(wish) you were here! - layla-roxanne hill (2024)

as part of Black Oot Here + There, i share some memories of Black people i’ve met + known over lifetimes in scotland. people who came + went, even if they stayed. 

these memories are shared as wish you were here postcards, using photographs i’ve taken of places in scotland + what i remember of the person written in a red ‘stamp’. 

the places in the photographs are not knowingly linked with the people I am remembering. 

my memory is affected by many things, such as time, nostalgia + circumstance. these rememberings reflect this + not the people themselves. 

in some cases, the full memory is provided alongside the postcard, to draw attention to why the fullness + layers of life can never be interpreted from a snapshot.

z: with lips so soft, i never forgot them. 

u: loved the sky + being (up) there, nearly as much as their drafty cottage on earth.

mrs p: would sit with layers of fabrics + unwavering faith in pages of scripture. whose home felt so alive + full of life compared to my own.

officer l: wore the united states of america navy uniform with pride (i now think possibly resentment).

e: whose beautiful Afro hair would always be kept in two large neat braids. knit painfully close to her scalp, as not to draw attention.

m: most days spent sitting outside, reading poetry + watching. so very (in)visible. 

layla-roxanne hill is an independent writer, researcher + organiser, living + healing in scotland. she thinks + feels about many things, including class + anti-colonial struggle, kula (care) + belonging + the way our conditions move us to act. she is also active in the trade union movement, holding elected positions within the bureaucratic machinery. layla-roxanne is co-author/dreamer with francesca sobande of Black Oot Here: Black Lives in Scotland (Bloomsbury, 2022), the freely available graphic novel + animation, Black Oot Here: Dreams O Us (2023) + the forthcoming book Look, Don’t Touch: Reflections on the Freedom to Feel (404 Ink, 2025). layla-roxanne likes rabbit holes, finding peace + connection + to lift heavy.

b: smelled of oil, movement + well-worn leathers. used an old ankara print rag as a bandana + for polishing new + old parts.