Brixton Built A Friendship

By Shamaria Massenburg

Being that the London Review would be the third study abroad program that I’ve been on–I knew that I didn’t want to plan out every waking moment of this trip. I am a sucker for spontaneity. Lucky enough for me–so was Tise. Tise and I had shared a few laughs on a quick ride home from class prior to this trip, but apart from that–we hadn’t built much of a bond. We talked about hanging out on the trip so much that we didn’t really put an effort into spending time together prior. However, this did not stop us from building an amazing bond, that has now manifested as a sisterhood. Throughout this trip, Tise accompanied me on every adventure I wanted to go on, whilst not having a phone. She honestly pitied me and really did not want me not having a phone to ruin our trip. But, it was in fact the complete opposite. Not having my phone allowed me and Tise to discuss our deepest thoughts and how we felt connected despite her being from Nigeria and me from America. We felt close in ways that frightened us honestly. Soon, we were doing everything together–from shopping sprees on Oxford Street to walks in China Town, and just finding joy in getting lost in all that London had to offer. There were so many precious moments that we shared together, but nothing matches our time together in Brixton.

Brixton was spontaneous because it was something Tise and I had talked about doing, but never really mapped out. However, due to the current tube strikes in London on this particular day–we had to find something worth doing, and quickly! Neither one of us could decide on what we wanted to do that day. I think that’s what I love most about Tise–throughout the trip, she kept reiterating that she was just happy to be there. I would ask her several times for her input because if I’m being honest, I can sometimes get carried away with over-planning and doing things that interest me. But, Tise assured me that she was happy to do whatever, as long as we stuck together. So, we mapped out our route to Brixton (really Tise mapped it out because I could hardly remember which tube line to use) and we prepared for our journey, which took about 40 minutes and a bus change.

Another thing that made this exciting is that during our shopping spree days prior, Tise and I bought matching Juicy Couture Track Suits–a popular clothing brand set to have in the late 90s, and early 2000s. Tise and I bonded over the fact that we always wanted one as kids, but of course, they discontinued and one point, and made a return a couple of years ago. They are just now really being sold in stores again, but the point is–it’s vintage, and we wanted it.. BAD! So, we splurged and bought them, and planned to wear them on a day that made the most sense as far as the weather was concerned.

We arrived to Brixton in our matching black, bedazzled Juicy Couture suits–me with my camera to vlog, and her wearing a pink bandana, and taking hundreds of pictures on her phone. We soon realized how culturally beautiful Brixton was, and how different it was from Kensington. Learning that this area was largely populated with minorities and full of fresh produce for the locals–made my heart smile. We also got a kick out of going to “TK Maxx.”

We had honestly just gone for the scenery, we weren’t looking to spend any more money than we already had, but I couldn’t leave just yet without the two of us getting some pictures in our outfits. Of course, Tise trusted me to lead the way in this endeavor. We stumbled across a beauty supply store, and for those of you that don’t know–it’s a store full of hair products, makeup, lip gloss, and a bunch of other things catered to black women. A beauty supply store is like home to a black woman. We were so shocked to see one! So, I told Tise to download a vintage camera app on her phone, that would make our pictures appear as if they were taken on film. We had a whole photo shoot, and of course, we couldn’t leave without buying lip gloss. Our pictures came out amazing, and we definitely looked as if we would’ve been on the cover of some magazine in the 90s. It was such a spontaneous and organic moment that she and I shared, and as we were leaving we looked at each other and I said “Yeah, it’s official. We are definitely friends,” Tise looked back at me and said, “No, this is really scary–I can’t believe how perfect this is.” I think that was the true mark of our friendship. We had clearly become friends at this point in the trip, but I think we were both just astonished at how quickly everything was happening–we both didn’t want to scare the other person or make it an awkward situation, but it was something undeniable–we were sisters. So, if I have to thank London for anything–it would be for allowing me to find something that was right in front of me the whole time.