"Black and British: A Forgotten History" The Homecoming

1 00:00:01,360 --> 00:00:02,560 Let's, let's walk up. 2 00:00:02,560 --> 00:00:03,600 (Yeah, OK). 3 00:00:05,000 --> 00:00:11,074 Watch Online Movies and Series for FREE www.osdb.link/lm 4 00:00:13,040 --> 00:00:16,840 I haven't walked up this street for 30 years. 5 00:00:18,400 --> 00:00:21,320 I used to live... I think, about here. 6 00:00:21,320 --> 00:00:24,240 A house that's long since demolished. 7 00:00:26,000 --> 00:00:31,960 And I was 14 when my family were attacked in our house. 8 00:00:31,960 --> 00:00:36,320 One night, bricks came through the window and one of the bricks... 9 00:00:36,320 --> 00:00:39,960 With an elastic band there was a note that said, "Wogs, go home." 10 00:00:45,200 --> 00:00:47,200 And then, a few nights later, 11 00:00:47,200 --> 00:00:52,600 the same thing happened and we gave up trying to repair the glass 12 00:00:52,600 --> 00:00:58,520 so we put plywood in the windows and me, my sisters, 13 00:00:58,520 --> 00:01:01,920 my brother, my mother and grandmother would just lie in bed 14 00:01:01,920 --> 00:01:05,040 at night in the dark, the house was completely black, 15 00:01:05,040 --> 00:01:10,040 and there'd be thuds on the plywood and we'd scream 16 00:01:10,040 --> 00:01:12,240 and shake in our beds. 17 00:01:18,120 --> 00:01:21,560 We'd been moved to emergency housing and we were living somewhere else 18 00:01:21,560 --> 00:01:25,680 and I had this urge to come back and see where I lived. 19 00:01:25,680 --> 00:01:28,680 And I stood over on that side of the wall because it was from over there 20 00:01:28,680 --> 00:01:34,680 that the bricks were thrown at my house and my family here. 21 00:01:34,680 --> 00:01:37,200 And I stood there as a 14-year-old... 22 00:01:44,920 --> 00:01:48,960 I stood there as a 14-year-old boy and I looked over and, 23 00:01:48,960 --> 00:01:51,920 the house, still boarded up... 24 00:01:51,920 --> 00:01:56,080 and on the white front door, someone had painted a swastika 25 00:01:56,080 --> 00:02:00,240 and they'd written "NF..." - National Front - "..won here", 26 00:02:00,240 --> 00:02:02,760 because it had been a victory. 27 00:02:02,760 --> 00:02:04,160 HE SNIFFS 28 00:02:05,520 --> 00:02:06,720 This... 29 00:02:06,720 --> 00:02:10,200 This victory had been driving me and my family out of our home. 30 00:02:20,680 --> 00:02:27,440 Something went really wrong in this country in the 1970s and the 1980s, 31 00:02:27,440 --> 00:02:30,360 and I know that my story and my experiences... 32 00:02:30,360 --> 00:02:34,080 that so many black people I know, they've got similar stories to tell. 33 00:02:39,920 --> 00:02:42,160 And it's part of this long history. 34 00:02:47,440 --> 00:02:51,640 For millions of people like me, that history began long before 35 00:02:51,640 --> 00:02:55,640 we were born, during the centuries in which Britain built the Empire. 36 00:02:57,560 --> 00:03:01,000 Centuries in which people from Africa and the Caribbean 37 00:03:01,000 --> 00:03:03,080 were drawn to these shores. 38 00:03:06,880 --> 00:03:09,840 Over generations, they made Britain their home. 39 00:03:11,400 --> 00:03:14,480 APPLAUSE 40 00:03:14,480 --> 00:03:18,640 Eventually creating the multiracial nation we live in today. 41 00:03:21,960 --> 00:03:25,360 These are the people who made it possible to celebrate 42 00:03:25,360 --> 00:03:27,480 being black and British. 43 00:03:29,520 --> 00:03:31,720 CHEERING 44 00:03:31,720 --> 00:03:33,920 APPLAUSE ECHOES FAINTLY 45 00:03:54,320 --> 00:03:59,040 Today's multiracial Britain would have been unimaginable during 46 00:03:59,040 --> 00:04:03,120 the Victorian era when the Empire was nearing its height. 47 00:04:03,120 --> 00:04:07,160 An age in which skin colour divided the coloniser from the colonised, 48 00:04:07,160 --> 00:04:09,880 the rulers from the ruled. 49 00:04:09,880 --> 00:04:14,560 ARCHIVE: Not many men in history have had a country named after them. 50 00:04:14,560 --> 00:04:17,920 Offhand I can think of Bolivar and Columbus and, of course, 51 00:04:17,920 --> 00:04:19,760 Cecil Rhodes. 52 00:04:19,760 --> 00:04:21,640 Cecil Rhodes, what was he like? 53 00:04:24,360 --> 00:04:28,120 There are few places and few people who really capture the scale 54 00:04:28,120 --> 00:04:32,040 and the ambition and the avarice of the Empire at its peak 55 00:04:32,040 --> 00:04:34,720 than this railway and the man who built it. 56 00:04:34,720 --> 00:04:39,120 Cecil Rhodes was just a teenager in 1870 when his father sent him 57 00:04:39,120 --> 00:04:41,840 to Africa in the hope that the mild climate here 58 00:04:41,840 --> 00:04:43,480 would improve his health. 59 00:04:43,480 --> 00:04:46,840 By his mid-30s, he was the Premier of the Cape Colony 60 00:04:46,840 --> 00:04:50,360 and another territory, Rhodesia, had been named after him. 61 00:04:50,360 --> 00:04:52,960 He was also one of the richest men in the world. 62 00:05:03,640 --> 00:05:07,600 Rhodes got rich in the rush for South African gold and diamonds, 63 00:05:07,600 --> 00:05:10,760 but he was driven by more than wealth alone. 64 00:05:10,760 --> 00:05:14,120 For Rhodes, the supposed superiority of the British made 65 00:05:14,120 --> 00:05:17,760 the expansion of the Empire the destiny of his race, 66 00:05:17,760 --> 00:05:21,520 and driving this railway across the entire length of Africa, 67 00:05:21,520 --> 00:05:24,920 from the Cape to Cairo, would help fulfil that destiny. 68 00:05:27,080 --> 00:05:30,600 TRAIN WHISTLE BLARES 69 00:05:32,080 --> 00:05:35,640 Rhodes had a vision of an Africa that could be crossed 70 00:05:35,640 --> 00:05:37,560 without ever leaving British territory. 71 00:05:40,560 --> 00:05:44,360 In 1894, five years after the first section of tracks had been laid, 72 00:05:44,360 --> 00:05:49,160 this town, Mafeking, lay literally at the end of the track. 73 00:05:49,160 --> 00:05:53,400 Between here and Rhodesia lay Bechuanaland. 74 00:05:53,400 --> 00:05:55,840 So now Rhodes was busy lobbying the government 75 00:05:55,840 --> 00:05:57,560 to get control of Bechuanaland. 76 00:05:57,560 --> 00:06:02,560 That would allow him to unite South Africa with Rhodesia 77 00:06:02,560 --> 00:06:04,440 and extend the railway north. 78 00:06:06,360 --> 00:06:08,760 The Colonial Office was ready to support him, 79 00:06:08,760 --> 00:06:10,280 but there was a problem. 80 00:06:10,280 --> 00:06:13,880 Bechuanaland was a protectorate, a territory claimed by the British 81 00:06:13,880 --> 00:06:17,560 but governed by local rulers. 82 00:06:17,560 --> 00:06:19,360 Most prominent among them was 83 00:06:19,360 --> 00:06:23,200 the multilingual Christian convert King Khama III. 84 00:06:25,160 --> 00:06:28,680 And Khama could see exactly what Rhodes was up to. 85 00:06:32,480 --> 00:06:35,920 What Khama understood was that the coming of the railways was just 86 00:06:35,920 --> 00:06:39,480 the first stage in a process of colonisation. 87 00:06:39,480 --> 00:06:42,760 What Rhodes planned to do was to pay for this railway by selling 88 00:06:42,760 --> 00:06:44,720 the land on either side. 89 00:06:44,720 --> 00:06:47,280 That would be bought by white settlers who would 90 00:06:47,280 --> 00:06:49,800 flood into the area and become the new overlords. 91 00:06:49,800 --> 00:06:53,320 The Africans would end up as the landless labourers on white farms 92 00:06:53,320 --> 00:06:55,880 on their own tribal lands. 93 00:06:55,880 --> 00:06:59,960 The same process was happening across Africa and Khama knew that, 94 00:06:59,960 --> 00:07:03,120 while agreeing to the railway might sound harmless enough, 95 00:07:03,120 --> 00:07:05,960 it would be a disaster for his people. 96 00:07:08,600 --> 00:07:11,360 Khama came up with an ingenious way to fight back. 97 00:07:12,800 --> 00:07:15,560 What he decided to do, as he said in his own words, 98 00:07:15,560 --> 00:07:18,640 was to "Seek another way of approach by which I can speak 99 00:07:18,640 --> 00:07:20,640 "to the Queen and to the people of England." 100 00:07:27,080 --> 00:07:29,520 Along with two other Bechuanaland chiefs, 101 00:07:29,520 --> 00:07:32,240 Khama set sail for the heart of Empire. 102 00:07:36,920 --> 00:07:39,440 BELL TOLLS 103 00:07:39,440 --> 00:07:43,560 The black African kings were coming to meet the great white Queen. 104 00:07:51,360 --> 00:07:53,960 But the Colonial Secretary blocked their request 105 00:07:53,960 --> 00:07:56,640 for an audience with the Queen. 106 00:07:56,640 --> 00:08:00,320 He fobbed them off while she took her summer vacation. 107 00:08:02,080 --> 00:08:03,200 DOOR SLAMS 108 00:08:05,560 --> 00:08:08,680 And so, with the help of the London Missionary Society, 109 00:08:08,680 --> 00:08:11,880 the kings embarked upon the other half of their plan, 110 00:08:11,880 --> 00:08:14,440 to meet the people of Britain. 111 00:08:16,880 --> 00:08:20,040 These books are the clippings that were 112 00:08:20,040 --> 00:08:22,840 produced for the tour of the three kings. 113 00:08:24,080 --> 00:08:28,640 All of the newspaper articles, all of the invitations, 114 00:08:28,640 --> 00:08:31,400 all of the ephemera of the tour. 115 00:08:31,400 --> 00:08:33,920 Straight away on their arrival in Britain, 116 00:08:33,920 --> 00:08:36,440 there is a flurry of newspaper articles. 117 00:08:36,440 --> 00:08:39,480 The Irish Independent, the Manchester Evening News. 118 00:08:39,480 --> 00:08:41,440 "King Khama, who has just reached England, 119 00:08:41,440 --> 00:08:44,680 "is one of the most interesting Africans of the century." 120 00:08:45,880 --> 00:08:49,200 Here's all three of the kings taking poses, 121 00:08:49,200 --> 00:08:53,880 looking every bit the educated, refined, Christian gentleman 122 00:08:53,880 --> 00:08:57,400 that they are portraying themselves in the press - 123 00:08:57,400 --> 00:08:59,040 which they are, of course. 124 00:08:59,040 --> 00:09:03,760 Is that Khama working the plough with his top hat on in the fields? 125 00:09:03,760 --> 00:09:05,400 That is wonderful! 126 00:09:05,400 --> 00:09:09,520 And here's a snapshot of a dinner in honour of the three kings, 127 00:09:09,520 --> 00:09:13,400 and they're at the end of the table, and the tables are lined with 128 00:09:13,400 --> 00:09:19,160 these earnest faces of these evangelical Victorian Christians 129 00:09:19,160 --> 00:09:23,760 with their starched suits and their buttoned up dresses. 130 00:09:23,760 --> 00:09:26,920 "Bechuanaland Protectorate. Chartered Landgrabbing." 131 00:09:26,920 --> 00:09:31,480 Three whole months they are here in Britain whipping up support 132 00:09:31,480 --> 00:09:33,520 and they're doing it brilliantly. 133 00:09:33,520 --> 00:09:36,280 Mr John Tweed, Henry Thossen. 134 00:09:36,280 --> 00:09:40,320 These are the people who are won over by the campaign 135 00:09:40,320 --> 00:09:41,840 of the three kings. 136 00:09:41,840 --> 00:09:45,360 The Bechuana chiefs know that militarily on the ground in Africa 137 00:09:45,360 --> 00:09:48,240 they have no chance against Cecil Rhodes. 138 00:09:50,120 --> 00:09:53,600 They're trying to outmanoeuvre him by winning over the British public, 139 00:09:53,600 --> 00:09:58,160 and each one of these articles, each one of these calling cards, 140 00:09:58,160 --> 00:10:02,200 each one of these programmes for a speech or a reception at a town hall 141 00:10:02,200 --> 00:10:04,160 is evidence that it was working. 142 00:10:07,640 --> 00:10:10,560 What is this? Oh, my God! 143 00:10:10,560 --> 00:10:18,200 This is a new line of travel trunks named after the kings. 144 00:10:18,200 --> 00:10:22,600 The Bathoen trunk, the Sebele trunk and the Khama trunk. 145 00:10:22,600 --> 00:10:23,840 HE LAUGHS 146 00:10:23,840 --> 00:10:28,000 So they brought out a new line of travel luggage 147 00:10:28,000 --> 00:10:29,520 named after the kings. 148 00:10:29,520 --> 00:10:31,240 That is just amazing! 149 00:10:39,480 --> 00:10:43,120 The kings' direct appeal to the public undermined 150 00:10:43,120 --> 00:10:47,400 some of the prejudice against Africans that Britain used 151 00:10:47,400 --> 00:10:49,840 to justify colonisation. 152 00:10:49,840 --> 00:10:53,280 They were, finally, invited into the corridors of power. 153 00:10:55,040 --> 00:10:56,800 Towards the end of 1895, 154 00:10:56,800 --> 00:11:00,000 Khama and his delegation were granted an audience here 155 00:11:00,000 --> 00:11:01,360 at the Colonial Office with 156 00:11:01,360 --> 00:11:03,720 the Colonial Secretary, Joseph Chamberlain. 157 00:11:03,720 --> 00:11:07,080 At that meeting, the Africans were granted most of the protection 158 00:11:07,080 --> 00:11:10,320 from Cecil Rhodes and his company that they'd been looking for. 159 00:11:10,320 --> 00:11:13,560 They were also granted an audience with Queen Victoria. 160 00:11:15,160 --> 00:11:18,760 It's very clear from this image what the power relationship is 161 00:11:18,760 --> 00:11:21,200 between the British and the Africans. 162 00:11:21,200 --> 00:11:25,320 But what it can't disguise is that these three kings had come 163 00:11:25,320 --> 00:11:28,720 to Britain, come to the heart of the Empire, and they had won. 164 00:11:32,120 --> 00:11:37,240 THEY SING 165 00:11:37,240 --> 00:11:41,680 ULULATION 166 00:11:41,680 --> 00:11:45,520 The kings helped save their homeland from the fate that befell 167 00:11:45,520 --> 00:11:47,320 Rhodesia and South Africa, 168 00:11:47,320 --> 00:11:50,840 where Rhodes was sowing the seeds of racial segregation. 169 00:11:57,840 --> 00:12:01,240 The deal struck was almost unique, because most of the people 170 00:12:01,240 --> 00:12:04,440 who were drawn into the British Empire didn't have any choice 171 00:12:04,440 --> 00:12:07,360 in the matter, they were forced into the Empire 172 00:12:07,360 --> 00:12:09,040 often at the point of a gun. 173 00:12:09,040 --> 00:12:11,840 But what Khama and the other kings had critically understood 174 00:12:11,840 --> 00:12:16,040 is that there were differences of opinion between the British people, 175 00:12:16,040 --> 00:12:18,840 the Colonial Office, Cecil Rhodes and the Queen, 176 00:12:18,840 --> 00:12:22,360 and they had exploited those differences brilliantly. 177 00:12:28,080 --> 00:12:33,440 In 1966, the colony of Bechuanaland became the country of Botswana, 178 00:12:33,440 --> 00:12:35,760 and in London, in 2016, 179 00:12:35,760 --> 00:12:39,200 they are celebrating 50 years of independence. 180 00:12:43,880 --> 00:12:45,680 It's a really great story. 181 00:12:45,680 --> 00:12:49,200 50 years of independence after, you know, our three chiefs 182 00:12:49,200 --> 00:12:51,000 came to ask for independence. 183 00:12:51,000 --> 00:12:52,400 So, yeah, really great. 184 00:12:57,880 --> 00:12:59,320 SINGING CONTINUES 185 00:12:59,320 --> 00:13:00,480 I think they were brave. 186 00:13:00,480 --> 00:13:03,520 I think they did very well for us and we're very proud. 187 00:13:07,800 --> 00:13:11,320 This is a very public celebration of an event that we've 188 00:13:11,320 --> 00:13:13,000 really forgotten about in Britain. 189 00:13:13,000 --> 00:13:16,600 But the tour of those three kings of Victorian Britain 190 00:13:16,600 --> 00:13:18,560 was the birth of this nation. 191 00:13:18,560 --> 00:13:22,960 Everybody here can trace the story of Botswana back to that moment 192 00:13:22,960 --> 00:13:27,080 in the 1890s when three kings came here and kind of won over 193 00:13:27,080 --> 00:13:30,200 Victorian public opinion. 194 00:13:30,200 --> 00:13:32,680 This is the genesis story of Botswana. 195 00:13:43,920 --> 00:13:49,480 CHEERING AND ULULATION 196 00:13:52,240 --> 00:13:55,680 This event reminds us that the relationship between Britain 197 00:13:55,680 --> 00:14:00,520 and the people of Africa was, on rare occasions, negotiable. 198 00:14:14,160 --> 00:14:17,640 But, as more and more people of African origin made Britain 199 00:14:17,640 --> 00:14:22,160 their home, the limits of racial tolerance would be exposed. 200 00:14:27,880 --> 00:14:32,120 There's been a black community in Liverpool since the 1700s, 201 00:14:32,120 --> 00:14:35,600 due largely to the shipping industry and the slave trade. 202 00:14:40,000 --> 00:14:43,560 During the First World War, labour shortages swelled 203 00:14:43,560 --> 00:14:47,160 the black population from around 3,000 to around 5,000. 204 00:14:49,680 --> 00:14:52,560 But at the end of the war, racial tensions were exposed 205 00:14:52,560 --> 00:14:55,920 that would threaten the community's very existence. 206 00:14:57,400 --> 00:15:00,040 "White men appear determined to clear out the black people, 207 00:15:00,040 --> 00:15:02,320 "who have been advised to stay indoors." 208 00:15:03,560 --> 00:15:08,560 "The district was in an uproar and every coloured man seen 209 00:15:08,560 --> 00:15:12,120 "was followed by a large, hostile crowd." 210 00:15:16,240 --> 00:15:19,560 He was lynched, and there's no getting away from that. 211 00:15:27,720 --> 00:15:32,400 Liverpool's descent into racial violence has largely been forgotten, 212 00:15:32,400 --> 00:15:36,240 but the recent discovery of letters from the black community 213 00:15:36,240 --> 00:15:39,200 to the mayor has allowed a local history project 214 00:15:39,200 --> 00:15:40,800 to bring the past to life. 215 00:15:41,880 --> 00:15:45,800 "The coloured people of this city are daily insulted in the streets, 216 00:15:45,800 --> 00:15:49,560 "they are attacked and assaulted without the slightest provocation. 217 00:15:49,560 --> 00:15:52,800 "Hundreds of our men have been ejected from their employment 218 00:15:52,800 --> 00:15:56,080 "and left completely stranded in the city today." 219 00:15:56,080 --> 00:15:58,360 "My wife is in the house all day. 220 00:15:58,360 --> 00:16:01,560 "She hasn't any freedom to walk in the street. 221 00:16:01,560 --> 00:16:05,960 "She's been insulted by people as being a coloured woman. 222 00:16:05,960 --> 00:16:09,000 "I believe if there is no help for us 223 00:16:09,000 --> 00:16:12,560 "my wife will do something wrong to herself." 224 00:16:12,560 --> 00:16:16,000 So he's so worried at the level of racial abuse his wife is suffering, 225 00:16:16,000 --> 00:16:18,600 he's saying she's going to harm herself. 226 00:16:18,600 --> 00:16:21,040 She's going to harm herself, basically. 227 00:16:21,040 --> 00:16:25,400 These are really eloquent... They are. ..pleas to officialdom. 228 00:16:25,400 --> 00:16:29,760 They are passionate declarations of the suffering they're going through. 229 00:16:34,920 --> 00:16:38,400 There's a letter here from the mayor to the Colonial Office. 230 00:16:38,400 --> 00:16:41,320 "Only the other night there was a fight between the two races 231 00:16:41,320 --> 00:16:44,600 "and matters are not likely to improve in this direction as 232 00:16:44,600 --> 00:16:48,840 "the position develops and probably grows worse." 233 00:16:48,840 --> 00:16:51,120 So things are already getting out of control. Yeah. 234 00:16:51,120 --> 00:16:54,520 This is the mayor of a British city saying, "This is going to explode." 235 00:16:54,520 --> 00:16:55,800 Yeah. 236 00:16:58,000 --> 00:17:00,040 SIREN WAILS 237 00:17:02,760 --> 00:17:05,400 Within days of the mayor writing this letter, 238 00:17:05,400 --> 00:17:07,760 the city would erupt in violence. 239 00:17:09,040 --> 00:17:12,240 On the night of the 5th June, 1919, 240 00:17:12,240 --> 00:17:16,200 a fight broke out in a pub here on Great George Square. 241 00:17:16,200 --> 00:17:18,040 It was between a bunch of black sailors 242 00:17:18,040 --> 00:17:20,520 and a bunch of Scandinavian sailors. 243 00:17:23,440 --> 00:17:25,040 When the police arrived on the scene, 244 00:17:25,040 --> 00:17:27,440 they decided to arrest the black men. 245 00:17:27,440 --> 00:17:30,640 So they came round the corner to Upper Pitt Street. 246 00:17:30,640 --> 00:17:34,200 But by this point, a mob several hundred strong had gathered. 247 00:17:37,760 --> 00:17:40,520 Number 18 Upper Pitt Street was a boarding house 248 00:17:40,520 --> 00:17:43,080 where a young Bermudan sailor was staying. 249 00:17:43,080 --> 00:17:45,960 His name was Charles Wotten, and when the police tried to 250 00:17:45,960 --> 00:17:49,640 force the door to his boarding house, he escaped out the back. 251 00:17:49,640 --> 00:17:51,240 But he was quickly spotted. 252 00:17:58,040 --> 00:18:01,840 He was chased by the police and the mob through the city 253 00:18:01,840 --> 00:18:03,960 to a place he probably knew well. 254 00:18:06,440 --> 00:18:10,800 Charles Wooten was pursued all the way down here to the Queen's Dock. 255 00:18:10,800 --> 00:18:13,840 The eyewitness accounts tell us what happened next. 256 00:18:15,800 --> 00:18:17,480 "When the crowd was at its height, 257 00:18:17,480 --> 00:18:21,400 "there would be about 2,000 white people there." 258 00:18:23,920 --> 00:18:27,840 "The witness could not say whether the negro was thrown into the dock 259 00:18:27,840 --> 00:18:30,960 "or was swept in by the swaying crowd." 260 00:18:33,600 --> 00:18:35,680 "They shouted, 'Let him drown!' " 261 00:18:41,000 --> 00:18:43,560 "Had we arrived a few moments earlier we probably 262 00:18:43,560 --> 00:18:44,840 "could have saved him." 263 00:18:54,600 --> 00:18:56,800 Following Charles Wotten's death, 264 00:18:56,800 --> 00:19:00,400 there were three days of rioting against the black community. 265 00:19:02,360 --> 00:19:05,760 There was windows being smashed, there was fires being lit, 266 00:19:05,760 --> 00:19:07,640 there was gangs of men, jeering, 267 00:19:07,640 --> 00:19:10,440 shouting and screaming, children were crying. 268 00:19:13,520 --> 00:19:16,840 Just hustled out of your house or, "We'd better take you to safety. 269 00:19:16,840 --> 00:19:21,040 "We'll take you to the police station for safety." 270 00:19:21,040 --> 00:19:22,920 They must have been bewildered. 271 00:19:26,920 --> 00:19:30,240 They must have been in a terrible state. 272 00:19:30,240 --> 00:19:32,840 Do you think that your grandmother and your mother's house 273 00:19:32,840 --> 00:19:34,800 had been attacked? Yeah, I think it was. 274 00:19:34,800 --> 00:19:38,920 They were under attack, because my grandmother was a fiery woman 275 00:19:38,920 --> 00:19:41,000 and I don't thing she would have left the house 276 00:19:41,000 --> 00:19:43,120 unless it was absolutely necessary. 277 00:19:44,520 --> 00:19:47,400 So when you first read these documents and you read about 278 00:19:47,400 --> 00:19:52,040 the violence, the hunting of black people on the street, 279 00:19:52,040 --> 00:19:54,520 you must have linked that to your family history. 280 00:19:54,520 --> 00:19:58,520 That must have been a shocking moment. Yeah. It's... 281 00:19:58,520 --> 00:20:02,920 I'm so sorry that I didn't know the whole history of this years ago. 282 00:20:04,800 --> 00:20:07,840 But this isn't history that's well-known. Oh, no. 283 00:20:09,560 --> 00:20:13,200 The majority of people we've encountered with the project 284 00:20:13,200 --> 00:20:16,560 have all said, "Oh, we didn't know. We didn't know this happened." 285 00:20:16,560 --> 00:20:22,040 I mean, I barely knew anything about it myself before the project. 286 00:20:22,040 --> 00:20:26,880 It was not until we started going through the documents properly that, 287 00:20:26,880 --> 00:20:31,200 you know, you get to understand how bad the situation was really. 288 00:20:40,240 --> 00:20:44,440 Almost a century later, and another crowd are gathering at Queen's Dock. 289 00:20:47,320 --> 00:20:50,680 This time, to remember Charles Wotten and the victims 290 00:20:50,680 --> 00:20:52,480 of the violence that followed. 291 00:20:56,720 --> 00:21:00,120 It's a tragic circumstance that we are gathered here today. 292 00:21:00,120 --> 00:21:02,320 This is one of our ancestors. 293 00:21:02,320 --> 00:21:06,640 It's a time for remembering our forefathers and mothers. 294 00:21:10,360 --> 00:21:13,640 He could have been my brother, he could have been your nephew, 295 00:21:13,640 --> 00:21:15,240 he could have been your son. 296 00:21:30,800 --> 00:21:35,200 I wanted to cry. You know, you look at the waters here... 297 00:21:35,200 --> 00:21:38,560 In my mind I was seeing this mob chasing this young, black boy 298 00:21:38,560 --> 00:21:42,440 and he's thinking, "Where do I go? What do I do?" 299 00:21:48,520 --> 00:21:51,000 He was lynched and there's no getting away from that. 300 00:21:51,000 --> 00:21:52,680 That story needs to be told 301 00:21:52,680 --> 00:21:56,040 and that degree of racism needs to be confronted. 302 00:22:01,000 --> 00:22:04,720 This was a violent rejection, but some were determined 303 00:22:04,720 --> 00:22:08,560 that Britain, as the centre of the Empire, was still home. 304 00:22:08,560 --> 00:22:12,040 One thing the British public does not realise adequately 305 00:22:12,040 --> 00:22:13,680 is that we are a coloured Empire. 306 00:22:13,680 --> 00:22:16,080 You cannot prevent the black man from coming here. 307 00:22:16,080 --> 00:22:19,160 You could no more tell him that he must not come to Liverpool, 308 00:22:19,160 --> 00:22:22,160 London or Cardiff than he has the right to tell you 309 00:22:22,160 --> 00:22:25,800 that you must not go to Lagos or Durban or Johannesburg. 310 00:22:28,960 --> 00:22:30,080 As we unveiled a plaque, 311 00:22:30,080 --> 00:22:33,000 it made me reflect on everybody that came before me. 312 00:22:33,000 --> 00:22:35,000 I'm in a very fortunate position 313 00:22:35,000 --> 00:22:37,320 to be a fifth generation black person 314 00:22:37,320 --> 00:22:40,520 of the city and I thought about what my grandparents 315 00:22:40,520 --> 00:22:43,640 and great-grandparents went through before I came along 316 00:22:43,640 --> 00:22:47,600 and they've really paved the way for everything that I am today. 317 00:22:53,800 --> 00:22:56,840 In the aftermath of war, there were similar outbreaks of violence 318 00:22:56,840 --> 00:23:01,560 in Glasgow, London, Newport, Cardiff and on Tyneside. 319 00:23:04,440 --> 00:23:08,120 They brought an underlying racism onto the streets of Britain. 320 00:23:15,040 --> 00:23:17,160 As the nation entered the 1920s, 321 00:23:17,160 --> 00:23:20,440 there was one man who carved out a home here. 322 00:23:24,000 --> 00:23:26,960 CABARET MUSIC PLAYS 323 00:23:31,760 --> 00:23:35,640 He became the era's acceptable face of blackness. 324 00:23:36,960 --> 00:23:39,680 His appeal was he was an extremely competent 325 00:23:39,680 --> 00:23:41,400 and very, very good artist. 326 00:23:41,400 --> 00:23:44,440 I mean, he had a voice which people would, quite literally, die for. 327 00:23:44,440 --> 00:23:46,720 I think a few people probably did. 328 00:23:49,920 --> 00:23:53,480 He was born on the British Caribbean island of Grenada 329 00:23:53,480 --> 00:23:56,400 and he performed in Paris and New York. 330 00:23:56,400 --> 00:23:59,160 But it was in London that he shot to fame, 331 00:23:59,160 --> 00:24:02,280 taking the exclusive cabaret scene by storm. 332 00:24:03,640 --> 00:24:05,640 # I should like you all to know 333 00:24:05,640 --> 00:24:08,640 # I'm a famous gigolo 334 00:24:08,640 --> 00:24:13,360 # And of lavender, my nature's got just a splash in it... # 335 00:24:13,360 --> 00:24:17,160 What he did, one of his things, he would sit at the piano 336 00:24:17,160 --> 00:24:21,600 and he would get his big, white handkerchief and mop his brow 337 00:24:21,600 --> 00:24:26,400 like this and, apparently, all the girls used to swoon. 338 00:24:26,400 --> 00:24:29,240 # ..you'll find me stretching my braces 339 00:24:29,240 --> 00:24:32,760 # Pushing ladies with lifted faces round the floor... # 340 00:24:32,760 --> 00:24:37,880 His name was Leslie Hutchinson, better known simply as "Hutch". 341 00:24:37,880 --> 00:24:41,160 # I'm a baby who has no mother but jazz 342 00:24:43,800 --> 00:24:46,160 # I'm a gigolo... # 343 00:24:46,160 --> 00:24:49,480 Good-looking, charismatic and bisexual, 344 00:24:49,480 --> 00:24:52,960 part of Hutch's appeal was an air of exotic mystery. 345 00:24:52,960 --> 00:24:55,400 # I'm a gigolo. # 346 00:24:55,400 --> 00:24:57,560 APPLAUSE 347 00:24:57,560 --> 00:25:01,480 Among his many lovers was the American Broadway composer 348 00:25:01,480 --> 00:25:06,800 Cole Porter and Hollywood stars Tallulah Bankhead and Merle Oberon. 349 00:25:06,800 --> 00:25:09,160 But it was among London's aristocratic elite, 350 00:25:09,160 --> 00:25:12,240 the bright young things, that he was in most demand, 351 00:25:12,240 --> 00:25:15,840 and by playing special after-hours private parties, 352 00:25:15,840 --> 00:25:18,360 he became part of London's in-crowd. 353 00:25:19,840 --> 00:25:23,560 How was it possible for this black man to be accepted into this world, 354 00:25:23,560 --> 00:25:27,520 or seemingly accepted into this world of the aristocratic elite? 355 00:25:27,520 --> 00:25:31,840 Because he had talent and he was admired for what he could do. 356 00:25:31,840 --> 00:25:35,360 And the seduction of money and lonely lives within the Royals, 357 00:25:35,360 --> 00:25:40,000 a lot of them, and society, a lot of unhappy marriages. 358 00:25:40,000 --> 00:25:42,160 He was an alternative pleasure. 359 00:25:43,200 --> 00:25:48,560 # I've got you under my skin... # 360 00:25:48,560 --> 00:25:52,760 Hutch was a star, but he could never escape racism. 361 00:25:52,760 --> 00:25:55,760 One of the times, he went up to Liverpool and he was at the top 362 00:25:55,760 --> 00:25:59,760 and the height of his fame and he had to go in at the back door. 363 00:25:59,760 --> 00:26:02,360 He wasn't allowed to go in the front, and yet he was on stage 364 00:26:02,360 --> 00:26:05,160 and adored by thousands. Through the back door? 365 00:26:05,160 --> 00:26:08,720 And he wasn't allowed to stay at the hotel where he was playing. 366 00:26:09,840 --> 00:26:13,160 # So deep in my heart that you're really a part of me... # 367 00:26:14,760 --> 00:26:17,280 Caught between desire and rejection, 368 00:26:17,280 --> 00:26:20,640 Hutch was forced to lead a double life. 369 00:26:20,640 --> 00:26:23,440 I think he was surviving against all the odds, 370 00:26:23,440 --> 00:26:25,880 against all the racism and so on, and he did it 371 00:26:25,880 --> 00:26:29,840 by protecting himself, by joining the enemy, as it were. 372 00:26:29,840 --> 00:26:33,120 Joining in with the aristocratic life that was there to have. 373 00:26:33,120 --> 00:26:36,080 Sometimes his accent went from like American slang, jazzy, to... 374 00:26:36,080 --> 00:26:38,680 POSH VOICE: "Oh, where do you live?" 375 00:26:38,680 --> 00:26:40,440 He could become Oxford black. 376 00:26:40,440 --> 00:26:43,880 I know it's not a nice term, that, but that's what he would do. 377 00:26:45,040 --> 00:26:48,760 # I would sacrifice anything come what might 378 00:26:48,760 --> 00:26:51,600 # For the sake of having you near... # 379 00:26:51,600 --> 00:26:56,120 Eventually, Hutch's double life caught up with him. 380 00:26:56,120 --> 00:27:00,160 Since the 1930s, he'd been having an affair with 381 00:27:00,160 --> 00:27:02,680 the wealthy society heiress Edwina Mountbatten. 382 00:27:02,680 --> 00:27:05,160 She was closely connected to the Royal Family. 383 00:27:05,160 --> 00:27:09,040 Her husband Louis, the great-grandson of Queen Victoria. 384 00:27:10,440 --> 00:27:12,760 The story hit the gossip columns. 385 00:27:12,760 --> 00:27:16,560 Edwina Mountbatten was identified as the woman in question, 386 00:27:16,560 --> 00:27:19,920 but the papers wrongly named the black American performer 387 00:27:19,920 --> 00:27:23,160 and activist Paul Robeson as her lover. 388 00:27:23,160 --> 00:27:27,960 # And I want you under my skin. # 389 00:27:30,040 --> 00:27:32,280 APPLAUSE 390 00:27:32,280 --> 00:27:34,520 The newspapers had got the wrong man, 391 00:27:34,520 --> 00:27:37,440 but the story scandalised the palace, 392 00:27:37,440 --> 00:27:39,760 and Hutch would pay the price. 393 00:27:46,360 --> 00:27:50,120 Perhaps naively, Hutch imagined that the British establishment 394 00:27:50,120 --> 00:27:53,840 would afford him the same sort of freedom from censure and criticism 395 00:27:53,840 --> 00:27:56,320 that they gave one another. 396 00:27:56,320 --> 00:27:59,240 It was at this moment in his life that Leslie Hutchinson 397 00:27:59,240 --> 00:28:02,960 discovered that he wasn't really part of the aristocratic elite 398 00:28:02,960 --> 00:28:05,440 that he spent his life surrounded by. 399 00:28:10,800 --> 00:28:14,200 He remained popular, but it would be decades before 400 00:28:14,200 --> 00:28:18,400 he would be brought back into the fold of the establishment. 401 00:28:18,400 --> 00:28:22,680 By the time of his comeback here at Quaglino's in the 1950s, 402 00:28:22,680 --> 00:28:28,400 musical tastes had moved on and Hutch faced a long downward spiral. 403 00:28:29,920 --> 00:28:32,280 He sort of went into a decline, to be honest with you. 404 00:28:32,280 --> 00:28:35,160 He had to sell his house in Hampstead which he loved. 405 00:28:35,160 --> 00:28:39,880 Moved into a flat, and the days of the Rolls-Royce and, you know, 406 00:28:39,880 --> 00:28:43,400 endless parties and champagne, I'm afraid, came to a halt. 407 00:28:49,600 --> 00:28:51,440 When Hutch died aged 69, 408 00:28:51,440 --> 00:28:55,160 Lord Mountbatten offered to pay for his funeral, 409 00:28:55,160 --> 00:28:57,920 which was attended by only 42 people. 410 00:29:00,320 --> 00:29:02,640 But Hutch lives on in the memory. 411 00:29:02,640 --> 00:29:05,800 Not least in his children, Gabrielle and Chris. 412 00:29:07,440 --> 00:29:09,680 The relationship between Hutch and your mother 413 00:29:09,680 --> 00:29:11,800 was a scandalous affair, wasn't it? 414 00:29:11,800 --> 00:29:15,960 As far as I know, she was probably here and she passed her card 415 00:29:15,960 --> 00:29:19,200 to take to his dressing room, so she went for him, as it were. 416 00:29:19,200 --> 00:29:22,000 And I don't know how long an affair it was, 417 00:29:22,000 --> 00:29:25,160 but this is what happened and I was the result. 418 00:29:25,160 --> 00:29:28,200 And, because it was an aristocratic family, a private midwife 419 00:29:28,200 --> 00:29:33,800 came in and I was delivered by her and, um, then I was removed. 420 00:29:33,800 --> 00:29:37,640 I've got letters written by my mother's husband saying, 421 00:29:37,640 --> 00:29:40,120 "Please remove this child." 422 00:29:40,120 --> 00:29:43,840 Gabrielle never met Hutch and she was unaware that he was her father 423 00:29:43,840 --> 00:29:45,560 until she was in her 40s. 424 00:29:46,680 --> 00:29:49,640 Chris is Hutch's son by a different woman. 425 00:29:49,640 --> 00:29:52,120 He saw his father only occasionally. 426 00:29:52,120 --> 00:29:54,440 I'm torn between pride and anger. 427 00:29:54,440 --> 00:29:57,960 You know, I'm angry about the way he was treated. 428 00:29:57,960 --> 00:30:00,200 It's despicable, a lot of it. 429 00:30:00,200 --> 00:30:04,280 But also angry about sometimes the way he treated us. And... 430 00:30:04,280 --> 00:30:08,200 But proud of who he was and what he achieved. 431 00:30:13,680 --> 00:30:18,160 Today, Hutch's fans and members of his extended Grenadian family 432 00:30:18,160 --> 00:30:20,520 are gathering to honour his memory. 433 00:30:20,520 --> 00:30:24,680 It's wonderful to be here today on this very special occasion. 434 00:30:24,680 --> 00:30:27,480 Thank you, Quaglino's. He's home again. 435 00:30:27,480 --> 00:30:30,120 He was so worried he wouldn't be remembered. 436 00:30:30,120 --> 00:30:33,560 He's certainly remembered today. A ripping, roaring round of applause 437 00:30:33,560 --> 00:30:36,320 in memory of a wonderful entertainer, 438 00:30:36,320 --> 00:30:39,560 Leslie Arthur Julien Hutchinson, our father, Hutch. 439 00:30:39,560 --> 00:30:41,760 APPLAUSE AND WHOOPING 440 00:30:57,040 --> 00:30:59,720 Well, I really, really had a lot of time for him. 441 00:30:59,720 --> 00:31:03,040 I still play his music and in a funny sort of way I miss him. 442 00:31:03,040 --> 00:31:06,760 And events like this, with his plaque going up, you know, 443 00:31:06,760 --> 00:31:09,720 just reminds one of what a great personality he was 444 00:31:09,720 --> 00:31:11,840 and how important he was. 445 00:31:11,840 --> 00:31:14,280 So there you are, that's Hutch. 446 00:31:17,720 --> 00:31:19,880 One of the last times I was with him, he said, 447 00:31:19,880 --> 00:31:23,280 "I'm just worried they won't remember me, Christopher," you know. 448 00:31:23,280 --> 00:31:24,880 I said, "They will, they will." 449 00:31:24,880 --> 00:31:28,000 So we left rather downhearted but we walked along Frith Street 450 00:31:28,000 --> 00:31:30,440 and taxis... "Hello, Hutch, how are you, mate?" 451 00:31:30,440 --> 00:31:33,440 And he's, "Oh, never been better, I've never been better." 452 00:31:33,440 --> 00:31:35,040 So he was top of the world again. 453 00:31:35,040 --> 00:31:38,080 All he wanted was to be loved and adored. 454 00:31:43,600 --> 00:31:48,440 Despite his fame, Hutch's life reveals that to be both black 455 00:31:48,440 --> 00:31:51,280 and British was still out of reach. 456 00:31:53,200 --> 00:31:57,560 But during the Second World War, the people of Britain would be 457 00:31:57,560 --> 00:32:02,680 confronted with the reality of a truly racial society. 458 00:32:02,680 --> 00:32:05,240 CHOIR SINGS 459 00:32:07,480 --> 00:32:11,440 This is Abersychan in the Welsh Valleys. 460 00:32:14,440 --> 00:32:17,800 The people here, and in towns and villages across Britain, 461 00:32:17,800 --> 00:32:22,800 became unknowing participants in a great social experiment. 462 00:32:22,800 --> 00:32:26,480 For all the years that we've been in Wales, 463 00:32:26,480 --> 00:32:32,240 people still can't accept the fact that we are black and Welsh. 464 00:32:34,520 --> 00:32:37,240 Some would come out with new friendships 465 00:32:37,240 --> 00:32:39,600 and their lives enhanced. 466 00:32:39,600 --> 00:32:43,840 They took this young soldier into their home and they really 467 00:32:43,840 --> 00:32:45,960 loved him as their own. 468 00:32:47,400 --> 00:32:51,080 For others, the choices they would make would lead to years of 469 00:32:51,080 --> 00:32:53,000 shame and secrecy. 470 00:32:55,240 --> 00:32:58,600 People would say to me, "Where are you from?" 471 00:32:58,600 --> 00:33:02,400 And I couldn't answer because I knew that I lived in Blaenavon but 472 00:33:02,400 --> 00:33:04,800 I knew that I looked different. 473 00:33:13,920 --> 00:33:19,240 By 1944, over a million US soldiers had landed in Britain, 474 00:33:19,240 --> 00:33:23,440 and around 130,000 were black GIs. 475 00:33:31,920 --> 00:33:37,760 One spring day, the 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion arrived here. 476 00:33:37,760 --> 00:33:40,280 MAN CHUCKLES 477 00:33:41,800 --> 00:33:43,320 But there was a problem. 478 00:33:43,320 --> 00:33:47,400 Segregated America sent a segregated army to Britain. 479 00:33:47,400 --> 00:33:50,240 Black and white troops lived in separate camps, 480 00:33:50,240 --> 00:33:51,920 they ate in separate canteens 481 00:33:51,920 --> 00:33:54,840 and spent their free time in separate clubs, 482 00:33:54,840 --> 00:33:58,960 just like they did back home under the so-called Jim Crow laws. 483 00:34:01,200 --> 00:34:05,280 The Americans also brought with them racial violence. 484 00:34:05,280 --> 00:34:10,040 White GIs would routinely attack black Allied soldiers. 485 00:34:13,240 --> 00:34:17,760 These official documents relate to one of many such incidents. 486 00:34:17,760 --> 00:34:21,560 It's from March 1942, and these documents tell the story of 487 00:34:21,560 --> 00:34:26,640 how one Corporal Samson Morris, who was a West Indian, was attacked by 488 00:34:26,640 --> 00:34:30,920 a group of US Marines at Lyons' Corner House in Marble Arch, 489 00:34:30,920 --> 00:34:34,000 and Morris tells us that while he's waiting in the queue to go 490 00:34:34,000 --> 00:34:36,800 into the restaurant, one of the Americans comes up to him and 491 00:34:36,800 --> 00:34:39,960 says, "You're not going in there to eat with us." 492 00:34:39,960 --> 00:34:42,040 Perhaps unwisely, Morris says, 493 00:34:42,040 --> 00:34:45,160 "I'm a British subject from the West Indies, 494 00:34:45,160 --> 00:34:48,920 "and you're not in America now, where you lynch us people." 495 00:34:48,920 --> 00:34:52,000 At this, one of the Americans threatens to stab him 496 00:34:52,000 --> 00:34:54,560 and six of them attack him and beat him up. 497 00:35:01,320 --> 00:35:04,120 Wartime Britain was getting to see close up what 498 00:35:04,120 --> 00:35:07,560 a racially segregated society was like. 499 00:35:07,560 --> 00:35:12,040 But would they fall in line with their American allies? 500 00:35:12,040 --> 00:35:14,560 Would British pubs refuse to serve black GIs 501 00:35:14,560 --> 00:35:16,560 because of the colour of their skin? 502 00:35:16,560 --> 00:35:19,920 Would British restaurants and dance halls refuse them entry? 503 00:35:19,920 --> 00:35:22,840 Would there be white-only carriages on British trains? 504 00:35:22,840 --> 00:35:26,840 And would the British people really accept the imposition of 505 00:35:26,840 --> 00:35:31,640 American Jim Crow-style segregation onto their communities? 506 00:35:37,960 --> 00:35:41,640 Across the nation there was a resounding response. 507 00:35:41,640 --> 00:35:45,720 Its spirit is captured in a single letter from one Welsh mother 508 00:35:45,720 --> 00:35:47,760 to a black American mother. 509 00:35:49,440 --> 00:35:53,960 "Mrs Monk, you have a son to treasure and feel very proud of. 510 00:35:53,960 --> 00:35:57,840 "We love him very dearly and we'll do anything in the world for him. 511 00:35:57,840 --> 00:36:02,440 "We have told him he can look upon our home as his home while in 512 00:36:02,440 --> 00:36:07,560 "our country, and I will try to fill your place, if only in a small way. 513 00:36:07,560 --> 00:36:10,600 "We will look upon him now as our own. 514 00:36:10,600 --> 00:36:14,760 "Mother to mother, very sincerely, with loving thoughts, 515 00:36:14,760 --> 00:36:17,600 "Jessie Pryor, xxxx." 516 00:36:22,520 --> 00:36:25,040 The recipient of this motherly love 517 00:36:25,040 --> 00:36:28,520 was the 19-year-old Wilson Monk from New Jersey. 518 00:36:28,520 --> 00:36:31,960 He was taken into the home of Jessie and Godfrey Pryor, 519 00:36:31,960 --> 00:36:35,880 who handed down their wartime story to granddaughter Cheryl. 520 00:36:37,080 --> 00:36:40,760 Your grandparents encounter this young African-American... Yes. 521 00:36:40,760 --> 00:36:43,480 ..and almost...adopt him. Yes, they did. 522 00:36:43,480 --> 00:36:44,840 They really did, 523 00:36:44,840 --> 00:36:49,080 they took him in and they spoke a lot and they had great fun. 524 00:36:49,080 --> 00:36:52,200 Do you think your grandparents had known or met any black people 525 00:36:52,200 --> 00:36:55,160 before they met Wilson? No, I don't think they would have, actually. 526 00:36:55,160 --> 00:36:58,040 And to my grandmother it wouldn't have made any difference. 527 00:36:58,040 --> 00:37:02,920 That's just how she was. And to her, that's what you did then. 528 00:37:08,120 --> 00:37:13,280 'Just as suddenly as the black GIs had arrived, in June 1944 they 529 00:37:13,280 --> 00:37:16,960 'were gone, to play their part in the liberation of Europe.' 530 00:37:16,960 --> 00:37:19,800 I think that was further down. 531 00:37:19,800 --> 00:37:22,800 'But they left a lasting legacy.' 532 00:37:24,200 --> 00:37:27,360 This is a school one. So this is you? Yeah. 533 00:37:27,360 --> 00:37:30,840 And you're not the only mixed-race child in this class. No. 534 00:37:30,840 --> 00:37:33,720 There's David Phillips by there. 535 00:37:33,720 --> 00:37:36,320 His father was also a black GI? 536 00:37:36,320 --> 00:37:37,480 Must have been. 537 00:37:37,480 --> 00:37:40,640 Were all the mixed-race children at school the products of 538 00:37:40,640 --> 00:37:44,080 relationships between black GIs and local women? Yeah, must have been. 539 00:37:44,080 --> 00:37:48,520 Cos, erm, you never seen any darker...you know, any black man, 540 00:37:48,520 --> 00:37:50,840 fathers or anything like that, 541 00:37:50,840 --> 00:37:54,400 it was only children that I can remember seeing. 542 00:37:54,400 --> 00:37:59,520 'Ann Johnson was born in 1945 and brought up by her grandmother.' 543 00:37:59,520 --> 00:38:03,320 That was the one that reared me. This is your grandmother? 544 00:38:03,320 --> 00:38:05,640 Yeah, and we used to call her Mam. 545 00:38:05,640 --> 00:38:08,120 So this is the woman you call your mother 546 00:38:08,120 --> 00:38:11,200 but was really your grandmother? That's right. 547 00:38:11,200 --> 00:38:12,840 She looks a tough woman. 548 00:38:12,840 --> 00:38:15,480 Yeah, she was strict, I can tell you. 549 00:38:15,480 --> 00:38:18,160 'Ann's grandmother was fiercely protective. 550 00:38:18,160 --> 00:38:21,480 'For most of Ann's childhood, she didn't know that the woman 551 00:38:21,480 --> 00:38:25,360 'she thought of as her sister, Molly, was really her mother.' 552 00:38:25,360 --> 00:38:28,040 But that was my rightful mother... 553 00:38:28,040 --> 00:38:30,080 That's your mother? Yeah. 554 00:38:30,080 --> 00:38:32,560 But you know that your father was a black American soldier? 555 00:38:32,560 --> 00:38:34,440 American, yeah. 556 00:38:34,440 --> 00:38:39,000 But by all accounts he used to send letters home to Molly 557 00:38:39,000 --> 00:38:42,040 and then our mam used to burn them. 558 00:38:42,040 --> 00:38:45,200 So... And then she was put in the doghouse, as they say, 559 00:38:45,200 --> 00:38:47,400 weren't it, in the workhouse. 560 00:38:47,400 --> 00:38:51,040 So other than that, it was all kept silent. 561 00:38:57,840 --> 00:39:01,960 In many communities like Abersychan, the secret history of 562 00:39:01,960 --> 00:39:06,640 the so-called "brown babies" is only now being uncovered. 563 00:39:08,520 --> 00:39:11,800 So your birth mother never told you who your father was? 564 00:39:11,800 --> 00:39:13,320 Can never remember that. 565 00:39:13,320 --> 00:39:15,200 And your grandmother who brought you up 566 00:39:15,200 --> 00:39:17,040 never said your father was a black GI? 567 00:39:17,040 --> 00:39:18,680 No. 568 00:39:18,680 --> 00:39:23,960 So there was some sense of needing to keep this a family secret? Yeah. 569 00:39:23,960 --> 00:39:26,280 Yeah. I think so. 570 00:39:29,280 --> 00:39:33,920 Ann's family history is now being passed on to her great-granddaughter 571 00:39:33,920 --> 00:39:37,520 and her daughter Claire, who reject the shame of the past. 572 00:39:39,680 --> 00:39:41,480 They wanted the silence. 573 00:39:41,480 --> 00:39:46,040 They wanted to block out everything that went on at those times. 574 00:39:46,040 --> 00:39:49,480 I think they wanted to forget all what went on. 575 00:39:49,480 --> 00:39:52,560 But now we look back, it's part of our history 576 00:39:52,560 --> 00:39:56,760 and who we are, so I've got an acceptance I think is... 577 00:39:57,760 --> 00:40:00,160 You know, I'm fine with it. 578 00:40:04,960 --> 00:40:10,360 I'd like to introduce Ann to join me here, because Ann is going to 579 00:40:10,360 --> 00:40:14,600 unveil the plaque which is commemorated to her father 580 00:40:14,600 --> 00:40:18,880 and all the African-American soldiers that were billeted here. 581 00:40:25,080 --> 00:40:27,200 APPLAUSE 582 00:40:41,640 --> 00:40:43,680 70 years ago. I know. 583 00:40:43,680 --> 00:40:45,840 Never forget. You know? 584 00:40:45,840 --> 00:40:49,080 It's part of history, and my family history especially, 585 00:40:49,080 --> 00:40:50,640 and, no, you mustn't forget. 586 00:40:50,640 --> 00:40:53,520 I brought my granddaughter today and I thought, yes, because 587 00:40:53,520 --> 00:40:57,800 she does history in school, and you have to remember these things. 588 00:41:13,360 --> 00:41:15,280 The black GIs offered a glimpse of 589 00:41:15,280 --> 00:41:18,920 what a post-colonial Britain might look like. 590 00:41:25,200 --> 00:41:29,560 The aftermath of war would soon make that a reality. 591 00:41:31,640 --> 00:41:36,480 Across Africa, it gave fresh impetus to independence movements. 592 00:41:39,320 --> 00:41:42,640 In the Caribbean, many who had fought for Britain 593 00:41:42,640 --> 00:41:46,680 felt the bonds to the mother country become ever stronger. 594 00:41:46,680 --> 00:41:48,840 We were taught that we were British 595 00:41:48,840 --> 00:41:51,360 and we accepted that without question. 596 00:41:53,600 --> 00:41:56,320 And now they were coming home. 597 00:41:58,080 --> 00:41:59,880 NEWSREEL: Arrivals at Tilbury. 598 00:41:59,880 --> 00:42:02,840 The Empire Windrush brings to Britain 500 Jamaicans. 599 00:42:02,840 --> 00:42:05,000 Many are ex-servicemen who know England. 600 00:42:05,000 --> 00:42:07,280 They served this country well. In Jamaica... 601 00:42:07,280 --> 00:42:11,880 The arrival of the Empire Windrush in June 1948 has come to 602 00:42:11,880 --> 00:42:16,960 symbolise the founding moment of modern black British history. 603 00:42:16,960 --> 00:42:20,520 We're hoping to collect lots of people's stories and memories 604 00:42:20,520 --> 00:42:22,400 about their journey to Britain. 605 00:42:22,400 --> 00:42:24,600 We can't just focus on the big names in history, 606 00:42:24,600 --> 00:42:27,400 we need to focus on the history makers that live amongst us. 607 00:42:27,400 --> 00:42:30,720 NEWSREEL: Citizens of the British Empire coming to the mother country 608 00:42:30,720 --> 00:42:31,880 with good intent. 609 00:42:31,880 --> 00:42:34,480 Today in Brixton, members and descendants of 610 00:42:34,480 --> 00:42:38,440 the Windrush generation are celebrating their history. 611 00:42:39,520 --> 00:42:42,000 I've been here from, erm, 1944. 612 00:42:42,000 --> 00:42:44,080 The groundwork I did here in this country 613 00:42:44,080 --> 00:42:45,600 has stood me well all my life. 614 00:42:45,600 --> 00:42:49,040 So it has many of my fellow West Indians who are here today. 615 00:42:49,040 --> 00:42:51,720 Many of the migrants arrived in Britain thanks to 616 00:42:51,720 --> 00:42:53,920 a new open-door policy. 617 00:42:53,920 --> 00:42:57,880 Introduced in 1948, it offered some 800 million 618 00:42:57,880 --> 00:43:02,320 citizens of the Empire the right to settle in the UK. 619 00:43:02,320 --> 00:43:05,360 My father was a member of that generation. 620 00:43:05,360 --> 00:43:08,160 He was born in Jamaica in 1925. 621 00:43:08,160 --> 00:43:12,320 His father was Chinese and his mother was black Jamaican. 622 00:43:12,320 --> 00:43:17,000 NEWSREEL: In 1954, about 10,000 West Indians came to Britain. 623 00:43:17,000 --> 00:43:21,320 In 1955, it is believed another 15,000 will make the long journey. 624 00:43:21,320 --> 00:43:26,680 This kind of mass migration wasn't creating the post-colonial Britain 625 00:43:26,680 --> 00:43:29,960 that the policymakers had had in mind. 626 00:43:31,000 --> 00:43:34,240 The people whom the Government imagined would make use of 627 00:43:34,240 --> 00:43:38,400 the rights of entry and residence enshrined within the 1948 act 628 00:43:38,400 --> 00:43:41,840 were white people, people who were said to be of British stock - 629 00:43:41,840 --> 00:43:44,760 Australians, Canadians, white South Africans. 630 00:43:44,760 --> 00:43:48,440 People who were coming home to the imperial mother country. 631 00:43:48,440 --> 00:43:51,920 And their rights of entry were seen as valuable bonds that were 632 00:43:51,920 --> 00:43:55,680 essential if Britain was to remain the lodestar around which 633 00:43:55,680 --> 00:43:58,400 the colonies and former colonies orbited. 634 00:43:58,400 --> 00:44:01,800 Almost nobody imagined that black people, 635 00:44:01,800 --> 00:44:04,760 people from the Caribbean and Africa, would make use of 636 00:44:04,760 --> 00:44:08,360 their rights to enter and live in the United Kingdom. 637 00:44:08,360 --> 00:44:11,800 # London is the place for me 638 00:44:11,800 --> 00:44:13,840 # Dum-dum-dum-dum-dum-dum 639 00:44:13,840 --> 00:44:17,480 # London, this lovely city... # 640 00:44:17,480 --> 00:44:19,920 And my mum was one of the first set of people 641 00:44:19,920 --> 00:44:22,440 to work in the hospitals, and she... 642 00:44:22,440 --> 00:44:26,200 You know, that generation made the most of it. 643 00:44:26,200 --> 00:44:30,120 Many people from the Commonwealth wanted to come to Britain, 644 00:44:30,120 --> 00:44:33,800 and post-war austerity Britain badly needed them. 645 00:44:35,000 --> 00:44:37,480 # I've been travelling the countries years ago 646 00:44:37,480 --> 00:44:41,440 # But this is the place I wanted to know, darling London 647 00:44:41,440 --> 00:44:43,440 # This is the place for me... # 648 00:44:43,440 --> 00:44:45,920 Nursing was calling me, 649 00:44:45,920 --> 00:44:50,800 so I came to England to pursue the career that I wanted so badly. 650 00:44:52,120 --> 00:44:53,760 That's me. That's you? 651 00:44:53,760 --> 00:44:57,720 That's Myrtle, and that's Greta Fitzthomas, 652 00:44:57,720 --> 00:45:00,520 and this is my book, for surgery. 653 00:45:00,520 --> 00:45:07,680 I came from St Catherine, Jamaica, in 1960, at the age of 20. 654 00:45:07,680 --> 00:45:12,800 This was the very first time I was leaving my parents. 655 00:45:15,640 --> 00:45:21,160 I came out of the plane and I just could not believe how cold it was. 656 00:45:21,160 --> 00:45:26,080 My first thought was, "How do these people live in this icebox?!" 657 00:45:28,040 --> 00:45:29,520 Right from the start, 658 00:45:29,520 --> 00:45:34,240 the new National Health Service recruited staff from the Caribbean. 659 00:45:35,600 --> 00:45:37,560 When you arrived in Britain, 660 00:45:37,560 --> 00:45:40,840 did you feel that people recognised that you were British? 661 00:45:40,840 --> 00:45:42,400 WOMEN: No. 662 00:45:42,400 --> 00:45:46,880 That's... Everyone said no. No! No. That's all round the table, no. 663 00:45:46,880 --> 00:45:50,080 They asked you what part of Africa you come from. Yes, yes. 664 00:45:50,080 --> 00:45:51,400 Well, you see, 665 00:45:51,400 --> 00:45:56,000 I don't think that they learned history and geography like we did. 666 00:45:57,640 --> 00:46:00,080 The image of Britain that you got from 667 00:46:00,080 --> 00:46:03,120 a British education in the Caribbean, 668 00:46:03,120 --> 00:46:06,800 how did that differ from the reality of Britain when you arrived? 669 00:46:06,800 --> 00:46:11,760 When we came here and I saw the houses in England, 670 00:46:11,760 --> 00:46:14,080 I was shocked, 671 00:46:14,080 --> 00:46:18,000 because I've left better houses back home! 672 00:46:18,000 --> 00:46:22,520 And the poverty of the people, it did upset me. 673 00:46:22,520 --> 00:46:27,160 When they came into hospital, the state of the hygiene... 674 00:46:28,680 --> 00:46:34,400 Sometimes we used to have, like, a delousing trolley. I wonder why... 675 00:46:36,040 --> 00:46:41,480 ..nobody never tell me that's what, you know, the country was like. 676 00:46:43,680 --> 00:46:47,520 As well as dealing with the harsh realities of post-war Britain, 677 00:46:47,520 --> 00:46:52,080 these young women were at times denied their British identity. 678 00:46:53,480 --> 00:46:55,640 I found it extremely hard, 679 00:46:55,640 --> 00:47:01,280 and when I was in my second year and this patient said... 680 00:47:01,280 --> 00:47:06,000 when I was going to wash her, she said, "Take your black hand off me." 681 00:47:06,000 --> 00:47:08,680 And she said it with so much venom 682 00:47:08,680 --> 00:47:12,440 that I just rushed to the toilet and cried. 683 00:47:15,680 --> 00:47:18,400 But that was so hurtful. 684 00:47:19,600 --> 00:47:21,960 Found it extremely upsetting. 685 00:47:23,160 --> 00:47:27,120 If you knew what you know now about Britain and everything that's 686 00:47:27,120 --> 00:47:29,880 happened, would you still do the same thing? 687 00:47:29,880 --> 00:47:32,120 ALL, EMPHATICALLY: Yes. 688 00:47:32,120 --> 00:47:37,200 That's everybody. Yes. You don't regret your choice at all? No. 689 00:47:37,200 --> 00:47:40,640 In the end, this great experiment we've all been through 690 00:47:40,640 --> 00:47:43,960 in this country, with immigration and moving around the world, 691 00:47:43,960 --> 00:47:45,640 it worked out for you guys. 692 00:47:45,640 --> 00:47:50,160 Really and truly, Britain has given us what we didn't have, 693 00:47:50,160 --> 00:47:53,320 but we had to work very hard for it. 694 00:47:53,320 --> 00:47:56,840 And when you came, you were suddenly seen as West Indian 695 00:47:56,840 --> 00:47:58,400 rather than British. 696 00:47:58,400 --> 00:48:00,720 How do you see yourselves now? 697 00:48:00,720 --> 00:48:05,280 I am a bit confused. When I left home I was a Vincentian. 698 00:48:05,280 --> 00:48:08,400 When I came here I was a West Indian. 699 00:48:08,400 --> 00:48:10,480 Then I was a Caribbean. 700 00:48:10,480 --> 00:48:14,040 Now I'm an ethnic minority. I am so confused. 701 00:48:14,040 --> 00:48:16,680 THEY LAUGH 702 00:48:16,680 --> 00:48:21,680 I say I am black British. Mm-hm. And that will do. 703 00:48:24,400 --> 00:48:28,720 The Windrush generation never let go of the British identity 704 00:48:28,720 --> 00:48:31,360 they'd grown up with in the Caribbean. 705 00:48:31,360 --> 00:48:35,160 But those who were born here and those who arrived here as children 706 00:48:35,160 --> 00:48:37,760 faced their own struggle to belong. 707 00:48:37,760 --> 00:48:42,120 It was only in the early '60s and late '60s and this growing 708 00:48:42,120 --> 00:48:46,320 pride in the '70s of belonging to a culture that was distinct, 709 00:48:46,320 --> 00:48:49,000 and this is the story that I tell. 710 00:48:55,120 --> 00:48:59,840 I was trying to capture strength and proudness. 711 00:49:03,280 --> 00:49:06,920 And I decided that I would never click the camera unless I 712 00:49:06,920 --> 00:49:09,840 see strength in that person's eyes and body. 713 00:49:13,040 --> 00:49:17,600 And if you look up my images, you almost know that that's one of mine, 714 00:49:17,600 --> 00:49:22,360 because the subject is always very sure of themself. 715 00:49:25,600 --> 00:49:27,840 Photographer Neil Kenlock captured 716 00:49:27,840 --> 00:49:31,000 the experiences of this new generation. 717 00:49:33,320 --> 00:49:38,280 Yes, that's me. That was in 1976. 718 00:49:38,280 --> 00:49:43,560 I entered that competition, and the prize was a trip to Jamaica. 719 00:49:43,560 --> 00:49:47,080 It was attractive to me to go back to see my grandmother, 720 00:49:47,080 --> 00:49:51,000 whom sadly I'd left, and was desperately missing her. 721 00:49:51,000 --> 00:49:53,960 I didn't win the first prize that year 722 00:49:53,960 --> 00:49:56,040 but I did enter the following year. 723 00:49:56,040 --> 00:49:57,720 Fortunately I did win the prize 724 00:49:57,720 --> 00:49:59,920 and I did go back to Jamaica to see Granny! 725 00:49:59,920 --> 00:50:01,440 Well done, well done! 726 00:50:01,440 --> 00:50:05,600 Well, they was enjoying themself. Later on, like in this photograph, 727 00:50:05,600 --> 00:50:08,720 they've realised now that the opportunities that they were 728 00:50:08,720 --> 00:50:13,760 promised were not available to the full extent that they should be, 729 00:50:13,760 --> 00:50:17,520 and this is a demonstration in Brixton against discrimination 730 00:50:17,520 --> 00:50:20,720 and the police treatment of our community. 731 00:50:20,720 --> 00:50:23,480 You were there to capture the politicisation 732 00:50:23,480 --> 00:50:25,960 of this second generation. Absolutely. 733 00:50:25,960 --> 00:50:27,880 The children of the immigrants. Yes. 734 00:50:27,880 --> 00:50:33,280 And here again, I used my camera to tell that story, erm, 735 00:50:33,280 --> 00:50:36,240 because there was nobody else taking photographs. 736 00:50:37,360 --> 00:50:41,720 Yeah, a difficult image for us, because this is Desmond's Hip City, 737 00:50:41,720 --> 00:50:44,040 that's the name of the record shop in Brixton, 738 00:50:44,040 --> 00:50:48,640 and somebody drove a vehicle into the shop and smashed it up. 739 00:50:48,640 --> 00:50:51,120 And here you can see Neville here. 740 00:50:51,120 --> 00:50:53,560 This is you, Neville? It is, yes. 741 00:50:53,560 --> 00:50:56,760 What year is this? Probably about '72. 742 00:50:56,760 --> 00:50:59,200 And as you can see there, I was helping Desmond 743 00:50:59,200 --> 00:51:01,080 to clear up after the...incident. 744 00:51:01,080 --> 00:51:03,800 So this is an attack not just on a record shop... 745 00:51:03,800 --> 00:51:06,640 Oh, no, no, it's an attack of our society, 746 00:51:06,640 --> 00:51:08,640 the black society, so to speak. 747 00:51:08,640 --> 00:51:11,280 Did you feel under...under assault, under attack? 748 00:51:11,280 --> 00:51:12,720 HE SCOFFS 749 00:51:12,720 --> 00:51:14,360 In those days, if you was in Brixton, 750 00:51:14,360 --> 00:51:16,960 you was always under attack... by the police... 751 00:51:16,960 --> 00:51:20,600 If not the police, it's the National Front or the skinheads. 752 00:51:20,600 --> 00:51:23,680 I think for some people now these images that were...normally 753 00:51:23,680 --> 00:51:26,560 part of your lives... Yes. ..seem shocking. 754 00:51:26,560 --> 00:51:29,680 It is hard to believe that this happened half a mile down the road. 755 00:51:29,680 --> 00:51:32,040 It was a part of our lives, yes. 756 00:51:32,040 --> 00:51:33,720 And... 757 00:51:33,720 --> 00:51:39,400 this image is the one I know of yours the best. Yes. Mm-hm. 758 00:51:39,400 --> 00:51:42,200 But it's you in the photograph, Barbara, isn't it? 759 00:51:42,200 --> 00:51:44,200 Yes, it is me in this photograph. 760 00:51:44,200 --> 00:51:47,000 This photograph was taken 761 00:51:47,000 --> 00:51:48,960 about 1979, I'd say. 762 00:51:48,960 --> 00:51:52,840 I first saw this picture when I was I think in my late teens or 763 00:51:52,840 --> 00:51:56,440 early 20s, and I remember thinking, I wonder what it was like, 764 00:51:56,440 --> 00:51:58,240 I wonder what she was thinking. 765 00:51:58,240 --> 00:52:01,920 So it's amazing to meet you and to find out what you were 766 00:52:01,920 --> 00:52:04,120 feeling and what you were thinking. 767 00:52:04,120 --> 00:52:06,920 Yeah, in terms of my expression, it was like, well, yeah, 768 00:52:06,920 --> 00:52:10,520 it's just another day in the life, erm, of somebody who's 769 00:52:10,520 --> 00:52:13,160 a black person living in Balham at the time. 770 00:52:13,160 --> 00:52:16,560 I think I interpreted your expression as one of hurt 771 00:52:16,560 --> 00:52:18,680 when I first saw this photograph. Yeah. 772 00:52:18,680 --> 00:52:21,320 Well, I think maybe there's just a constant feeling of hurt 773 00:52:21,320 --> 00:52:22,880 that just went through our lives, 774 00:52:22,880 --> 00:52:25,360 because, I mean, you can't go through that kind of abuse 775 00:52:25,360 --> 00:52:26,880 sort of day in and day out - 776 00:52:26,880 --> 00:52:29,320 it's not even week in and week out, but day in and day out - 777 00:52:29,320 --> 00:52:32,000 and not have some kind of hurt, and, you know, 778 00:52:32,000 --> 00:52:35,760 you've got to survive, you know, as a child and as a young person. 779 00:52:35,760 --> 00:52:38,400 You know, I was born in London 780 00:52:38,400 --> 00:52:42,160 and, er, my mother had high aspirations for me 781 00:52:42,160 --> 00:52:45,360 in terms of school and I did everything I needed to do, 782 00:52:45,360 --> 00:52:48,400 did very well at school, and just thought, yeah, 783 00:52:48,400 --> 00:52:52,120 I can go out and get a job, and that just wasn't the case. 784 00:53:02,800 --> 00:53:04,520 Barbara's experience, 785 00:53:04,520 --> 00:53:08,760 like the attack that drove me and my family from our home, was the 786 00:53:08,760 --> 00:53:13,920 violent rejection of the idea that you could be black and British. 787 00:53:13,920 --> 00:53:16,760 NEWSREEL: Cars are overturned and used to barricade the streets 788 00:53:16,760 --> 00:53:18,600 into a nearly no-go area... 789 00:53:18,600 --> 00:53:22,640 Discrimination and deprivation were widespread, and an entire 790 00:53:22,640 --> 00:53:26,720 generation of black youth was hurt and alienated. 791 00:53:26,720 --> 00:53:30,080 Stopped 101 times walking back to Willesden, and about ten times 792 00:53:30,080 --> 00:53:32,040 by the same officer... 793 00:53:32,040 --> 00:53:34,560 Systematic harassment by the police 794 00:53:34,560 --> 00:53:37,480 brought all these frustrations to a head. 795 00:53:37,480 --> 00:53:40,240 Grab me up, right, chuck me in the corner, right, 796 00:53:40,240 --> 00:53:43,480 and say he wants to search me, got a warrant to search me, right... 797 00:53:43,480 --> 00:53:48,040 In the 1980s, the inner-city areas of Liverpool, London, Bristol, 798 00:53:48,040 --> 00:53:51,960 Birmingham and Manchester all witnessed uprisings. 799 00:53:53,360 --> 00:53:57,320 And I can assure them that they will help in the cultural life in 800 00:53:57,320 --> 00:54:02,560 this country, and every attempt on their part is at social integration 801 00:54:02,560 --> 00:54:06,160 and being completely happy and cooperative with the British people. 802 00:54:06,160 --> 00:54:09,760 We don't want any special privileges or anything more than 803 00:54:09,760 --> 00:54:12,680 any other British worker has in this country. 804 00:54:14,800 --> 00:54:19,240 Britain was in a way haunted by its colonial past. 805 00:54:20,680 --> 00:54:25,560 A generation who had worked hard to make this nation a home for them 806 00:54:25,560 --> 00:54:30,440 and their children had been failed by the imperial mother country. 807 00:54:34,040 --> 00:54:35,920 More than 30 years later, 808 00:54:35,920 --> 00:54:39,040 and Britain is an enormously changed country. 809 00:54:39,040 --> 00:54:41,720 Black people still face many disadvantages - 810 00:54:41,720 --> 00:54:44,960 high levels of unemployment, high levels of homelessness 811 00:54:44,960 --> 00:54:47,280 and discrimination within the legal system - 812 00:54:47,280 --> 00:54:50,560 but there is one barrier that confronted the Windrush generation 813 00:54:50,560 --> 00:54:53,080 that we have largely overcome, 814 00:54:53,080 --> 00:54:56,880 and that's because there are few people these days who question 815 00:54:56,880 --> 00:55:00,840 the idea that it is possible to be both black and British. 816 00:55:05,520 --> 00:55:12,240 Now just a handful of those first post-war Caribbean pioneers remain. 817 00:55:14,600 --> 00:55:18,280 I'd love to pay tribute to that generation of people. 818 00:55:18,280 --> 00:55:21,480 Erm, so many of them now have passed away. 819 00:55:24,960 --> 00:55:27,120 Now is a fitting moment to celebrate 820 00:55:27,120 --> 00:55:30,960 their role in shaping modern Britain. 821 00:55:32,200 --> 00:55:34,080 APPLAUSE 822 00:55:56,040 --> 00:56:00,600 That this is where we would end up was never a foregone conclusion. 823 00:56:00,600 --> 00:56:04,280 Anybody looking at Britain as it was a century ago wouldn't have 824 00:56:04,280 --> 00:56:07,920 for a second concluded that we could or would become 825 00:56:07,920 --> 00:56:11,040 the multiracial society that we are today. 826 00:56:17,080 --> 00:56:21,480 Modern Britain looks and feels like a nation that was once 827 00:56:21,480 --> 00:56:24,760 at the heart of a vast multiracial empire. 828 00:56:24,760 --> 00:56:27,920 I'm British but my parents are from Nigeria. 829 00:56:27,920 --> 00:56:31,120 My parents are from Cameroon, I'm from north-west London. 830 00:56:31,120 --> 00:56:32,880 Born and raised in north-west London. 831 00:56:32,880 --> 00:56:36,120 I'm from Tanzania, originally born in Zanzibar. 832 00:56:40,760 --> 00:56:43,600 Old imperial attachments have brought 833 00:56:43,600 --> 00:56:46,800 a new wave of Africans to these shores. 834 00:56:46,800 --> 00:56:50,920 My uncle fought in the world wars on Britain's behalf because 835 00:56:50,920 --> 00:56:53,120 then we were a British colony. 836 00:56:53,120 --> 00:56:55,720 Everything in Kenya is about British. 837 00:56:55,720 --> 00:56:59,120 We love the cup of tea at four o'clock, like the English people, 838 00:56:59,120 --> 00:57:01,440 so we feel sort of British. 839 00:57:03,600 --> 00:57:06,640 Like generations of black people before them, 840 00:57:06,640 --> 00:57:09,120 stretching back to Roman times, 841 00:57:09,120 --> 00:57:13,520 these people will help redefine what it means to be British. 842 00:57:14,560 --> 00:57:17,160 For me, home is here, 843 00:57:17,160 --> 00:57:20,640 largely because I am married here and I have children here. 844 00:57:20,640 --> 00:57:25,320 I would say home is London, I'm a Londoner now. 845 00:57:29,240 --> 00:57:32,320 I think that there's so much to black history, and everything 846 00:57:32,320 --> 00:57:36,120 about it is so rich, it actually makes me so happy. 847 00:57:36,120 --> 00:57:39,280 And makes me a proud African as well. 848 00:57:49,960 --> 00:57:53,040 If we look at the deeper, longer, more nuanced history, 849 00:57:53,040 --> 00:57:57,400 the story that begins 18 centuries ago with the Afro-Romans, 850 00:57:57,400 --> 00:58:00,480 there we find a history that shows we've always been global and 851 00:58:00,480 --> 00:58:04,640 the lives of black people and white people have often been entwined. 852 00:58:04,640 --> 00:58:08,000 Peace to Africa! APPLAUSE 853 00:58:10,120 --> 00:58:14,200 And that story suggests that perhaps we shouldn't be that surprised 854 00:58:14,200 --> 00:58:17,080 that this is where we find ourselves today. 855 00:58:20,920 --> 00:58:24,120 If you'd like to find out how to research black history in 856 00:58:24,120 --> 00:58:30,800 your area, there's an iWonder guide, with links to our partners, at... 857 00:58:31,305 --> 00:59:31,812 Watch Online Movies and Series for FREE www.osdb.link/lm