PIRE Some of the first arrivals in 1948 and politics.
American solidarity Indian Parents Group in the borough.
GP: What impression had you UK before you b'les LJ: West Indians in the UK were very rare betore the war - the odd se:miin. a tew suders. Annote who spent time in Britain attained a certain kudos on their return.
When I knew i was coming here I asked an uncle who had lived here what it was like. He gave me snangn-la. fairytale.
i also knew a teacher who had been over, and he told me very solemn o cesure to motoc sont of the culture.
GP: Was it not possible for you to continue your caucauon in West Indies?
LJ: Before 1947 there was no oDDor Lamy for higher education This meant only wealthy and the few who got scholarships could Conne Hair enea droit sneun And of course what happened is that when they came back most of LICI ICELUR LIC COLA SLEEC ture.
That was to change after the war as the anti-colonial movements developed.
GP: What were your first impres sions of this contry!
LJ: We landed on a grey October day at Liverpool. I'll never forget I was on the ship somewhere when I heard a lot of other students saoudn • Lo wa mar conc ard see white man working!' up on and saw on the dull, grey wharf some white micu mn oowict dals pusang arcind large trolleys, and that was the first seen a white man doing wil sical, ualal WULk back nome tey pusned pens and administered, shouted a but not anything which looked like 'work as i understooq it, 1 nis was different.
I came straight to London, and gol a lla DeC-SIl Hampstead. Middle class home, middle class area. I shared a room Witt c orotcr o uiai, luc singer, who had fixed us up. LONDON tain with his family, and worked in various jobs - on groups, as well as being 1964, and is currently involved in setting up a West The interview originally appeared in the North London community paper the Islington Gutter Press. We are grateful for their permission to reprint it.
My income was about week, ana ine room cost as. Bul pleasant, made a tot of trends. and sort of sellica down to lle In tnis strange Culill y.
I soon met lots of other students Tonene colones mon ever sal of the world, whose only chance of further education was a scholarship To sis Men like Azikwe from Nigeria Nkrumah Kwan Yew from Singapore, Micha Manley, the current Prime Minister of Jamaica who predecessor on the student. union magazine.
Wherever I travel in the West Indies and other parts of the Commonwealth meet old friends in public life.
GP: Was it the contact with Third which made you politically active ?
IM: Not so much as meeting oro. gressive white people. I related to the MCF (Movement for Colonia DeoDle keven wo nied or re broders working class. Britain change as much as tac colones ala. I very quickly realised that.
GP: What were your pericaces or racism acres LJ: Looking for ASOO MAe O MVG us in the multi-occupied private secThe postcards in shop windows - 'No dogs, no coloureds' — I still went along and adverts, not really thinking nev met neb d aandeE quickly changed when rounds. later. • ]- became the welfare officer, and my own experience was repeated hundreds of over -was wic Ironl mall looKIng: IOr accommodation Toons oi Dentro one sadets and 23 turned me down flat as soon £5 survived, Wallace Lee my student first like Nye Tempory ассол were involved.
colonial 'How dark is this chap, needed snective landlords wond ask. and then carefully explain that it wan't them who were first exneighbours.
Wing a bathroom my Hamp case somehow Tene off lodgers.
the streets, and the drunks in pubs who would want to touch you, feel answered those that YOut fronted it, uboody would admit to CONSC I did the what we now call racism.
student to fight it when it did rear its head mioce class blame the working clas: for nisi elie NO to get a hold because there were no people active against it when it first appeared.
And few but stay had not yet arrived. , of course, the HuSKICC There were objections to sharwith a black Kenya, Waald • cool and stain the other Then there were the children on you hair. This got me very cross. R-I]ELE Wiet LJ: Arriving realised that And certainly no one was there ductor, liberals would the left of ENOCE would blame the Health and recruiting for toter responded black people were early 1950s. prepared to take this up in a con- started.
way. Most were only here tora sron sa termene stemmi influx of workers who were here to enough helper more interested at this time in being active in the anti-colonial movement work Thing: were bap. pening all over the British colonies. 'good' Editions.
Geceli
returned five years later, in 1957.
had things changed on you Paddington. une the black man hac come to Britain in a big way. My tust bus nae was witn a black col definite workforce was here. drivers but. a Powel as Minister Of steware others had been because I labour the West because an• cnousae of OCUDIC there was massive unemployment out there, and lots of work here. People jumped at the chance. A whole new ball game had I had to look for a job. I could at that time •friend me to gel job Frigidaire factory in the Edgeware Road doing shop floor assembly This was what you could call a factory reasonably paid and with fairly decent working con There were only 5 blacks in & WorKOICe OI 1y20 At Park Royal down the road hundreds of black people worked in the biscuit factories and so torh jobs', …HOTe black people working "in a factory the more you could tell hon bad the atre an condim ons woute oc I soon became very militant and after"eight months was voted shop rare. HOL OIV was black but : I had beer such a shor time in the union. The branch had to specially apply to the national executive to h ave mè accepted During the next tew months a small group of us managed to get hen cory sas cera Then very 'promoted' moved to Joo, and ort tac rioo.
There was then a strike t meépack - a situation where WOeS LoO aOSuna& black shop steward. I was reinstated So I became highly involv the British workers moveme shop-floor level. I liked that se involvement in politics uLC COHOELe definitely there.were other things I wanted to do five years there I was looking change.
GP: The West Indian imm at this time were mainly mes. pose a distinet culture de OHE CESS LJ: Yes, the pattern of imm tion was simila to that • ASS e '60s and carly Some came with literally change of clothe But there jobs to be had and money tos :inis was Ahe ne'eli
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- Socialist Challenge 17 July 1980 P WINDRISK
LIONEL Jeffrey was born in the British colony of Guyana in the late twenties. He first came to Britain in 1948 as a student. After finishing his course he returned to Guyana and was involved in the strug- gles for independence, as an executive of the Pro- gressive People's Party. In 1957 he returned to Bri-
the factory floor, as clerk, teaching - until in 1978 he became the full-time director of the Community Education Project - an Islington-based group which runs courses on West Indian history, culture He has been active in Caribbean and Latin
Chairperson of the Islington 18 Defence Commit- tee. He has lived in Islington, North London, since