and her mother's efforts to deal with the bullying at her school by talking to staff she claimed the issue persisted for years. Summer said she felt there was a lack of understanding at the time of how severe it could be for a young black person facing racist treatment and discrimination at school.
As a teenager Summer found her escape from the troubles at school through playing video games and making friends online. This led to a love of video games and a dream of one day working in the gaming industry. After leaving school to go to college the bullying mostly stopped and she was able to focus on her studies. Summer studied graphic design, which she achieved an A* in, and history and media studies. After discovering her passion for graphic design she decided to continue studying the subject at Swansea College of Art, University of Wales Trinity Saint David.
"I used my university projects to reflect on the adversity and intense struggle I experienced at school as a young black girl from Llanelli," said Summer. "I have always been inspired by positive change and celebrating difference so I created campaigns that educate and highlight issues that still remain in strong effect."
One of Summer's campaigns at university focused on educating people on the politics and history of black people's hairstyles. The campaign slogans read 'Black hair is never just hair' and 'Stop wondering why you shouldn't touch my hair – learn about it'. After graduating Summer combined her love of gaming and graphic design and landed a job in the graphic design department of a gaming company in London.
On how she overcame those difficult teenage years to achieve her goals Summer said: "You can do anything. I wouldn't have imagined I'd be in London right now at a gaming studio straight out of uni but I managed to do it. I just kept focused and did what I had to do despite all the name-calling and being told I'm different.
"You struggle to love yourself and be proud of your hair – be proud of who you are, your race, your background. It's very difficult growing up but it's got better over the years. But I definitely think it still goes on. There needs to be more change, more awareness, and more conversations happening."
