Black History Month 2
For Black History Month 2006, we have compiled stories of some of the people who have made their home in the Circuit from Africa and the Caribbean.
Akosua - Ghana 1970
My parents were too poor to pay for my journey to England. It was difficult enough to find food to feed us in Ghana. So I started working in the laundry at Komfa-Andkye Teaching Hospital, Kumasi. I loaned spare money to workmates who paid it back with interest and I also made money from selling them clothes. When I had saved 500 cedis, I had enough to pay for a flight to London.
I came in 1970 staying with my cousin in a flat at the Ghana High Commission where her husband worked as a watchman (security guard). My first job was packing soft drinks in Hammersmith. I earned £12.50 a week and sent as much as I could back to my mother who was looking after my 3 young boys in Ghana. My first thought about working in London was, “What is this?” Back home, I would go to the afternoon jumps (a dance club for teenagers). I missed that here. I made mini-skirts for myself in Ghana but it was too cold to wear them here!
I didn’t have the correct papers when I first arrived. When I saw a watchman, I believed it was the police come to catch me so I ran away from my work. However, a fellow Ghanaian explained to me (in our own language so no-one could understand) who he was so I returned to work.
Anthony - Ghana 1986
I came from Ghana in 1986 and for the first month I stayed with a cousin in Liverpool. It was a fantastic place. People would greet you and talk to you in the street. My first home in London was with a college mate from Ghana. Hackney Council offered me accommodation in 1998 and I still live in Hackney. Hackney is so multi-cultural. It is home to every type of race and tradition.
While in the UK, I studied international trade and commerce, a course with the Institute of Exports, first at Islington College in EC1 and then at Westminster University in Regent Street. I worked part time to support myself with a commercial property landlord. After studying, my full visa to stay was granted and I began working with a graphic reproduction firm as a manager in charge of quality control. When I went for promotion, although I could do the job, my boss wouldn’t offer it to me. He said the firm would lose business because I was black so he gave me a different job. I now run my own transport hiring company in the City.
I applaud the self-entrepreneurship introduced by Mrs Thatcher. It changed Hackney for the better, encouraging young black men and women to sharpen their skills. They set up shops and salons showing their skills in society. Since the 1990s, society has become more tolerant and accepting – the true emergence of multi-culturalism in the UK.
Though naturalised, it does not matter how British you feel, the tradition and culture you were born into will always stay with you. I come from the Ga-dangme tradition in Ghana which is purported to have migrated as the black Jews from Israel. My great grandfather was a merchant who traded in the Middle East. One day as he was riding on a horse with five guards in our district, he wore the first jumper style shirt. From then, he was called not by his original name but as Nomo Jumpah (Mr Jumper) and so the family inherited the name Jumpah. Of my 1,000 family members, half are Muslim and half are Christian. Yet when we meet in family celebrations, we meet as one family.
Septimus - The Gambia 1989
My school in The Gambia was a Catholic school. The priest, Father Gough, promoted football and started a team originally called the Celtics which I played in. The name changed to the Young Africans and we played in the top division of the Gambian league. Father Gough returned to the UK and I then played for the Hawks.
I got into the national side and played against Senegal, Guinea, Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone (and also against Algeria for the junior team.) Even when I was playing international football, I still had to work as a banker. There were no professional footballers in The Gambia. I would go home from work to play football. A knee injury ended my international career.
Africans played mainly for African teams in the 1980s and not in the UK. One or two Senegalese played in France. I played against Abide Pele of Ghana who was one of the first English speaking Africans to play in Europe.
I came to the UK in 1989 to study. When the coup d’etat took place back home, I stayed here.
There are more medical and training facilities here, but the level of play is not that different. When England play a team from a smaller country, there is not a huge difference in the score line, and that’s even when you have a population of 58 million. The Gambia has 1 million. We had raw talent in The Gambia, learning football in the streets – the Brazilian way. As English football was shown on TV, we knew the names of teams such as Blackpool and Wolverhampton Wanderers. I support Arsenal.
The exposure of Africans playing in European teams has increased their skill, such as Didier Drogba from Ivory Coast playing for Chelsea. There aren’t any Gambian players here but there are a couple in Belgium. If an African team qualifies for the African Cup of Nations or the World Cup, then their players get more exposure and might get to play in Europe.
The England team has got some good individuals but don’t play well together for some reason. Even against Macedonia, the opposition were more comfortable passing the ball around than the England team. They are under so much pressure, they are afraid to make mistakes.
Stephen - Ghana 2001
I came to London in 2001 aged 15. I had lived in a town five miles from Kumasi. When I travelled here, I flew from the airport and it was the first time I had been to Accra.
The TV in Ghana shows the UK is a nice place. On TV, I saw Arsenal and Manchester United matches and Hip Hop and R n B videos. Everything is polished. When I got here, I didn’t see what I expected. Life is different here. Everyone is rushing and being punctual. In Ghana, everything stops when it rains. Here you still have to go to college if the weather is bad. Even if you have no bus pass, you just have to walk.
We study the same sorts of things here as in Ghana. We learnt English because the people who came to rule from the UK spoke it. I am studying IT and improving my knowledge in IT skills. I don’t know what I want to do yet. There is more bullying in schools here. When you arrive from different countries, they might call you JJC, ‘Johnny just come’.
In Ghana, if you’re not black, you are white, even if you are mixed-race, Chinese or Indian. In London, I can tell where people are from; Turkey, Pakistan, India, China, Somalia. I can often tell Nigerians by their accent. I mix with friends from all cultures. I get on well with friends I’ve made at college and at church.
Sarah - Ghana 2003
I came from Ghana in 2003 to work as a nurse. Although I was a nurse in Ghana I could not work as a registered nurse here and had to begin as a care assistant in Dereham, Norfolk. However after an adaptation course in Notting Hill Gate, I ended up at the Homerton Hospital where I now have a permanent job.
There are similarities between this country and Ghana because Ghana was once part of the British Empire; the politics, layout of the streets and the friendliness. However, Britain’s machines are more sophisticated and a big difference is the weather; you have to buy a coat! Britain has more social activities for the elderly and the children. There is money for free medicine and education, and for the unemployed. In Ghana, the family have to support you.
Fred - Ghana 2005
My Mum had arrived in Britain two years before me and I came to live with her. I came from Greater Accra, Ghana on 3 December 2005. Life in Ghana is very difficult. Schools have a high standard but you have to pay. A private school is very expensive but government schools cost about five per cent of your salary.
Coming to the UK is the only time I have been out of Ghana. When I first arrived, I felt abandoned. I didn’t know anyone. It was not really what I expected. I saw London on TV and films in Ghana but it’s not like it here, especially Hackney! However, I quickly adapted. It’s hard to work if you don’t have a national insurance number which I don’t because I am here as a work permit dependent.
I am studying sciences at the College of North East London in Tottenham. I want to go to university to read either pharmacy or mechanical engineering. I have learnt loads of things at college - including punctuality. I hardly saw a white face in Ghana but here it’s mixed. We mingle. I have friends from Vietnam, Turkey and other groups.
For more stories from Black History Month... Black History Month 1