The conversation between my mother and me builds upon the writing of short personal narratives of Brixton 1981. The conversation begins with our discussion of her arrival in the British Isles from Jamaica as a child immigrant. My mother
discusses migration to the British Isles by Afro-Caribbean people as both their temporary and permanent settlement. The conversation discusses Brixton 1981 and its relation to Afro-Caribbean MEGroMMaS and the Black British experience. My mother and I discuss the significance of Brixton 1981 and where we think it fits in with the story of Britain’s migrant past.
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Me: What does Brixton mean to you?
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Mother: When I first came off the plane from Jamaica at 10 years old that’s where I lived for
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24 years and loved it for its multicultural life.
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Me: What do you mean by ‘multicultural’? Do you think people were living well together in
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harmony and respect for each other?
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Mother: Living there as a young woman, looking back from my point of view, yes.
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Me: When you used to take me, Marcus, Tasha and Stuart to Brixton to visit Nan’s, it
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always used to feel like a trip away from our home on the council estate to another
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culture of London: busyness; buses; people; different people; crowds. I always felt the
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presence of a wide variety of people in Brixton: the Jamaican baker’s shop where we
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bought patties and bread and the familiar distinctive smell of baking; the loud voices
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of the market traders – mainly White people selling fish; the reggae music either
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inside or outside the market. I think now and then of Brixton as a settlement for Black
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people. Mainly Jamaican people. What do you think?
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Mother: No. Most of the Black people I knew wanted to earn their money and go back home
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to Jamaica. But unfortunately many didn't.
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Me: Looking back now, what I mean by a settlement is a place where migrant people
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establish a base for their community. Do you think Brixton is down as the seminal
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settlement base for Jamaican people? A bit like the Normans arriving in Hastings?
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Mother: I don’t think so. Before they sent for their children, my father came first to get money,
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then my mother and my grandmother.
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Me: So would you say Brixton was more of temporary settlement than a permanent
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settlement?
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Mother: Yes. Well alright once they had earned some money they could go back.
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Me: Was it almost like a temporary settlement for your father?
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Mother: Yes and for my grandmother and her husband. Eventually they went back.
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Me: But what about their grandchildren?
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Mother: It’s up to the grandchildren. We came over here when we were children. When we
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grew up as adults and had our children we were allowed to decide where we wanted
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to stay.
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Me: Although you were adults. Did you think that you could actually go back to Jamaica?
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Mother: No.
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Me: Why not?
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Mother: Because I spent most of my life over here. I am a citizen. That’s for me.
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Me: What about the riots in Brixton? Would you describe them as riots or something else?
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Mother: People (Black people) were standing up for themselves and they said “Enough is
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enough!” They were standing up against racism. They (the Police) didn’t believe that
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something like that could have happened. No Police were on guard. There was no
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shield. The Police were defenceless. They (the Police) were stopping and searching
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people (Black people) and people got upset. People (Black people) couldn’t get work.
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They didn’t want to be on benefits. Everytime they (the Police) see Black people, they
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think they are thieves.
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Me: When I was a child during the time of it. I didn’t know the reasons as to why there was
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rioting. But what I do know now as I have understood things is that rioting, tension…
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Well what I am going relate this to I suppose is more contemporary issues. Like for
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example the most recent riot in London a few years ago, when Mark Duggan (Black
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man) got shot by the Police. Is this simply a continuance of what happened 30 years
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ago, you know… Police harassment of Black people or you think things may have
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improved and developed? Because what I see now in my mind is almost like a
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chronology of events involving a struggle for Black people that started even before
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Brixton. The Notting Hill riots of the fifties; more riots in the eighties and recently. Do
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you think Black people and their history and their struggles have served to improve
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their standing in Britain in anyway? You know… Has the government done anything
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to help them? Because there is a clear chronology of struggle.
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Mother: I don’t think so. But I think they try to do things undercover. There is still undercover
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racism.
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Me: Do think that the history of Black people in Britain over the last 50 or 60 years could
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be presented in a chronological way through these events and used for teaching in
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schools?
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Mother: In Brixton, you have Windrush Square, local museums, Bob Marley. But this should
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have been done long before riots. The Black community fought for these things. That
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should have been done a long time ago.
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Me: So how significant do you think the riots not just in Brixton but all over Britain in which
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Black people were involved are part of British history?
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Mother: We don’t count in British history.
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Me: But these events have happened in Britain and there has been some reaction from
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the government via policies, such as race relations acts for racial justice. Even when
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you think other incidents such the murder of Stephen Lawrence… interesting that that
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didn’t a cause a riot, but it did create some reaction through the Macpherson enquiry
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and report didn’t it?
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Mother: Sometimes Race Relations act work for people and sometimes it doesn’t. Do they
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teach Black history in school?
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Me: Is this Black history?
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Mother: Yes.
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Me: Is this British history?
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Mother: A bit of both.
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Me: It happened in Britain, so I think it must be British history. What benefit would children
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all over Britain have by learning about the history riots like this in Britain?
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Mother: Windrush Square (in Brixton). If you are going to call it Windrush Square they should
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say that this stands for Black people who came over here. And don’t forget it was
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their children and grandchildren who rioted.
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Me: And stood up for their rights? Do you think people rioting in Brixton felt displaced?
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Feeling alien in Britain.
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Mother: Depends on how they were brought up. Depends if they have been back to Jamaica.
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They poured lots of grants in after the riots. But Brixton wasn’t for Black People. But
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now Brixton is on the map.
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Me: What is it on the map for?
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Mother: The riots. Yes because that was one of the biggest riots.
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Me: So what kind of legacy does Brixton leave?
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Mother: Nothing for us.
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Me: Yes but … the legacy of the riots and why there were riots. For people, do you think
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the word ‘Brixton’ mean riots?
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Mother: Ha Ha!. Yes. When I was younger Brixton was full of Black people. Now when you go
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down there, it is not the same.
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Me: Would you say that particular era or moment of time is something that should be
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remembered through teaching about history?
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Mother: It’s gone. Dead.
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Me: How should be it remembered?
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Mother: Between the 1950s and 1980s there was a large population (of Afro-Caribbean
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people). Now it seems like it has gone.
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Me: You mentioned Windrush Square. Do you think they should be taught about
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Windrush as well as the riots? Do you think children should learn about this in
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school?
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Mother: Depends how they take it. What do you think?
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Me: Well, I think it was social struggle in Britain similar to civil rights movement in the USA
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during the 1960s based on fighting against oppression, discrimination and was calling
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for an immediate change.
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Mother: “Get up! Stand up!” Standing up for their rights and this can be traced back. So yes. It
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could be taught in schools. Do you think many children will want to hear about
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violence and riots?
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Me: Well… in primary schools Children learn about the Viking invasions and they were a
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minority-ethnic group of the past who caused violence and bloodshed in their attacks
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on Britain. Whilst Black people in Brixton, you could argue that were standing up for
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themselves.
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Me: What do the riots tell you about Black people today in Britain?
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Mother: I think that Black people in Britain and in London are still tarred with same brush,
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seen as problems.
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Me: Is Brixton still the same for Black people?
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Mother: Yes.
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Me: So there hasn’t been any movement from the 80s?
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