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Tamarakile Koroye-Crooks
Words Sarah Adama
When I came across Tamarakile’s social media profile, I couldn’t help but ask myself, “Who is this?” Already I was drawn to the ambience and the aesthetics of her Instagram profile. I shift my eyes to her bio, which read “Elegance never goes out of style” and right below, lists three world renowned academic institutions – London School of Economics, University of Warwick, and Spelman College. Not only am I attracted to her presentation, but I can resonate with her personal style/expression - Well-fitted, chic, elegant, effortless mixed palette.
Behind her flair for fashion, Tamarakile is a Human and Civil rights scholar, currently feeding her interests in the Political Philosophy of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Like many innovators, she has recognised that AI’s growing supremacy, specifically human technology hybridity, Of course, without a tech background I struggled to understand. Out of curiosity, I asked her to elaborate.
“There is nothing ever straightforward with me and education was no exception.”
Take a few steps back and you will discover that Tamarakile’s journey up until this point has been the furthest thing from straightforward. Education is hardly ever a smooth trajectory for many, and she is no exception to this pattern. In fact, behind the many achievements, Tamarakile describes her academic experience as one that has been turbulent and tumultuous. As our conversation progresses, she shares with me the finer details of her journey, one she describes as non-linear. “I could definitely be described as a late bloomer,” she remarks. Though her brother was excelling in academics, Tamara found herself falling short of the standards set by her academic Afro-Caribbean parents.
There was no space to fall short. Fortunately, her parents’ early intervention put her on the path to success. “Having failed my maths at A-Levels and denied my initial place at the University of Warwick but I rolled my sleeves up and got on with the task at hand,” – she explains that her parents got her as far as her first university and the rest was personal responsibility, it was essentially up to her and nobody else to determine the course of her future. It was during her time on the Politics and International Studies course that her interests took her over 4000 miles across the world, to Atlanta, Georgia. Spelman College, the USA’s leading Historically Black College University (HBCU), provided the dynamic experience Tamara felt she had to experience before graduation. Even then, she faced hurdles along the way with university formalities, one of which was eliminated when a professor at her university gave her an honorable referral. “Spelman was a world away from my previous educational environments,” – she attempts to describe life at this world-renowned institution – “an all-female, all black, dry campus.” Of course, I am no US scholar, so she explained to me that a dry campus means there was no alcohol, no drugs, and no visitors allowed. Even on the occasion that students would have visitors, the protocol was so strict she felt as though she was in lockdown – ultimately one of her less favorable memories of being a scholar at this world-renowned institution. “I had never been taught by a black educator before. I seemed to be an unprecedented prospect too, marking the college’s first Russell Group student. It was a relationship of mutual novelties.”
It quickly became clear that the difficulties wouldn’t stop there, but despite enduring a difficult year, having to assimilate into a new environment and academic experience, Tamara graduated from Spelman College with a 3.9 GPA. As we speak, she reviews her time spent in Atlanta as one that has been quite beneficial, she has gained a wealth of experience, friends, professional contacts, and confidence. Since graduating from the University of Warwick, she has continued to carve herself out of a path.
Tamara has left a string of achievements in her trail. From working in the Delivery Unit of the Mayor of Freetown, Sierra Leone’s team, to being admitted to an MBA course at the prestigious Harvard Business School and completing an MSc at the London School of Economics and Political Science in Human Rights and Politics. I became quickly intrigued by her time in Sierra Leone, so I asked more questions.
I came to learn that she also experienced a very tragic event. She recalls being the victim of a car accident that has left her with permanent tissue damage. “There’s no reason to believe the driver of the Keke was under the influence, there’s no proof but we believe he was”- she uses her hands to signal the width of the road – “and he underestimated the size of the road and tried to get between several cars by overtaking. The car couldn’t fit. It must have been going at 30mph.” I also learned that a Keke is a vehicle with three wheels and no doors, used in developing countries. As Tamarakile recalls the graphic events, I can’t help but try and imagine what must have been going through her head at the time. Her eyes closed, amidst the commotion, the driver refuses to stop the car, she spares no details.
She explains that she was only saved because of the superiority complex, foreigners are given special treatment in many countries. With her two colleagues present –a Freetown local and a white Italian – the out-of-control vehicle was spotted by locals who began flagging to stop the car. “I blacked out by this point. I was told this and I could hear the commotion. People got the taxi driver, grabbed him out, and started beating him on the floor. They thought he was drunk.”
Conscious of the time, I steer the conversation to a conclusion. I ask the pressing question on my mind, the one I couldn’t end the interview without knowing. I had to know what sparked Tamarakile Koroye-Crooks's interest in fashion. “My mum is a fashionista. Like a quintessential fashionista,” she answers. Having developed her own personal style in her second year of university, Tamara decided she loved the expression of fashion and wanted to emulate the different meanings. “I was one of five black girls in school between Year 2 and Year 12,” at the time she had developed earlier than other peers – “and I couldn’t get away with wearing what they wore.” She quickly understood her parents’ concerns for her style and instead created her own genre of fashion. One which is chic, colourful, mature, and very much inspired by her fashionista mother. We all have first loves and fashion is TK’s. As she awaits her graduation from the London School of Politics and Economics, she spends her time working at a luxury shopping and retail store, Sellier Knightsbridge. Being able to observe the workings of a woman-owned, e-commerce business, she says has invigorated her own business acumen whilst developing her own personal style. As Tamara works towards a Ph.D. in the field of Philosophical Artificial Intelligence, she sees herself owning an E-commerce fashion company in the next 5 years.
The conversation draws to a close and just before we reflect on Tamarakile’s achievements, I ask her about the future of education. “An authentic de-colonization of the Euro/American curriculum is what I would like to see in education,” she remarks. As she acknowledges that we have record numbers of BAME students admitted to top universities, she believes that this should be matched by BAME faculties. “It is imperative that the scholarship being disseminated from top-down is neither destroyed nor corrupted by attempts to keep the educational infrastructure conventional. We need women, black people, Muslim people, disabled people, members of the LGBTQIA community, and alike at the forefront of discussions pertaining to our lives. It is these people that must be invited to the table; leading academic and social narratives that directly affect them.”
We’re still on the topic of changes and Tamara shares one of the notable changes she has made during her academic journey: evicting a long-term tenant from her mental abode – imposter syndrome. A tenant who is well known to many, especially women. “I can and I will do it,” has become her permanent affirmation.