Caribbean Life, Love & Lifestyle in 1940s, '50s & '60s Britain;
Making Home - A Long Way From 'Home'...
BOOK AS A 'POP UP' EXPERIENCE FOR YOUR SCHOOL, COLLEGE, WORKPLACE, COMMUNITY HUB...
Like taking a trip down memory lane...
"See me and come live with me are two different things"
- West Indian proverb
BUY THE BOOK: When I Came to England: An Oral History of Life in 1950s & 1960s Britain
Voices of The Windrush Generation
"These stories are all the more important because they are the life experiences of ordinary people. They did not pretend to be students, recording artistes, writers and leaders of their people. They came, got low paid jobs, lived in single rooms, brought up their families, and, in some cases, saw the dream of returning to the islands fade away. All human experiences are in these stories..." - From: A Nation in Exile, by Donald Hinds, in When I Came to England, an oral history of Life in 1950s & 1960s Britain (Ed. Z. Nia Reynolds)
The book of the exhibition:
Unfiltered personal stories and testimonies of migration, exile, community building, hope, faith, joy, pain, disappointment, struggle and survival.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/When-Came-England-History-Britain/dp/0954038703
Telling an important story of migration, transition and exile
"...Everybody future plan, is to get a big time job and settle in the motherlan'." - Louise Bennett-Coverley
Donald
"The superb reminiscences in this collection will not be found in mainstream history books...
"The owners of these stories are handing down a priceless legacy to posterity."
Tom
"Since it was night, it wasn't possible to see the famous White Cliffs of Dover as we came in to dock at Dover...
"As we were travelling along, I could see the smoke coming from the buildings and it put me in mind of the oil refineries in Curacao."
Edna
"Back home, we would march and sing: "God save the king, and wave our little flags, things like that...
"..here, the prejudice was very, very strong and still is, even today, but now we can deal with it because we know what to expect."
Peter
"I had a little room in Ladbroke Grove. It was hard for a young man like myself to feel so confined in such a small space with so many rules to live by...
I was used to space, but now I felt like an animal in a cage."