“There’s a whole world of what it means to be Korean... If you’re black, that’s outside limits.” Growing up as the son of a black US soldier in South Korea in the 1970s, Milton Washington was seen as "not Korean". Milton’s father was long gone by the time he knew anything about him. His Korean mother protected him fiercely against the prejudice they encountered but they were forced to leave their village when elders arrived and told them they weren't welcome. The pair left their mud and stone hut for a nearby town attached to an American military base. For Milton, the move was a step closer to America, and to his father. There he saw black American soldiers for the first time, who he remembers seemed like “magical beings”. In the alley below the tiny apartment Milton and his mum moved into, a little gang of homeless boys roamed the streets. They begged, they picked pockets, they fought with other gangs. GIs called them ‘Slickyboys’ – slang for little thieves. Milton’s mum got an American boyfriend who treated Milton to packets of Oreos and bottles of Coca Cola – and the Slickyboys respected Milton for being able to get hold of such treats. Milton remembers this time as the first time he ever felt he belonged, but he was also becoming more aware of how his mum supported them both: sex work. She went out at night, leaving Milton alone in the apartment. One night she didn’t return and Milton discovered she'd been arrested. When his mum returned from jail two weeks later, things changed. Now, every time she got wind of another raid, she would drop Milton at an orphanage to make sure he was looked after. But one morning, Milton remembers, he and his mum took a taxi to a different orphanage, populated by children who – like Milton – were mixed race. The next day, Milton remembers her pulling up in a taxi, "she hugged me and said, ‘I need you to be strong’... That was the last time I saw her.” Milton was eight years old and alone. Click the link in our bio to hear what happened. 📸 @slickyboymemoir 1: Milton, his sister Tong, and his mum Park Young-Ja 2: Milton as a baby 3: Milton aged 9, just post-adoption 4: Milton now