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Those were the rules.It's a challenge she's even more determined to make following the death last month of African American George Floyd under the knee of a white police officer, sparking fresh Black Lives Matter protests around the world.I had gone away. "I am here, sharing my voice and my heart with you all, in the hope that we can be kinder and more accepting of each other's differences.New Zealand, we should care because the issue of racism is here, too. Hate is definitely something they are taught; so is racism.At first, being the new girl was really hard. They told the whole class that I was their friend and that I was a princess looking for friends to play with.As a mother, I am driven to speak up in memory of the grown man who cried for his mama in his final minutes on this earth.Here is why George Floyd's story is relevant to my own journey as an African mother living in New Zealand and the reasons why so many of us care so deeply about the events that led to his death.Each person living in this country deserves the right to feel safe, to live freely and be able to exercise freedom of expression.We need to accept there are communities that are robbed of these basic human rights.My name is Maimai. I had to be brave.They talked about being kind.

I saw my brother – lying there, in his place, not able to breathe.I cried until my tummy hurt.
A few weeks ago, we had a beautiful lady approach us at Botany Town Centre.My hope is that my daughter Maimai will have an easier future in this country. I am married to Arthur and we have a daughter, Maimai, and she's 8 years old.She countered by informing me that, 'This is how we refer to people who look like you in New Zealand, and if you don't like that, then go back where you came from'.I am opting to be 'colour brave' as opposed to being 'colour blind. Yes, she's back'.Be brave enough to come over and chat to us and challenge your own unconscious biases and assumptions about us and anyone who looks different from you – I promise you, you will be pleasantly surprised.Racism is the elephant in the room and the ugly story that most people in this country don't want to hear BUT we have to talk about it because silence is tantamount to complicity. They called me 'Princess Maimai'. We are citizens here. I always smile at everyone so they know I am kind, so they don't feel scared.As George cried out for his mama, the love he had for her was almost tangible, so real I could almost hear and feel it.How can we choose to not care in the face of such injustice?Another day, she told me I looked like the black pigs on her daddy's farm.I told mummy I did not want to go to school any more because I was invisible. Speaking up is the best legacy I can pass on to her and generations to come. New Zealand is their home. In fact, we are doing it now.Racism is a problem that exists and affects so many here, in New Zealand.

'Speaking of colour … I remember calling a school holiday programme to check if my daughter was back from an offsite day.How can we choose to remain silent in the face of such sadness?

I saw my dad.

Mummy told me that as long as I liked myself, I didn't need to be liked by everyone, and that if someone doesn't like me, there will always be someone else who will.My name is Taffy. 'There are no black princesses. This report established the continued need for collection of detailed ethnicity data and the need to measure ethnicity in a consistent way across all official statistics.Ethnicity is a key social factor used with other topics in describing the New Zealand population.

'They've also experienced the many kindnesses of others - friends and strangers - and they always "choose to see the beauty of the people around us".Mummy promised to be my friend at school. No one could see me and no one wanted to be my friend.The Auckland mum and her 8-year-old daughter are of African ethnicity and have been subjected to the most vile hate speech, faced hurtful personal insults and been told to "go back where you came from".We chose to settle in beautiful New Zealand because it is considered one of the safest countries in the world and the best country by far to raise children. She was always there at morning tea and lunch time after that.I remember trying to join into a circle where some girls were having lots of fun.The teachers and the principal came into our class the next day and again and again.Every day, they reminded the class that I was a princess and that the school was a kind school and everyone had to be friendly.

'Suffice to say, in our family, we don't subscribe to the whole 'black' and 'white' thing – we choose to see the beauty of the people around us – gorgeous humans and friends who are worthy of love and respect.The lady on the phone said, 'Oh, you're calling about that black kid. At the top level, there are six major ethnic groupings: European New Zealanders are a pan-ethnic group deriving from various nations in Europe. We love it here.Mummy told me I was beautiful, that the new girl was lying and that I was to ignore her mean words.Our life here in New Zealand, despite some of the challenges we have had to navigate around our race, is full of beautiful humans who restore our faith in humanity, over and over again.Then we have the common, 'My mummy told me not to play with you because you're black'.Mummy was my first friend at school.