Again, thank you for clarifying the meaning of this term. You have reinforced my perception of living in a society where I am constantly being gaslighted, as in my workplace and educational experiences. I have communicated things to people at work, both verbally and written. Despite having written evidence in emails and other written documents, they convey that I did not inform them of my concerns or experiences. People talk about microaggressions; I feel I am experiencing this every day.

I have generated ideas which others have credited to themselves.

To make matters worse, being a black man, others will believe the plagiarist rather than me. It has come to the point that I question whether I did develop these ideas. I question my sanity and sometimes feel I live in an alternate reality.

I have an MA and an MSc, and I have created two university design courses and successfully developed products for prestigious multinational companies. I have carried out research projects. Yet, I am ridden with self-doubt because I live in a culture that perceives me as not capable of achieving these things.

During my degree, the technicians deliberately altered my designs. I came into the studio asking myself why I was repeatedly making such stupid mistakes. This went on for several days. Eventually, one of my colleagues informed me that he saw the technicians changing the design.

I wrote a letter applying for the design master course at the Royal College of Art. My design tutors were so impressed by the letter that they asked me to show it to my colleagues. Two of my colleagues deliberately copied the letter. At the admission interview, the interviewer accused me of copying the letter from my colleagues. People speak about resilience, but I marvel at still being here.