Earlier today, when I said I would love to get out of the UK for a bit, a friend suggested I go to Belfast. I replied, "Are you serious? I'll get Kneecapped." He hadn't listened to this interview with Gerry Carroll, MLA for the People Before Profit Party.

Then he said, "Why don't you get on a boat somewhere?" And I replied, "Are you serious? I don't want to get schedule sevened!" He hadn't read my interview with the co-founders of Palestine Action.
Then he said, "Well, then you can appeal to the Labour party for help." And I replied,"You can't be serious? Have you read this? They hate black people, especially black women" 😒

Then he said, “Sam you're being a bit dramatic aren't you?" And I replied,
"Are you joking? Did you listen to my interview with Spy cops expert Tom Fowler?"!
He again replied, “No”, and I said, “Not even part two, where he told me what to look out for in an undercover Spy Cop?
By this point I'm at a loss ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Then he said, "Maybe the UK chapter of Women in Journalism UK could help.
After all, their international CEO just did an interview with the Guardian. "
I replied, "Maybe" 😔

Then he said, "Do a political protest and set a Shakespeare play on fire perhsps?," and I replied, "OMG, are you serious? I can't do that. Haven't you read this? Douglas Murray or someone from the Academy of Ideas will accuse me of denigrating Shakespeare!”

So then he said. "Well, at least you have a lawyer!" And I replied, "Yes, at least I have that."
That said it does remind me that I emailed the National Union of Journalists Freelance branch, 5 days ago and they still haven't replied, despite an automatic message saying they would be in touch within 2 to 3 days.

Last month I asked Maire who wrote this article whether these people wanted to kill me. She didn't directly answer but did say,
“I think it's good idea, to take note of your exact location coordinates, the time and any other details about the tag, I'm not sure how they work exactly. But document what you can, so you can send to access now, and they can advise you properly. Stay with people you trust ❤️
I really think you should stay with friends until you feel safe. I know they were useless before but if you are feeling this unsafe you should go to the police. Report feeling unsafe and feeling you are being followed. I understand you feeling so stressed, and I want you to be safe above anything else. Please report to the police if you feel it can escalate. From my experience, working with journalists this is generally a tactic to intimidate and doesn't escalate physically, and speaking publicly as you have normally helps too but you need to do the best for you right now. Secure your digital security with the help of the experts and go to police, maybe you know a friendly officer? And document everything."
Whilst I don't know any friendly police officers, I have documented everything. It is a habit I have.
Thanks to my bestie Nate for prompting this experiment. Of course, all bar the first two secenarios are from the recesses if my overactive brain. Thanks for reading.
P.S I know there is going to be some non-black women and/or middle class women who try to take my experiences and use them as their own. Trust me, I will hunt you down if you do and you will catch these hands.