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| > Tracking Carnival > In Trinidad and the Caribbean > In Britain | |
In Britain
1948 Arrival of the transatlantic ship Empire Windrush: In 1948 the Empire Windrush docked in Britain bringing West Indians who had responded to the British Government’s invitation to help rebuild post-war Britain. On that ship was the Trinidadian calypsonian Lord Kitchener (Alwyn Roberts) who famously sung ‘London is the Place for me’ into the Pathe News microphone on stepping of the ship. He later became one of the most loved, popular and respected calypsonians in the Caribbean of all time. Those who came from the Caribbean to Britain in the 1950’s and early 60’s came to be known as the Windrush generation. They came to Britain which was already diverse in ethnicity and were by no means the first of African origin in Britain. Indeed the Latin writer Tacitus had recorded an African regiment stationed on Hadrian’s Wall way back in the 3rd century, during Roman rule. It is also well recorded that in the 15 hundreds African musicians played in the bands of Tudor courts; in the 18th Century Africans were brought to Britain as servants and others jumped ship in British ports. In the first half of the 20th century, West Indians served in both World Wars and some stayed on in Britain when war was over. Arrivants from the Caribbean in the 50s and 60s tended to settle as close as possible to anyone they knew. Notting Hill was a slum district at this time and landlords let out houses room by room. Once a Trinidadian rented rooms others would join him, hence the development of a strong Trinidadian presence in Notting Hill. back 1958 The Notting Hill Riots: Life was very difficult for West Indian arrivants. There was no equal opportunities or anti-discrimination legislation at this time. They were charged higher rents than whites, paid lower wages, often banned from entering pubs and clubs. They were constantly under attack on the street from gangs of white youths known as Teddy Boys. Finally, in the summer of 1958, under attach from local whites, West Indian residents in Notting Hill took action to defend themselves. The resulting street riots became a marker in British history. back 1959 Murder Kelsoe Cochrane: In May 1959, young Antiguan carpenter, Kelsoe Cochrane was stabbed to death on a street in North Kensington by white youths. His funeral drew large numbers of mourners including white residents of the area. back 1959 The first Caribbean Carnival event: As a response to the intimidation and violence experienced by black residents in Notting Hill, activist and writer, Claudia Jones, organized the first Caribbean Carnival event, offering fellow West Indians a chance to demonstrate their creativity and affirm their culture. The event took place in January in St. Pancras Town Hall and was televised by the BC. Indoor carnival events continued until Claudia Jones’ death in 1964. They included costume competitions, calypso, steelband and dancing. Claudia Jones was born in Trinidad and grew up with her family in New York. She working in a factory as a teenager and in time became a shop steward. She joined the communist party and subsequently, in the anti-communist trials of the mid 1950s, was prosecuted and imprisoned. She was released on account of illness on the condition she left America. She came to Britain and became editor of the West Indian Gazette, the first black newspaper in Britain. back Mid-1960’s Small community fair revived in Notting Hill for local children: Community worker Rhaune Laslett organized a small community fair, mainly for children from the different ethnic groups locally. Steelbandsman Russ Henderson was invited to bring his pan-round-the-neck combo. Tired of standing and playing, he led his band off down the road and embarked on the now legendary trip down as far as Holland Park and round and back to North Kensington, drawing West Indians out from their houses with the sound of pan wherever he passed. This originally small community event thereafter developed its Caribbean character, initially with a predominantly Trinidadian aspect. back Mid-1970s Introduction of Jamaican sound systems and reggae into NHC: The mid-1970s saw the introduction of Jamaican sound systems and reggae into NHC. At the time, the Metropolitan Police identified reggae music with rebellious Black youth. The NH carnivals of ’76 and ’77 were aggressively policed and the resulting disorders were reported on by the press in ways that have affected public thinking on carnival, even up to the present. back 1980s NHC’s development: Through the 1980s NHC up to 1.5 million. Inappropriate and conflict-producing policing continued alongside negative press reporting which focused on occasional bottle throwing late at night, or minor injuries, and ignored the huge popularity and magnificence of the Carnival event as a whole. At the same time, costuming became more visually exciting and technologically experimental. Sound systems increased in number and also in the range of music played. In the 1980s there were repeated calls to ban carnival or to move it to a stadium. Carnivalists ‘stood firm for their culture’ and resisted attempts to control and reduce carnival. For many the 1980s in Notting Hill echoed the 1880s in Port of Spain, Trinidad, when police attempted to control and break up carnival there. Since emancipation in 1830s Trinidad, carnival has stood for the right of free people to claim the public space of the street and celebrate freedom. back 1986 Exhibition organized by the Arts Council: ‘Masquerading – The Art of Notting Hill Carnival’: The exhibition ‘Masquerading – The Art of Notting Hill Carnival’ opened on the South Bank in London and toured nationally. It was the first carnival exhibition of its kind. back 1989 Police Carnival: Heavy-handed policing and use of new control tactics that carnivalists had not agreed to, caused 1989 carnival o be dubbed ‘police carnival’. Towards the end of the day police in plastic masks and riot shields came into the streets to move people on, with a view to clearing the area. The resultant disturbances attracted exaggerated, inflammatory and inaccurate press reporting. back 1989 ‘Notting Hill Carnival – the facts’, British Medical Journal article in 1989: In the 11th November issue of the British Medical Journal (Vol 299), doctors who had attended patients in A&E at St. Mary’s Hospital Paddington, over carnival weekend, reported factually on their own experience of attending to people injured during carnival that year. Their report exposed wildly misleading and inaccurate reporting on injuries in the national press, and clearly stated that those who wished to see carnival banned on account of risk of injury were doing so on entirely false assumptions and inaccurate evidence. back 1990s continuing popularity and change: In the 1990s, carnival’s attendance figures steadily increased. It was a period of relative stability. With sophisticated surveillance technology and widespread positioning of CCTV cameras, the police were able to reduce their presence on the streets, while monitoring banks of screens and being able to alert small groups of police on the ground to deal immediately with any signs of a problem, without causing a major disturbance. Having previously been mostly negative and reactive, newspapers started to print articles before carnival and to be proactive in finding entertaining angles to report on. The carnival organizers attracted significant commercial funding for the first time, which boosted prize money and facilitated better provision, for example, for the costume competition, Carnival Gala. Problems increased with an ever more crowded route for the mas bands. Many felt that commercial sponsorship, which brought with it certain conditions from the sponsor, could severely damage carnival’s purpose, identity and ‘self-government’. Funding for mas bands continued to be a problem. back 2005-07 ‘Roads to Freedom’ – Kinetika Art Links International: In 2005 Kinetika launched ‘Roads to Freedom’, a three year carnival arts project, engaging young people in street performance with carnival music, dance, costume and theatre. Artistic Director, Ali Pretty, designed the project to offer an exploration of ‘freedom’, in ways that are historical, provocative, informing and entertaining, while at the same time creating carnival performance, in each of the three years, that is spectacular and exciting to experience and to see. back |
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