Migrants In Britain: 5.3

Question 1

Which establishments did black people set up for themselves in order to preserve their cultural identities ?

Answer 1

• black churches (religion was a huge obligation in Africa and the Caribbean)
• Black-owned shops, restaurants and cafes
• black record shops and studios
• pubs
• nightclubs
  [] unofficial nightclubs were called shebeens

Question 2

What is the significance of All Saints Road ?

Answer 2

• many black owned businesses, shops, food establishments, organisers of the Notting Hill Carnival and activist groups set up on All Saints Road
• 1968, became the base for the BBP (British Black Panthers)
• these establishments often faced (police) racial harassment however, which forced many to close down from the pressure and stress

Question 3

How did Caribbean tastes in food influence the area ?

Answer 3

• especially on All Saints Road and Portobello Road, many stalls and shops stocked ingredients like scotch bonnet, pimento, ginger and cloves which were common in Caribbean cooking
  [] encouraged new trade between England and Caribbean/African countries
  [] boosted the economy marginally

Question 4

Give two examples of black-friendly pubs in Notting Hill

Answer 4

• the Apollo (one of first pubs to serve black people)
  [] made the owner rich, as lack of service in pubs to black people meant lack of choice, so black people from all over London would go to drink in the Apollo
  [] All Saints Road
• the Piss House (opened to poor/working class white and black people)
  [] Portobello Road
• the Coleherne

Question 5

Which two food establishments did Frank Crichlow open, when and where ?

Answer 5

• El Rio (1959)
  [] cafe popular amongst new migrants
  [] served good Caribbean food
  [] helped foster a sense of black community in the area
  [] All Saints Road
• The Mangrove (1968)
  [] also served Caribbean food
  [] became a meeting place for groups like the BBP and Notting Hill Carnival organisers
  [] first black restaurant in the area
  [] starting point for the march that led to the arrest of the Mangrove Nine
  [] faced lots of racial and police harassment
  [] 8 All Saints Road

Question 6

Give 5 genres of black music that grew in popularity during the late 50s and 60s

Answer 6

• ska
• blues
• calypso
• reggae
• R&B
• Lovers Rock
• roots
• soca
• soul
• dub
• rock steady

Question 7

How did black music influence culture in Notting Hill and in England ?

Answer 7

• many black people began to throw ‘rent parties’ to help their friends pay their rent
  [] friends would pay a small fee upon entry and buy their own drinks from the party to raise money
  [] became popular as a way to share and dance to black music
  [] also a good way to meet new people + foster black community
• Basing Street Studios opened in 1969 and played host to many famous musicians like the Rolling Stones and Bob Marley
• the Metro Club opened in 1968
  [] all black nightclub, youth club and community centre
  [] attracted many black young people from all over London
  [] was a police target for harassment + raids without permits because it was so popular amongst the black community
  [] many reggae legends performed there
• shebeens
• sound systems were common in Jamaica to play music to large crowds of people outside
  [] technology didn’t exist in England at the time, so black people often made their own makeshift sound systems
  [] Duke Vin (Jamaican migrant) = one of the key pioneers of the sound system in the UK and helped to popularise black music like reggae and ska
  [] parties often had ‘sound clashes’ to see which sound system was better; this became a key part of Notting Hill Carnival
  [] sound systems grew in popularity in England throughout the 1950s and 60s

Question 8

What is a shebeen ?

Answer 8

• unofficial night club for black people
  [] often hosted in homes or abandoned buildings
• people drank, smoked, gambled and listened to music there
• hosts of shebeens often earned a lot of money from them
• had to be careful with noise levels so neighbours/white people around wouldn’t call the police on noise complaints
• police often raided shebeens and violently broke them up, justifying their violence with the charge of selling alcohol without a license

Question 9

Why did the police target black community hubs like restaurants, parties, shebeens, nightclubs and so on ?

Answer 9

police often targeted black community hubs like nightclubs, shebeens, restaurants, pubs and parties to destroy any sense of community and make it hard for black people to take pride in their culture and identities, as well as to get together and organise, thus making oppression without retaliation easier

Question 10

How did mutual self-help organisations impact the black community ?

Answer 10

• helped foster a sense of community in general
• provided valuable services that were denied by white people, such as childminding and help finding jobs/training for interviews
• prevented misinformation of a lack of information for the black community, which would damage cultural identities as well as make the community easier to oppress
• things like pardner schemes helped to get more black property owners and thus slowly end the cycle of unfair rental agreements and landlords (despite the Rent Act in 1965, there was still work to be done in terms of discrimination)

Question 11

What was the London Free School ?

Answer 11

• est. 1966
• community action project that provided childcare, youth clubs, children’s workshops, organised dances and later organised street carnivals as well
• helped black families enormously with juggling work and family life whilst allowing the children to make friends, foster judgement-free community and have something to do so no one went out and caused even the slightest trouble that whites could pick on

Question 12

What was the Unity Association ?

Answer 12

• black organisation that helped to house young homeless black people
• housed these people in two properties donated by Bruce Kenrick and NHH
• helped these people with professional training to get jobs, earn money and buy property to live in
• one of founders = Rhodan Gordon (one of Mangrove Nine)

Question 13

What was the Black People’s Information Centre ?

Answer 13

• founded in 1970
• taught about black history and political causes so people could be informed (especially because of the lack of black-central newspapers at the time, this was IMPORTANT !!! knowledge is power)
• provided legal advice
• provided welfare support

Question 14

What were pardner schemes ?

Answer 14

• originally set up by Sam King (RAF veteran) in the 1950s to help black people start buying homes and end reliance on discriminatory white landlords
• ‘pardners’ would contribute money to a pot and at the end of the week or month, one member of the scheme would take the whole pot to buy a house or put a deposit down, then repay the loan within around 15 weeks, though time varied between schemes
  [] most of the time, members who were proven to be reliable and established got the most shares
• these schemes dated back to pre-colonial West Africa, so were closely linked to black culture

Question 15

Who was Baron Baker and what did he do for the black community ?

Answer 15

• ex-RAF pilot
• 1958, organised a neighbourhood watch to minimise police brutality and white gang violence in Notting Hill
  [] employed black veterans to do this