British African-Caribbean community

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The Leicester Caribbean Carnival

The British African-Caribbean (Afro-Caribbean) community refers to residents of the United Kingdom who are of West Indian background, and whose ancestors were indigenous to Africa.^Term[›]

As immigration to the UK from Africa increased in the 1990s, the term has been used to include UK residents solely of African origin, or as a term to define all Black British residents, though this is usually denoted by "African and Caribbean". The most common and traditional use of the term Afro-Caribbean community is in reference to groups of residents continuing aspects of Caribbean culture, customs and traditions in the United Kingdom.^Term[›]

The largest proportion of the African-Caribbean population in the UK are of Jamaican origin, others trace origins to smaller nations including Trinidad and Tobago, Saint Kitts & Nevis, Barbados, Saint Lucia, Grenada, Montserrat, Dominica, Antigua and Guyana, which though located on the South American mainland, has close cultural ties to the Caribbean, and was historically considered to be part of the British West Indies.

African-Caribbean communities exist throughout the United Kingdom, though by far the largest concentrations are in London,^[1] Birmingham and the broader West Midlands conurbation. Significant communities also exist in other population centres, notably Manchester, Nottingham, Leicester, Bristol, Leeds, Sheffield, Liverpool and Cardiff. In these cities the community is traditionally associated with a particular area, such as Chapeltown in Leeds or St. Pauls in Bristol.^[2]

[edit] History

Further information: History of the Caribbean and History of the United Kingdom

Combined British and Jamaican flag sometimes used to symbolise multiculturalism^[3]

African-Caribbeans are primarily the descendants of West Africans captured or obtained in trade from African procurers. The Africans were then shipped by European slave traders to English, French, Dutch, Spanish, and Portuguese colonies founded from the 16th century. On arrival, the majority of Africans were set to work on the vast Caribbean sugar plantations for the benefit of the colonial powers.^[4]

Migration from the Caribbean to Britain was rare before World War II, and little is known about the experiences of those who made the move. There are records of small communities in the ports of Cardiff, Liverpool and South Shields dating back to the mid 19th century. These communities were formed by freed slaves following the abolition of slavery.^[5] Typical occupations of the early migrants were footmen or coachmen, though a growing Caribbean presence in the British military led to approximately 15,000 migrants arriving in the North-West of England around the time of the First World War to work in munitions factories.^[6]

Since World War II many African-Caribbeans migrated to North America and Europe, especially to the USA, Canada, the UK, and the Netherlands. As a result of the losses during the war, the British government began to encourage mass immigration from the countries of the British empire and Commonwealth to fill shortages in the labour market.^[7] The 1948 British Nationality Act gave British citizenship to all people living in Commonwealth countries, and full rights of entry and settlement in Britain.^[8] Many West Indians were attracted by better prospects in what was often referred to as the mother country.

[edit] The "Windrush generation"

In 1998, an area of public open space in Brixton was renamed Windrush Square to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the arrival of the West Indians.^[9]

The ship Empire Windrush brought the first group of 492 immigrants to Tilbury near London on June 22, 1948. The Windrush was en route from Australia to England via the Atlantic, docking in Kingston, Jamaica. An advert had appeared in a Jamaican newspaper offering cheap transport on the ship for anybody who wanted to come and work in the UK. The arrivals were temporarily housed in the Clapham South deep shelter in southwest London less than a mile away from Coldharbour Lane in Brixton. Many only intended to stay for a few years, and although a number returned to rejoin the RAF, the majority remained to settle permanently.^[10] The arrival of the passengers has become an important landmark in the history of modern Britain, and the image of the Caribbeans filing off its gangplank has come to symbolise the beginning of modern British multicultural society. ^[10] (See image here).

There was plenty of work in post-war Britain and industries such as British Rail, the National Health Service and public transport recruited almost exclusively from Jamaica and Barbados.^[11] Though African-Caribbeans were encouraged to journey to Britain via immigration campaigns created by successive British governments, many new arrivals were to endure intolerance and extreme racism from certain sectors of indigenous British society. This experience was to mark African-Caribbeans' relations with the wider community over a long period.^[12] Early African-Caribbean immigrants found private employment and housing denied to them on the basis of race. Housing was in short supply following the wartime bombing, and the shortage led to some of the first clashes with the established white community. Clashes continued and worsened into the 1950s, and riots erupted in cities including London, Birmingham and Nottingham.^[7] In 1958, attacks in the London area of Notting Hill by white youths marred relations with West Indian residents leading to the creation of the annual Notting Hill Carnival, which was initiated in 1959 as a positive response by the Caribbean community.^[13] In 1962, Britain passed the Commonwealth Immigrants Act restricting the entry of immigrants,^[7] and by 1972 only holders of work permits, or people with parents or grandparents born in the UK could gain entry - effectively stemming most Caribbean immigration.^[8] Despite the restrictive measures, an entire generation of Britons with African-Caribbean heritage now existed, contributing to British society in virtually every field. The number of British persons born in the West Indies had increased from 15,000 in 1951 to 172,000 in 1961 to 304,000 in 1981. The total population of persons of West Indian heritage by 1981 was between 500,000 and 550,000, depending upon the official source used.^[14]

[edit] Recession and turbulence, 1970s & 1980s

The 1970s and 1980s were decades of comparative turbulence in wider British society; industrial disputes preceded a period of deep recession and widespread unemployment which seriously affected the economically less prosperous African-Caribbean community.^{Recession[›]} Perceived societal racism, discrimination, poverty, powerlessness and oppressive policing sparked a series of riots in areas with substantial African-Caribbean populations.^[15] These "uprisings" (as they were described by some in the community) took place in St Pauls in 1980, Brixton, Toxteth and Moss Side in 1981, St Pauls again in 1982, Notting Hill Gate in 1982, Toxteth in 1982, and Handsworth, Brixton and Tottenham in 1985.^[16] The riots had a profoundly unsettling effect on local residents, and led the then Home Secretary William Whitelaw to commission the Scarman report to address the root causes of the disturbances.

Dancers at the Notting Hill Carnival

The report identified both "racial discrimination" and a "racial disadvantage" in Britain, concluding that urgent action was needed to prevent these issues becoming an "endemic, ineradicable disease threatening the very survival of our society".^[15] The era saw an increase in attacks on Black people from all communities by white English people. The Joint Campaign Against Racism committee reported that there had been more than 20,000 attacks on non-indigenous Britons including Britons of Asian origin during 1985.^[17]

[edit] Recent history

While individuals with Caribbean heritage excelled in a variety of fields in British society during the 1990s and 2000s, many recurring issues continued to impact the African-Caribbean community as a whole. The police response to the 1993 murder of Black teenager Stephen Lawrence, by assailants that have yet to be convicted, led to an outcry from the community and calls to investigate police conduct. The subsequent Macpherson Report, vigorously sought by Stephen's Jamaican born parents, revealed evidence of institutional racism in the London Metropolitan police force, confirming the beliefs of many Black Britons.^[18]

The community has suffered from an increasing association with gun-crime, heightened by high profile murders, such as that of two young women shot outside a Birmingham hair salon in 2003. Several media outlets blamed a “gangster rap culture” in the community,^[19] though Assistant Chief Constable Nick Tofiluk of the West Midlands Police believed that the use of firearms is not an Afro-Caribbean issue alone, and has been on the rise throughout British society.^[20] Tensions between African-Caribbean residents and British Asians in a number of regions have led to confrontations, notably violent disturbances in Birmingham in 2005 where groups from both communities fought and rioted over two nights. There is also evidence of tensions between the African-Caribbean community and the growing number of African immigrants.^[21]

[edit] Statistics

Further information: United Kingdom Census 2001

Ridley Road Market in Dalston, London which sells African-Caribbean Music, textiles, and food including goat meat, yams, mangos and spices.^[22]

In the UK Census of 2001,^[23] approximately 566,000 people classified themselves in the category Black Caribbean. Out of a total UK population of approximately 59 million, this amounted to slightly under 1% of the population.

The total so-called 'visible minority' population (including South Asians, African, East Asians, Mixed and 'Other') was stated as 7.9% of the UK population (4.6 million) - of which 'Black Caribbean' constituted 12%. However, another 677,000 people (approximately 1.2% of the UK population) classified themselves as 'Mixed'. The census states that one third of this group have African-Caribbean and 'White' parents - which expands the demographic impact of the African-Caribbean community to about 1.4% of the UK population.

In 2001, 61% of African Caribbeans lived in London. With regard to unemployment, men were three times more likely (14%), and women twice as likely (9%), to be unemployed than their 'white' counterparts (5% and 4%). African-Caribbeans were also found to suffer disproportionately lower educational opportunities and be less likely to work either as self-employed or in managerial roles.

[edit] The community

Further information: Politics of the United Kingdom and Education in the United Kingdom

In many parts of Britain, African-Caribbeans have been recognised as being part of a distinct community.^[1] In the 1950s and 1960s community centres and associations sprung up in some British towns and cities with an aim to serve African-Caribbean populations. These centres have often addressed issues that rise within the community, including perceived problems of police harassment and concerns about the housing of Black people, which was viewed as discriminatory during the early decades of mass immigration.^{Community[›]}

Diane Abbott, born to Jamaican parents, became the first Black woman elected to the House of Commons in 1987

The centres also allowed African-Caribbeans to socialise without risking the potential racial discrimination and aggression of "unfriendly pubs".^[24] Many of these associations appointed a Community Relations Officer whose role was to liaise between the community and wider British society including the establishment. Other responsibilities included arranging social events, such as festivals, carnivals and coach trips, which helped bring the communities together.^[24] Typical of present day centres is the The Afro Caribbean Millennium Centre in Birmingham which was established with National Lottery funding to support principally Caribbean people in areas like employment, housing, education, immigration, and cultural issues.^[25]

Although the community does not face any official or informal restrictions on political participation, Britons of Caribbean origin are nonetheless under-represented in local and national politics.^[1] British African-Caribbeans have long asserted that they encounter discriminatory barriers to most middle and higher status occupations, as well as discrimination in hiring practices at all levels of employment. There is also considerable evidence that African-Caribbeans experience differential treatment at the hands of public officials, the British courts and penal system, and the police.^[1] Studies have proposed that the isolation of certain regional urban areas by financial institutions such as insurance brokers, disproportionately affects the community to its detriment.^[1]

Britain's school system, despite efforts to address issues of discrimination,^[26] has been indicted on numerous occasions for racism, for undermining the self-confidence of all Black children and maligning the culture of their parents.^[27] Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, a disproportionate number of Caribbean migrant children were classified as 'educationally subnormal' and placed in special schools and units.^[28] By the end of the 1980s, the chances of white school leavers finding employment were four times better than those of Black pupils. These cumulative practices have helped keep the group at the lower end of the socio-economic spectrum.^[28]

[edit] African-Caribbean culture in the United Kingdom

Further information: Culture of the United Kingdom

[edit] Carnivals

African-Caribbean communities organise and participate in Caribbean style carnivals throughout the UK. The best known of these is the annual Notting Hill Carnival, now a multi-cultural experience, attracting up to 1.5 million people from Britain and around the world, making it the largest street festival in Europe.^[29] The carnival began in 1964 as a small procession of Trinidadians in memory of festivals in their home country. Other carnivals include the Leicester Caribbean Carnival, the Leeds West Indian Carnival and the Birmingham International Carnival.

Scotch bonnet peppers imported from the Caribbean on sale at London's Brixton Market. The peppers are a key ingredient of "Jerk" dishes.

[edit] Food

Further information: Caribbean cuisine

The earliest Caribbean immigrants to post-war Britain found differences in diet and availability of food an uncomfortable challenge.^[30] In later years, as the community developed and food imports became more accessible to all, grocers specialising in Caribbean produce opened in British High streets. Caribbean restaurants can now also be found in most areas of Britain where West Indian communities reside, serving traditional Caribbean dishes such as curried goat, fried dumplings, ackee and salt fish, fried plantain, "jerk", steamed cabbage and rice and peas.^[31]

[edit] Religion

Further information: Religion in the United Kingdom

The influx of African-Caribbeans to the United Kingdom was accompanied by religious practices more common to the North American continent. In Britain, many African-Caribbeans continued to practice Non-conformist Protestant denominations with an Evangelical influence such as Pentecostalism and Seventh Day Baptism. African-Caribbeans have supported new churches in many areas of the country, which have grown to act as social centres for the community.^{Religion[›]} The manner of worship in some of these churches is more akin to that of African-American practices, than to traditional English Anglican or Catholic liturgy. Gospel music also came to play a part in British cultural life. African-Caribbeans played a central role establishing British Gospel choirs, most notably the London Community Gospel Choir. Some British African-Caribbeans continued to practice more marginal religious beliefs such as Rastafarianism, which developed in Jamaica. The Rastafarian belief system, associated personal symbols such as dreadlocks and cultural practices concerning cannabis were to influence British society far beyond the African-Caribbean community being adopted by both indigenous Britons and other ethnic groups residing in the nation.^[32]

[edit] Language and dialect

Further information: Jamaican English and English-based creole languages

English is the official language of the former British West Indies, therefore African-Caribbean immigrants had few communication difficulties upon arrival in Britain compared to immigrants from other regions.^[1] Nevertheless, indigenous Britons were generally unused to the distinct Caribbean dialects, creoles and patois (patwah) spoken by many African-Caribbeans, which would be particularly problematic in the field of education. In a study by language and education specialist Viv Edwards, The West Indian language issue in British schools, language – the Creole spoken by the students – was singled out as an important factor disadvantaging Caribbean children in British schools. The study cites negative attitudes of teachers towards any nonstandard variety noting that;

"The teacher who does not or is not prepared to recognize the problems of the Creole-speaking child in a British English situation can only conclude that he is stupid when he gives either an inappropriate response or no response at all. The stereotyping process leads features of Creole to be stigmatized and to develop connotations of, amongst other things, low academic ability."[33]

As integration continued, African-Caribbeans born in Britain instinctively adopted hybrid dialects combining Caribbean and local British dialects.^[34] These dialects and accents gradually entered mainstream British vernacular, and shades of Caribbean dialects can be heard amongst Britons regardless of cultural origin. A Lancaster University study identified an emergence in certain areas of Britain of a distinctive accent which borrows heavily from Jamaican creole, lifting some words unchanged.^[35] This phenomenon, disparagingly named "Jafaican" meaning 'fake Jamaican', was famously parodied by comedian Sacha Baron Cohen through his character Ali G.^[35]

[edit] Theatre, film and television

Further information: British television and British cinema

The 1970s saw the emergence of independent filmmakers such as Trinidadian born Horace Ove, the director of Pressure, among others.^[36] London's Talawa Theatre Company was founded in the 1985 by Jamaican born Yvonne Brewster, their first production being based on C.L.R. James's historical account of the Haitian Revolution, The Black Jacobins.^[37] Since the 1980s, the Blue Mountain Theatre's productions have offered a more earthy style of populist comedy, often bringing over Jamaican artists such as Oliver Samuels.^[38]

The profile of African-Caribbean actors on television such as Lennie James, Judith Jacob and Diane Parish has widened substantially since 1970s shows such as Love Thy Neighbour (Rudolph Walker) and Rising Damp (Don Warrington) when their role was often to act simply as either butt of, or foil to, racist jokes by 'white' characters. The most influential programme in moving away from this formula was the 1989-1994 Channel Four barbershop sitcom Desmond's starring Norman Beaton and Carmen Munroe.

One of the biggest African-Caribbean names on the British stage is Lenny Henry who began his career as a stand-up comedian but whose television sketch shows, where he often caricatured Caribbean émigrés, made him popular enough to headline his own BBC sitcom Chef! from 1993 to 1994.^[39] The highest professional achievement by a British African-Caribbean actor to date (2006), was Marianne Jean-Baptiste's 1996 nominations for an Academy Award (Oscar), Golden Globe and British Academy Award (bafta) for her feature-film debut role in "Secrets and Lies".^[40]

[edit] Literature

Further information: British literature and Caribbean literature

Novelist Zadie Smith, whose mother emigrated from Jamaica in 1969

Jamaican poet James Berry was one of the first Caribbean writers to come to Britain after the 1948 British Nationality Act. He was followed by writers including Barbadians George Lamming and Edward Kamau Brathwaite, Trinidadians Samuel Selvon, CLR James, Jamaican Andrew Salkey and the Guyanese writer Wilson Harris. These writers viewed London as the centre of the English literary scene, and took advantage of the BBC radio show "Caribbean voices" to gain attention and be published. By relocating to Britain, these writers also gave Caribbean literature an international readership for the first time and established Caribbean writing as an important perspective within English literature.^[41]

Some Caribbean writers also began writing about the hardships faced by settlers in post war Britain. George Lamming addressed these issues with his 1954 novel The Emigrants which traced the journey of migrants from Barbados as they struggled to integrate into British life.^[41] By the mid-1980s, a more radical wave of writers and poets were addressing the African-Caribbean experience in Britain, promoted by a group of new publishing houses such as Akira, Karia, Dangaroo, and Karnak House.^[41]

In 1984, the poet Fred D'Aguiar (born in London to Guyanese parents) won the T. S. Eliot Prize, and in 1994 won the Whitbread First Novel Award for The Longest Memory. Linton Kwesi Johnson's rhyming and socio-political commentary over dub beats made him the unofficial poet laureate of the British African-Caribbean community.^[42] Another dub poet, Benjamin Zephaniah, born in Birmingham to Jamaican parents, overcame a spell in prison to become a well known writer, and public figure.^[43] In 2003 he declined an OBE, stating that it reminded him of 'thousands of years of brutality, it reminds me of how my foremothers were raped and my forefathers brutalized'.^[44]

In 2004, Andrea Levy's novel Small Island was winner of the 2004 Orange Prize for Fiction, one of Britain's highest literary honours. The feat was repeated in 2006 by Zadie Smith for On Beauty. Levy, born in London to Jamaican parents is the author of four novels, each exploring - from different perspectives - the problems faced by Black British-born children of Jamaican emigrants.^[45] Smith's acclaimed first novel, White Teeth, is a portrait of contemporary multicultural London drawing from her own upbringing with an English father and a Jamaican mother.^[46] The UK also has a modest output of African-Caribbean popular fiction, of which the most widely known example is 'Yardie', an Urban fiction novel written by Victor Headley in 1992 which describes the life a Jamaican courier carrying cocaine from Jamaica to London. The book was published by Steve Pope and Dotun Adebayo of Xpress books.^[47]

[edit] Media

Further information: Media of the United Kingdom

The Voice newspaper is the primary African-Caribbean print media outlet in Britain. and was founded in the early 1980s by Val McCalla. Other publications have included the Gleaner, Black Voice, Pride Magazine and The Caribbean Times. The growth of such media is aimed to offset the perceived imbalances of 'mainstream' media. In 2006, Sir Ian Blair, the Chief Commissioner of London's Metropolitan Police, joined a long list of commentators in branding the mainstream British media as 'institutionally racist' for its alleged failure to offer a proper balance in reporting affairs related to the community.^[48]

Trinidad-born Sir Trevor McDonald is one of the community's best-known journalists, having been the main presenter (newscaster) for the national ITV network for over twenty years.^[49] Other notable media figures include Gary Younge, The Guardian columnist and Moira Stuart the veteran BBC news presenter.^[50] Trinidadian born Darcus Howe has written in New Statesman and fronted a number of documentary series including the Channel 4 current affairs programme Devil's Advocate. Much of Howe's work is related to the experiences of British African-Caribbeans and racism in wider British society.^[51] Other notable producer/directors are Terry Jervis (Jervis Media) and Pogus Caesar (Windrush Productions); both have made multicultural, entertainment and sports programmes for Carlton TV, BBC TV and Channel 4.^[52]

The community has a strong tradition of 'underground' 'pirate radio' broadcasters, the most established being London's Lightning and Genesis, which play a mix of Ragga, Reggae, Bashment, Hip Hop and R'n'B. In 1996, Choice FM received a licence to broadcast in London and Birmingham with a remit to serve the musical tastes of the African-Caribbean community.^[53] In 2004, the BBC established its digital broadcasting strand '1Xtra' to focus on new Black music - which in effect means catering to the tastes of the country's African-Caribbean youth.^[54]

The internet has afforded the community the opportunity to publish en-masse and there are now thousands of websites and blogs produced by or for African-Caribbeans in the UK such as the BBC's Family History page, ^[55] and The African-Caribbean Network, Blacknet UK, launched in 1996.^[56]

[edit] Visual Arts

Further information: British art

Initially artists such as the Guyanese born painters Aubrey Williams and Frank Bowling and the Jamaican sculptor Ronald Moody had found that, despite achieving worldwide renown, it was difficult to find acceptance in the highest echelons of the art establishment. Bowling graduated from the Royal College of Art in the same year as David Hockney winning the silver medal for painting but within a few years moved to New York where he found greater institutional support.^[57]

One of the most influential African-Caribbeans in the British art world has been Dr. Eddie Chambers. Chambers, with curator, artist, critic and academic Keith Piper, founded the Black Art movement in the late 1970s initially based in the West Midlands. Chambers worked with Donald Rodney and Sonia Boyce, both of whose work is represented in the permanent collections of the London's Tate Britain museum. In 1986 the Hayward Gallery presented the exhibition 'The Other Story' that provided a survey of African-Caribbean, African and Asian artists working in the UK.

Other African-Caribbean artists influenced by, or associated with Britain's Black Arts Movement include Faisal Abdu'allah of Jamaican heritage,^[58] Guyanan born Ingrid Pollard,^[59] Kimathi Donkor, whose work has dealt with both Caribbean and British historical subjects,^[60] British-based Jamaican painter Eugene Palmer, and Tam Joseph, whose 1983 work Spirit of Carnival was a vivid depiction of the Notting Hill Carnival.^[61] The movement was also part of the impetus that led to the founding of the Association of Black Photographers by Mark Sealy. In 1999 the film maker Steve McQueen (not to be confused with the Hollywood filmstar), won Britain's most prestigious art prize, the Turner Prize for his video "Deadpan".^[62] The artist and producer Pogus Caesar was commissioned by Artangel to direct a film based on Steve McQueen's work. Forward Ever - Backward Never, was premiered at Lumiere in London 2002. Caesar has also established the OOM Gallery Archives, based in Birmingham which has in excess of 12,000 images including photographs of contemporary Black British culture.

[edit] Academia

African Caribbean academics are prominent in the arts and humanities. Professor Paul Gilroy, of Guyanese/English heritage, is one Britain's leading academics, having taught sociology at Harvard as well as Goldsmiths College and the London School of Economics.^[63] The Jamaican born cultural theorist Professor Stuart Hall has also been a highly influential British intellectual since the 1960s.^[64] Dr. Robert Beckford has presented several national television and radio documentaries exploring African-Caribbean history, culture and religion.^[65] Other prominent academics include Dr Lez Henry of Goldsmiths College, and Prof. Harry Goldbourne, a former member of the radical group the Black Unity and Freedom Party, who went on to teach at the University of the South Bank. Although there are hundreds of African-Caribbean teachers in the UK, it has been suggested that their under-representation in inner-city schools is a major factor in the failure, particularly of secondary-level schools, to achieve a satisfactory average of achievement for the community's children (see Bernard Coard and the Swann Report of 1985).^[66]

[edit] Music

Further information: Caribbean music in the United Kingdom

Former Musical Youth Frontman Dennis Seaton in 2005

The period of largescale immigration brought many new musical styles to the United Kingdom. These styles gained popularity amongst Britons of all cultural origins, and aided Caribbean music in gaining international recognition. The earliest of these exponents was the calypso artist Lord Kitchener, who arrived in Britain on the Windrush in 1948 accompanied by fellow musician Lord Beginner.^[67] Already a star in his native Trinidad, Lord Kitchener got an immediate booking at the only West Indian club in London. Six months later, he was appearing in three clubs nightly, and his popularity extended beyond the West Indian and African night club audiences, to include music hall and variety show audiences.^[67] Kitchener's recording "London is the place for me" exemplified the experience of the Windrush generation.^[68] Other calypso musicians began to collaborate with African Kwela musicians and British jazz players in London clubs.^[68]

Jamaican music styles reached Britain in the 1960s, becoming the staple music for young British African-Caribbeans. Tours by ska artists such as Prince Buster and the Skatalites fed the growing British-Caribbean music scene, and the success of Jamaican artists Millie Small, Desmond Dekker and Bob and Marcia propelled Caribbean music and people into mainstream cultural life. British African-Caribbeans followed the changing styles of Jamaican music and began to produce homegrown music appealing to both Black and White communities. In 1969, the British African-Caribbean ska band Symarip recorded "Skinhead Moonstomp" which had a huge effect on the British ska scene. The ska sound and rude boy imagery inspired a generation of white working-class youths (especially mods and skinheads), and later helped spawn Britain's multi-cultural 2 Tone movement in the late 1970s.^[69]

As Jamaican ska gave way to the slower styles of rocksteady and the more politicised reggae, British African-Caribbeans followed suit. Sound systems to rival those in Jamaica sprung up throughout communities, and 'Blues parties' - parties in private houses, where one paid at the door - became an institution. The arrival of Bob Marley to London in 1971 helped spawn a Black British music industry based on reggae. His association with the Rastafarian movement influenced waves of young people, reared in Britain, to discover their Caribbean roots. British Barbadian Dennis Bovell became Britain's prominent reggae band leader and producer, working with many international reggae stars, and introducing a reggae flavour to the British pop charts with non-reggae acts such as Dexy's Midnight Runners and Bananarama. Bovell also worked extensively with London-based dub poet Linton Kwesi Johnson.^[70]

Succesful DJ and musician Goldie, born to Scottish and Jamaican parents^[71]

British music with reggae roots prospered in the 1980s and early 1990s. British African-Caribbean artists Musical Youth, Aswad, Maxi Priest and Eddy Grant had major commercial successes, and the multicultural band UB40 helped promote reggae to an international audience. Birmingham-based Steel Pulse became one of the world's foremost exponents of roots reggae and accompanying black consciousness, their debut 1978 album Handsworth Revolution becoming a seminal release.^[72]

British African-Caribbean music had been generally synonymous with Caribbean styles until the 1990s, although some artists had been drawing on British and American musical forms for several decades. In the 1970s and 1980s, British African-Caribbean artists such as Hot Chocolate and Imagination became leaders of the British disco, soul and R'n'B scenes.^[73] By the mid 1980s British African-Caribbeans were also incorporating American hip hop and House styles, becoming leading figures in Britain's developing dance music culture. This led to an explosion of musical forms. British artists created musical hybrids combining many elements including European techno, Jamaican dancehall, dub, breakbeats and contemporary American R'n'B. These unique blends began to gain international acclaim through the success of Soul II Soul and the multi-racial Massive Attack.^[74]

British African-Caribbeans were at the leading edge of the jungle and drum and bass movements of the 1990s. Although the fast-tempo drums and loud intricate bass lines sounded fresh, Caribbean roots could still be detected.^[75] Two successful exponents of these new styles were DJs Goldie and Roni Size, both of Jamaican heritage.^[71][76] Later, British African-Caribbean musicians and DJs were at the forefront of the UK Garage and Grime scenes.^[77]

[edit] African-Caribbeans in British sport

Further information: Sport in the United Kingdom

British African-Caribbeans are well represented in traditional British sporting pastimes such as football and rugby, and have also represented the nation at the highest level in sports where Caribbeans typically excel in the home countries such as cricket and athletics. Some British African-Caribbeans have gone on to become international sports stars and top global earners in their chosen sporting field.

[edit] Athletics

Britain's first Olympic sprint medals came from Harry Edward, born in Guyana, who won two individual bronze medals in Antwerp in 1920.^[78] Many years later, sprinter Linford Christie, born in Saint Andrew Parish, Jamaica, won 23 major championship medals, more than any other British male athlete to date. Christie's career highlight was winning a gold medal in the immensely competitive 100 metres event in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.^[79] Welsh Hurdler Colin Jackson, who went to considerable lengths to explore his Jamaican heritage in a BBC documentary, held the 110 metres hurdles world record for 11 years between 1993 and 2004.^[80]

Jamaican born Tessa Sanderson became the first British African-Caribbean women to win Olympic gold, receiving the medal for her javelin performance in the 1984 games. Denise Lewis, of Jamaican heritage, won heptathlon gold in the 2000 Sydney Olympics,^[81] a games where 13 of Britain's 18 track and field representatives had Afro-Caribbean roots.^[78] Four years later in the Athens Olympics, Kelly Holmes, the daughter of a Jamaican-born car mechanic, achieved the rare feat of taking gold in both the 800 and 1500 metres races.^[82] In the same games, Britain's men's 4 x 100 metre relay team of Marlon Devonish, Darren Campbell, Mark Lewis-Francis and Jason Gardener, all of African-Caribbean heritage, beat a fancied United States quartet to claim Olympic gold.^[83]

[edit] Boxing

British boxers of a Caribbean background have dominated the national boxing scene since the early 1980s. In 1995 Frank Bruno, whose mother was a Pentecostal laypreacher from Jamaica, became Britain's first heavyweight boxing champion in the 20th century.^[84] Bruno's reign was shortly followed by British born Jamaican Lennox Lewis who defeated Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson to become the world's premier heavyweight during the late 1990s.^[85] Middleweights Chris Eubank, who spent his early years in Jamaica, and Nigel Benn, of Barbadian descent, both claimed world titles and fought a series of brutal battles in the early 1990s.^[86] In the Sydney Olympics of 2000 Audley Harrison (who has Jamaican heritage) became Britain's first heavyweight gold medalist.^[87] Other Boxing champions from the British African-Caribbean community include the Welterweight Lloyd Honeyghan nicknamed 'Ragamuffin Man' in reference to his Jamaican roots, who defeated boxing super-star Donald Curry in 1986.^[88]

[edit] Cricket

Cricket has long been a popular pastime amongst African-Caribbeans in both the West Indies and the United Kingdom, though this has waned somewhat since its peak during the 1960s-1980s.^[89] After the period of widespread immigration, tours of England by the combined West Indian cricket team became cultural celebrations of Caribbean culture in Britain, particularly at cricket grounds such as The Oval in South London.^[89] Almost all the great West Indian cricketers became regular features of the domestic county game, including Garfield Sobers, Vivian Richards and Michael Holding. In turn, British cricketers of Caribbean origin also began to make an impact in English cricket. In the 1980’s-1990’s players including Gladstone Small (born in Barbados),^[90] Devon Malcolm (born in Jamaica)^[91] and Phillip DeFreitas (born in Dominica)^[92] represented England making significant contributions to the side.^Cricket[›]

[edit] Football

The first West Indian born footballer to play football at a high level in Britain was Andrew Watson who played for Queens Park (Glasgow) and went on to play for Scotland. Born in May 1857 in British Guyana, Watson lived and worked in Scotland and came to be known as one of the best players of his generation. He played in 36 games for Queens Park and also appeared for the London Swifts in the English F.A. Cup championship of 1882, making him the first Black player in English Cup history. Watson earned 2 Scottish Cup medals and 4 Charity Cup medals during his career; Who's Who also acknowledged his performances in international matches. Watson's place in football history included a spell in management as Club Secretary for Queens Park - making Watson the first Afro-Caribbean man to reach the boardroom.^[93]

Derby County's Michael Johnson, one of a number of British born players to play for the Jamaica national football team

Other early Caribbean footballers included Walter Tull, of Barbadian descent, who played for the north London club Tottenham Hotspurs in the early 20th century. Some years later, Jamaican-born Lloyd 'Lindy' Delapenha, made an impact playing for Middlesbrough between 1950-57 becoming a leading goal scorer and the first Black player to win a championship medal.^[94] Though it was the 1970s before African-Caribbean players began to make a major impact on the game.

Clyde Best (West Ham 1969-1976), born in Bermuda,^[95] paved the way for players such as Cyrille Regis (born in French Guyana),^[96] and Luther Blissett (footballer) (born in Jamaica).^[97] Blisset and Regis joined Viv Anderson to form the first wave of Black footballers to play for the England national team. Although the number of players of African-Caribbean origin in the English league was increasing far beyond proportions in wider society, when Black players represented the English national team, they still had to endure racism from a section of England supporters. When selected to play for England, Cyril Regis received a bullet through the mail with the threat, "You’ll get one of these through your knees if you step on our Wembley turf."^[96]

By the 1980s the British African-Caribbean community was well represented at all playing levels of the game. John Barnes, born in Jamaica, was one of the most talented players of his generation and one of the few footballers to win every honour in the domestic English game including the PFA Players' Player of the Year.^[98] Although Barnes played for England on 78 occasions between 1983 and 1991, his performances rarely matched his club standard.^[99] Subsequently, Barnes identified a culture of racism in football during his era as a player.^[98] Players of African-Caribbean origin continued to excel in English football, in the 1990s Paul Ince - whose parents were from Trinidad - went on to captain Manchester United, Liverpool F.C. and the English national team. The contribution was reciprocated when a number of British born footballers including Robbie Earle, Frank Sinclair and Darryl Powell represented the Jamaica national football team in the 1998 World Cup finals.

At the turn of the millennium, British born Black footballers constituted about 13% of the English league,^[100] and a number of groups including "Kick It Out" were highlighting issues of racism still in the game.^[101] In the 2006 World Cup finals, Theo Walcott, a striker of English and Jamaican parents,^[102] became the youngest ever player to join an England world cup squad - a side which included African-Caribbean players in every department, goal-keeping, defence, midfield and attack.^England[›]

[edit] See also

• Black British
• Caribbean British
• African British
• List of English people with Caribbean origins
• Sus law
• UK topics
  • Immigration to the United Kingdom
  • Ethnic minorities and the National Identity Card
• Afro-Caribbean newspapers
  • New Nation
  • The Voice (newspaper)

[edit] Content notes

[edit] Source notes

[edit] Further reading

[edit] External links

• The Voice Newspaper
• OOM Gallery
• Digital Handsworth

[edit] Carnivals

• Leeds Carnival
• London Notting Hill Carnival
• Luton Carnival

[edit] Community sites

• African Caribbean Coventry Website
• itzcaribbean.com
• Afro Caribbean Millennium Centre Website for the Birmingham based community centre