Blacks have been here since roman times, probably as roman soldiers and so on. I think Septimus Severus is a name of an black roman who ruled here once though imo his race is questionable. Blacks however came in large numbers during the 1500s as seamen to work in the navy or as maids and porters etc. There was such a large number of them that Elizabeth the first who is like Britains most worshipped monarch, wrote letters to her ministers complaining about it.
Britain was the biggest and most biggest slaving nation but due to it's own laws slaves couldn't be owned on British soil itself. Weird huh? Which mean that blacks here during those times were essentially free though one can imagine what society was like towards them. It's not as if there was any social mobility in those times for anybody let alone Africans.
A most famous one of this period was Oluadah Equiano who was a slave from the Igbo tribe in what is now Nigeria. He was taken like most slaves to the Carribean but earned his freedom and became a free man. He then lived as a navyman and a merchant and even owned slaves himself. He came to England to settle and married a white woman. He then became an abolitionist and wrote an autobiography called "the interesting narrative" or alternatively "the african". I suggest you read that as most books written during the slaving time are quite eye opening. Dont let his sycophancy throw you off, you find that with most black writers of the time.
Umm After that time blacks faded into the main population and became mixed race populations in places like Cardiff (which is the capital of Wales) and in Liverpool. Liverpool was the centre of ship building in Britain and an important city in slavery industry. The museum of slavery is in Liverpool and it's very interesting.
In 1913 John Archerbecame the first black Mayor in Britain when he was Mayor of Battersea. He's also known as a campaigner for black rights.
During the first world war blacks came over to help with the war effort as Britain applied to it's colonies for assistance. The first mass migration of the modern age came during WW2. Britain applied to it's colonies for recruits and they came in numbers. Many Carribeans came over and the first numbers were pilots, soldiers and so on. A lot of these early settlers stayed to become doctors and so on. A few set up local cricket teams and a community began to grow.
There was also a small West African Community who formed the West African Students Union back then. In 1919 and 1921 there was the first and second Pan African Congress held in London as well as other cities. The 5th PAC was in Manchester in 1945. Marcus Garvey lived in the UK in these times and was very influential.
After WW2 the population of Britain was massively lowered and there were massive labour shortages. So Britain applied to it's colonies again and passed a law giving everybody in the colonies the right to stay and be a citizen. People from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh (then all one country I think), Jamaica, Barbados came in big numbers. The first ship arriving with Jamaicans was called the Empire Windrush and that generation of black britons who came at that time are know as the Windrush generation.
They filled lots of public service jobs. The transport system, nursing, bus driving, dockyards, mining... stuff like that. Black women came to dominate fields like midwifery and it was unusual to not be birthed by a black woman or to find a hospital which wasn't mostly staffed by them. Even now actually. London Transports recruiting drive also became historical, see here and here.
Apparently the initial migration out of the Carribean was toward America, being geographicaly closer and also suffering labour shortages after the war. However the democrats goverment of the time passed laws limiting the numbers of Carribean immigrants to 100 per Island per year while the British advertised locally and on the BBC world service for people to come over.
But the local population of Britain wasn't so pleased to have them. They met racism. Signs on inns and apartments said famously "no blacks, no dogs, no irish". The only places blacks could get places to live in London were in Brixton south London and Notting Hill West London. So they became large Carribean dominated areas naturally. Similar things happened in other cities, though over the years obviously blacks are now all over the cities and regions. We are still laregly concentrated in the West Midlands and mostly in London however.
Since the blacks could only get housing in the poorer districts of big cities, this led them into competition and conflict with poor working class whites who percieved them as coming to take "their" jobs. Tensions grew. Out of this tension race groups like the National Front were born.
This led to events such as the Bristol city authorities stopping employing blacks to appease whites. Paul Stephenson then organised a boycott in 1963 of the cities buses and the bus company was forced to change it's policy.
These carribeans brought with them their music, food and evangelical religion (more like what african american churches are like as opposed to English at that time) and other cultural things too. The overwhelming number of black britons at that time were jamaicans with other small island nations too like Trinidad and St Lucia.
A few Africans from the continent came as students. These were the children of the elite politicians from nations newly independant such as Ghana. They were known as the posh Africans. Some of them had been coming for generations and had long associations with the universities. Many of them settled and added to the black population. Some did go home to fill their role as rulers however.
The kids of these settlers in the 50s grew up in the 60s in extreme racism. But being that generation they were also weirdly trend setters. It took decades to find a black cultural identity. To find out what Black British meant. Nobody knew. Their parents were fiercly loyal to Britain having been educated in a colonised system and were largely content. The kids however were more reactionary and less prepared to put up with the racism. They had been born here and "go home wog" meant nothing but provocation.
The schools were very racist in those days. Some would argue nothing has changed but back then they taught golliwogs in schools, Sambo characters and so on. The Golliwog figure in British history is contentious. To this day whites reject the notion of the golliwog as racist. Yet it was the biggest slur used by generations of whites towards the black migrants. It was not only slurs, blacks were automatically put into special needs groups and the bottom classes in schools. This trend, though less blatant has still not been reversed.
There was a distinction between the youths who liked Soul and those who liked Ska. Ska was popular with dreads and skinheads. In those days, note skinheads were not what they are now. Skinheads came from Shineheads, a Jamaican term. The white kids of that time were aping the black kids. They were just rockers. The soul boys and girls went to their parties and the Ska heads to theirs. There were many black british soul singers of the times.
What started back then were "blues partys". Why they were called that is baffling to me as all they were was private house parties you paid on the door to enter with illegal alcohol and stuff. Very much a mainstay of the black community at the time.
Also in 58 were the Notting Hill riots. I can't recall how it started, I think whites started attacking random black people on street and creating a climate of fear. Finally the black youths unlike their parents took set and starting hunting white youths to attack too. It was a time of molotovs cocktails, knife fights and so on. Massive police presence typically in those days arressting any black caught up in it.
The Notting Hill carnival grew out of that as a street party celebration of calypso and steel band to promote culture and peace. It grew and grew annually. I should also mention that there are other carnivals around the country and the Leeds carnival is probably the oldest.
The next few decades were turbulent for race relations in terms of police harassment and white gang/black gang fighting also social harassment and a depression which as usual hit the blacks hardest. It led a Conservative Party MP named Enoch Powell to make an infamous speech in 1968 known as the "rivers of blood" speech. He predicted race war in the country and criticised the governments policy of immigration and allowing so many blacks into the country. Many other opportunist and racist MPs pandered to the white working class resentment and fostered these feelings as opposed to tackling the issues or attempting to address racism.
Benjamin Zephanniah is a poet whose work in synonymous with this period.
The street tension led to fighting and more riots and so on though never in the apocalyptic manner that Powell predicted. Mostly life just went on. Reggae took over the carribean replacing ska and the change was mirrored in the UK too. Lots of Reggae artists from here sprung up at that time. Soul singers too lemme not forget.
In this time it's also important to mention Lover's rock. A softer reggae with mostly female singers talking about affairs of the heart. A UK creation from Carribeans over here which influenced Jamaicans back home. Famous names include Janet Kay and Carole Thompson. This is a good link to the fashions and dances of the time. This link explains the roots and origins of the Lovers rock.
During the 70s things with the police got real bad. They had the "sus law" look it up. Which was used to harass black youth on the streets. The music of this time was dub and roots and mostly protest music. The carnival had grown so much it was reggae mostly now. There was a depression on in Britain at the time and the massive unemployment under the Labour government hit black folks hardest.
Rastafarai really caught on in the 70s and with it roots and dub reggae. Afrikan consciousness grew in those days paralell to the similar growth in the US and Jamaica combined with the independance movements ongoing in Africa. The music reflected this and many movements started from this period of social change and revolution. Africans and Carribeans who had been settling in Britain and met each other for the first time here began expanding their thinking and developing more pan afrikanist thought.
The infamous summer of 76 was the hottest british year on record and an eventful one. The west indies cricket team came over to play england. Now cricket tests last WEEKS mind so the hype and furore went on for ages. The English team was captained by a white south african, remember South africa was aparthied then. He made comments about making the so-called-great west indians grovel. Now imagine those statements from a white south african in a hot sticky summer with conscious protest reggae playing out among a largely Rastafarai based black youth... LOL Unprecedented numbers attended every game every day. Also this was the great west indies team who ruled the world for years and were legends in the UK especially among blacks. They won.
But that summer wasn't done. Carnival had yet to come. The police massively overpoliced it as they had been troubling people those whole few months. They provoked a bunch of youths by running at them and it all kicked off. A massive riot that went on through the night with battles between police and blacks with the outnumber police running which is still spoken about LOL. Remember our police dont carry guns.
That became a regular part of carnival for the next 15 years though not quite on that scale again. At that time Carnival was an all night event. Every year they threatened to ban it but strangely enough it survived.
Anyway to the 80s now. Sus law and police continued to be used heavier and heavier. We REALLY hated the police back then and they hated us back. The whites now had racist groups like the national front and football hooliganism gave them a power base. More fights between them and blacks.
Blacks were starting to play major sports now, we had already begun our domination of british boxing and now we were moving into cricket too. But it was with football that trouble came. Football is the worlds no.1 sport no less so back then. We faced the discrimination of coaches who didnt believe blacks capable of playing and the hatred of fans who threw bananas and called players monkeys. John Barnes one of the best of his era famously kicked one off the pitch on live TV which sparked the debate on racism in sport and society. Cyril Regis and Clyde Best are remembered as trailblazers in the league but in 1978 West Brom Albion had three black players in their starting line up and this generally the turning point for black players. Funnily enough their revolutionary coach, Ron Atkinson who did much to change things then, later in the 2000s became infamous for being caught on microphone calling a famous black player a "lazy nigger".
The Toxteth riots in Liverpool ocured in 1981 as a direct result of the "sus" laws. This enabled police to arrest black people off the street on the mere suspiscion they were about to do something. Police harassment grew to ridicolous levels. An operation called "operation swamp" targetted black areas. Riots kicked off in many other cities.
Back then police would arrest people violently and call them names like jungle bunny and most commonly wog. Certain police stations like Stoke Newington and Brixton became infamous for beatings and even some suspicious deaths in custody.
A major event around this time was the firebombing of a party in new cross. 13 black kids died. The police failed to find any leads or guilty party. It sparked outrage and inspired the documentry "13 dead ain't nothing said" which was explosive. Black people marched on parliament in 10s of 1000s and shut the city down. The papers reported it as rioting but it was a peaceful march.
Then came the Brixton riots. I'm not sure how it started, I've spoken to many who were there but among all the riots that took place over here in all the cities. This is the most notorious. Obviously by now Blacks were all over the city but Brixton still remained the cultural center of black life and the greatest concentration of us were there. I think a police injured somebody or a kid was stabbed and they tried to get him to hospital but the crowd thought they were arressting somebody in distress. The people fought with the police again. This time it was so bad the gov commisioned a report.
A policeman called Scarman investigated and laid the blame at the polices heavy handedness, the sus law and so on. He spoke of the racism and lack of community trust and things which seem obvious now but not then. The Scarman report was a powerful piece.
Oh yeah from around this period Notting Hill where carnival was started started to be gentrified and blacks sorta moved out. Now it's so white and house prices so crazy nobody would believe the history of the area. When they made that Hugh Grant movie in the 90s people protested why we aren't in it. I think it's a fair representation of that area NOW. We don't live in that area anymore except for Carnival two days a year. :)
The 80s saw the greater rise in the continental african population. Where the carribean uk population is spread all around the country though mostly in london and west midlands, the african community is (mostly) in london and surrounding sattelitte cities too. The African community comprised of majority Nigerians and Ghanains though many other represented nations too. Africans took on a lot of minicab jobs and traffic warden jobs. To this day there is an over representation of Africans in these most undesireable jobs. But like the Carribeans they settled and gained success in various fields too. There are many African business and areas just likethe Carribean ones before them.
There was much community division back then between africans and carribeans. The elders of both peoples failed to reach out to each other and instead of viewing each other as brothers and sisters there was mistrust. Since carribeans were the massive majority there was bullying in school of africans and I can testify to that as a schoolkid of that time lol. Though this was a new generation of kids who were both.
Like damn near every black briton my age and younger my friends are about 50/50 african and carribean in origin though since we mix up with each other so much now who knows? Funny thing is after more than 60 years here we still call ourselves "nigerians" "jamaicans" and so on, even those born here lol. This trend is changing with the new generation, the young teens of nowadays being more aggressive in unashamedly calling themselves black BRITISH.
The 80s was also the birth of UK hiphop with minor local success. Everybody was then into US artists mainly. However UK soul and Reggae became explosive and very big with major stars of that time. The sound systems that had been spawned in the 70s were at their peak in the 80s. They began challenging and clashing sounds from Jamaica and the states and everybody I mean everybody wanted those tapes. Being in a sound was big things in those days and it was the main black british social scene. Like most black british things it is rooted in JA culture.
Trevor Sax of Saxon Sound System
Tottenham riots in 1985. Over police deporting and strongly arressting a woman Cynthia Jarret. She like many others died in the arrest. Riots ensued and a policeman named Blakelock was killed and the blame place on a man called Winston Silcott. with two others. He was jailed for the murder of PC blacklocke. He was acquitted later but served seventeen years on another murder charge anyway. He's out now as of two years ago and is a local community leader.
Blacks have been involved in politics here in the UK for a while. Operation Black Voteis the evidence of this. Bernie Grant was probably the most popular though Diane Abbott, Britains first black woman MP has held her seat since 1987.
One of those sound systems of the late 80s began incoporating other muscians from various genres and grew very big. That was Jazzy B and soul 2 soul. They had international success and were probably the best of their era. That was the first black british music of its own. We had had lots of artists for years but they had done American music or Carribean music. We did Jazz, Soul, Disco, Funk, Pop (obviously) and mostly reggae. Oh and we rapped too lol. Think Slick Rick, Rebel MC, Monie Love, Wee Papa Girl rappers etc.... But with soul 2 soul people started to get the idea to be proud in making original sounds and musics.
Now we're in the 90s. Desmonds and the real McCoy are on TV. The inner city white kids in the 80s had had Acid house music and the rave scene. Blacks took that in this era of inovation and fused it with reggae and dancehall to create a totally new Jungle music. Jungle was the black british sound of it's time. Goldie and Grooverider paved the way for artists like Roni Size in the game. At this time almost every young kid seemed to be in a "sound" though they were nothing like the big sounds of the 80s. These were little house party affairs. The pirate radio thing that had been taken on in the 80s blew up big time in the 90s. Pirate radio was the main vehicle for playing music that official stations wouldn't and advertising raves and events. Many a UK artist originated in the Pirate radio scene. I should mention Omarr too and Mica Paris since they were heavy in the soul scene here. The 90s also gave rise to Beverley Knight who is considered Britains best ever soul star.
Anyway I digress. Carnival changed now. Gone were the days when annual riots were still so crazy but they were more uhhh vibrant back then. This was the time when police changed the carnival from being an all nighter to insisting sounds pack up by 7pm. Also by making it a government event. They killed the spirit of it. Oh sure Carnival has grown now and it's bigger than ever with 2 million each year attending but the sounds are gone for the most part and the gov allocation means funny sounds like those owned by radio stations or those playing rock, trance, house ie not our music took over. Carnival became gentrified and very white. There are more techno and rock sounds than Reggae and Calypso. I'd say 96 was the last "proper" carnival. Jungle was at it's peak then and Garage music was just beginning. The main focus was still rightly on Soca and Calypso... The big reggae and dancehall sounds of the past were still around and known. Many won't agree but Carnival is dead now... imo anyway.
In the mid 90s a black kid called Stephen Lawrence was killed by a racist gang. The cops completly bungled the investigation and to this day allegations and claims are being made. The boys who did it were all over the papers and due to miscarriages of justice got away with it. They were attacked by the crowd at their aquital and that falsely blamed on the FOI. It's a scandal that still is in the news for the way it was handled. It also sparked the Mcpherson report (again by a policeman) which cited "institutional racism" by the police. That phrase caught on in public lexicon and began to be applied to other areas such as schools and workplaces. You can read a summary of the independant inquiry here.
Unfortunately the 80s and 90s also saw the introduction of crack, and of IRA guns. Not sure if you know about the IRA but they were an Irish terrorist group operating against the British (blowing stuff up and kidnapping/assasinating officials etc) but they also supplied guns in large numbers to the black community. Our criminals took on the White gangsters and each other and black on black crime as the call it took off massively. Add in the mix of US gangster rap and our new generation of kids is well... life ain't nothing to them no more and all they do is talk about gangsterism.
Garage, that music of the late 90s which took over from jungle had it's soulful beats, it's singers, catchy songs and pop face. In contrast to Jungle which had by then become very dark and actually split into a few different genres, Garage was catchy and radio friendly. Which gave it crossover appeal and encourage white kids to get into it in big numbers. It went mainstream. People forgot to tell the gangsta kids though. Raves and events were constantly locked down from shootings and foolishness and garage ended. Well it spawned two kids. One is funky house which is more or less a happier updated version which is aimed at an older crowd but mostly white.
The other was GRIME which is darker, more gloomy and made by streetkids. Grime is black yes but there are large amounts of white kids doing grime and the whole scene of British R&B, Grime, HipHop and soul is for some unfathomable reason called "urban". Many of us older black folk hate the word because we see it for the Elvis type stealing it is. But the youth embrace it fully. They're urban kids, black, asian and white all doing grime and mostly rapping about black on black crime. The bigger name of this type of music would be Dizzy Rascal.
The main Story of Garage would be the So Solid Crew who were the biggest stars and most succesful group of the period. Not quite sure exactly how many members they had but Megaman was the frontman and other notables include Asher D and Lisa Maffia who went on to have decent solo careers. At their height So Solid were not the biggest thing in garage, they were the biggest thing in Britain. Due to events in the general climate surrounding garage at the time and way beyond So-Solids control, the media inspired a police crackdown on So-Solid events and basically stopped them touring the country. They made a documentry to explain themselves which wasn't recieved well by the media. Things weren't helped when Asher D was arrested for gun possesion and other members also had run ins with the law. Megaman was later charged with murder but had those charges droped. Since release Asher D went on to make a critically well recieved movie bullet boy and resumed his acting and rapping career.
The major change in the UK music scene recently has been the cable TV station Channel U which showcases soley that urban music. Grime being the main focus it also shows UK hiphop and Soul as well. It's now more and more easy for kids to get their material out there and the scene is really taking off since you can be seen instantly by other kids across the nation where as before underground artists had to struggle through word of mouth. Now UK hiphop and Grime is on the up though sadly I haven't noticed the same change of fortune in soul for some reason. That's still largely a niche thing for older crowds. Lethal B and Sway are benificiaries of this new era.
Channel U is more popular than MTV Base now which also suggests that people are finally beginning to invest in local music and kids prefer buying kids who are from where they are instead of always buying American. Of course this has meant competition is fiercer which means the quality of tunes and videos should slowly rise.
In the early 2000s another famous case that affected the black community was the murder of 10 year old Damilola Taylor (a nigerian kid) which happened in Peckham south london. Peckham since the early 90s is the largest concentration of Africans in London and mostly Nigerians. Like the Stephen Lawrence murder nobody has been found guilty of this one either. Now there are so many names like Damilola's that nobody can keep up and it looks bad for us in the future out here.
Another thing affecting the black identity in the UK is the inter-racial aspect. The social politricks played in the 80s turned black woman against black man in a big way and we haven't gotten over it. Black men date white in a massive way and the women are catching up. A few years ago black David Mathews wrote a vitriolic piece in the Evening Standard newspaper entitled "why I won't date a black woman". Needless to say it got mainstream approval and prominence in the paper. The figures are not as high as made out but it is definately an issue. I actually believe the trend is slowing now but mass media loves it. You wont find a single black couple on British TV now, it's always mixed. Anybody famous has to play that game too to recieve their adoration.
The UK black population was now settling into a pattern with Africans and Carribeans but in the late 90s the Somalis started arriving in large numbers which added another dimension. At first largely marginalised they saw themselves as different to other blacks here and wouldn't mix. Somalia they left was a war torn country and many of the refugees had been caught up in that which made adapting to this place hard for them. This has now largely changed and they are beginning to settle into the black community.
Darcus Howe used to be a race campaigner in the 60s and 70s but has moved into film since the 80s and has made several documentries for Channel 4 which have caused controversy. "who you calling a n****" was supposed to examine the racial tensions that exist between racial groups. He focussed on blacks versus asians and Carribeans versus Somalis. He was criticised for being sensationalist and doing more to stir up trouble than actually address any issues.
Speaking of a black british community is strange when in reality there is no such thing. Or is there? Hmm. See we still call ourselves by where we're originally from. Still rock our flags. There are a small minority of vocal Carribean and African elders and especially newcomers (of which there are many) do not trust each other. They sow division and reinforce stereotypes. Africans are quick to believe Carribeans all thugs and Carribeans quick to believe Africans all fraudsters. Both think the blacks already here are not as moral or cultural as them and so on. You will find massive stupidity and division from individuals from any of the three perspectives. Mainstream media is quick to exploit this and play it up. But then having said that I remind you that of my generation it is changing. These divisions are really overexagerated and don't affect life that much. This lil bunch who call themselves black british and so on certainly pay it no mind. Also the roots of Black British identity started with Pan African movements way way back so surely there is hope...
The speech is derivative of Carribean accent and british with slang from US hiphop, africa and jamaica thrown in. Oh and the regional accents make it funny too. See EVERY one of the major cities here in England has it's own accent. Very distinctive and anybody knows exactly where you're from if you open your mouth. Yet weirdly on top of the us black kids have that black british urban thing which still makes sense. Hmm I can't explain it. Somebody from Birmingham, Liverpool, London and Manchester will all have those cities accents like any resident but well speak the same slang and overtones of the carribean derrived british urban thing. If that makes sense.
Anybody from UK think I left stuff out let me know. I took most of this info from various sites around the net as well as own memory. Nothing comprehensive seems to be out there so it's most likely I omitted stuff or got stuff wrong. Tell me.
I compiled this piece using sources from
http://www.100greatblackbritons.com/home.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Pagehttp://www.untoldlondon.org.uk/index.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/africa/features/storyofafrica/index.shtml
http://www.stringofpearls.org.uk/obv/transport.htm
http://www.connections-exhibition.org/index.php?xml=welcome/_/welcome.xmlhttp://www.ferris.edu/jimcrow/golliwog/
http://www.portowebbo.co.uk/nottinghilltv/revealed8.htm
http://www.geocities.com/londonriots/nottinghill76.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/default.stmhttp://www.urban75.org/brixton/history/riot1.html
http://www.obv.org.uk/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1
http://www.dialogueworks.co.uk/newswise/months/feb99/lasen.html
http://www.blink.org.uk/index.asphttp://arts.guardian.co.uk/
http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/B/blackhistorymap/index.html
http://www.blackpresence.co.uk/history.php
And my own readings and memory :)
, or celebrating "the holiday period" and "seasons greetings" instead of the all important CHRIST-MASS. Many of the moaners have been strangers to church far longer than yours truly btw, yet that's beside the point.
