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Kia Abdullah
@KiaAbdullah
Author. WHAT HAPPENS IN THE DARK is out now.
Joined August 2009
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    I did a 90-stop tour of my @TfL billboards and posters. If Iโ€™d known it would take 27 hours over 2.5 days, I wouldn't have attempted it, but here we are. Please enjoy my journey from Uxbridge to Hatton Cross to Theydon Bois and the many โ€“ oh god, so very many โ€“ places in between.
    00:00
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    Next week, my working-class Bengali family marries into a working-class white family. We decided to wear western dress to fit in with them. Today I found out that they're wearing Asian clothes to fit in with us. โ™ฅ๏ธ
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    Last week, I signalled for the bill in a restaurant. A young couple were sitting next to me and the girl said to the boy, "Do you know why they ask for the bill like that? Because you used to have to sign it." And now I will die of old age.
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    Do all Muslim women in the public eye have to speak for all Muslim women or are they allowed to, yโ€™know, speak for themselves? Asking for several friends.
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    When I was eight years old, Prince Charles visited my school, Cayley Primary in Tower Hamlets. I wanted to meet him but it was after school hours and I had to go to the laundrette with my mum. I wish I could tell that kid that, one day, sheโ€™d be a guest of the King of England.
    An invitation for Kia Abdullah to a reception at The Palace of Holyroodhouse by The King and The Queen Consort.
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    Replying to @Sathnam
    I once took a massive mouthful of noodles only to discover they were strips of raw fish. Swallowed it obviously.
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    how it started vs how itโ€™s going
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    Trying to do my makeup while listening to @nazirafzal on #DesertIslandDiscs was a mistake. Weeping. What an extraordinary man. ๐Ÿ™๐Ÿฝ
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    In the @guardian today talking about my efforts to relearn Bengali after struggling to talk to my mum.
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    Earlier this year, I was having drinks with some friends: two barristers, a restaurateur, an MBA student and a photographer. At one point, the restaurateur โ€“ I'll call her T โ€“ mentioned that her family used to get bricks through their window where she grew up in Hampshire. (1/7)
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    Ohhh myyy god. My first ever billboards. ๐Ÿ‘‡๐Ÿฝ There will be around 100 going live from Monday. If you see one, please snap a pic and send it to me! Full site list here: bit.ly/kiaTFL. (Don't be afraid to include yourself in the pic.)
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    Replying to @KiaAbdullah
    If it doesn't happen to you, and no one tells you their stories, it's blissfully easy to believe that Britain isn't a racist country. We need stories like @AzeemRafiq30's to open our eyes to the present, just as T opened mine to the past. Thank you, Azeem, for speaking out. (7/7)
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    Someone told me today that brushing your teeth is the only time you clean your skeleton. I was *not* ready to receive this knowledge.
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    "Itโ€™s said that you donโ€™t know what you donโ€™t know and I realised how true this is. All my life Iโ€™d assumed that I was treated no differently, but I was wrong. Iโ€™d just never had a point of comparison." Me in @theipaper on buying a house with a white man.