windrush

Paddington: The Man Behind The Bear + history

, , , , 0 Comments

After Paddington 2 aired on BBC1 tonight (and was a total delight as always) BBC2 aired a documentary about Paddington, his origins and his author. I’d never seen it before and it was unexpectedly sad and powerful, especially when going into Michael Bond’s experiences in World War II. Here’s some stories from the past, featured in the doc, which are still (very, very) relevant today.

Michael Bond’s own words regarding his family’s sheltering of refugees (from a 2010 letter:)

“We took in some Jewish children who often sat in front of a fire of an evening, quietly crying because they had no idea what had happened to their parents, and neither did we at the time. It’s the reason why Paddington arrived with the label around his neck.”

A reminiscence from Peter Joseph, of the Windrush generation:

“Paddington Bear came here [London] in 1958. I arrived the 3rd of November 1956, and I’m sure that he had a better reception than I did, because I had a hell of a lot of fuss. We were seen as a subspecies, and that’s how it remained for a very long time.”

And a passage from Bond’s autobiography:

“In October, I made my final journey back to the UK. In Gibraltar, where we stopped for a few hours, there was a small open ship moored a little way apart from all the others. It was packed to suffocation with Jewish refugees, men, women and children making their way to Palestine. And for the first time, as I gazed down at them, I felt ashamed to be British.”

It’s funny to think of a cute little teddy bear being a political symbol, but…

There’s in a line in the first movie, “People in England sent their children by train with labels around their necks, so they could be taken care of by complete strangers in the country side where it was safe. They will not have forgotten how to treat strangers.” But of course, those particular strangers were English: it’s those other ones we don’t like.

Do watch The Man Behind The Bear if you can. It should be on the BBC iplayer. (I don’t know how you get into it outside Britain unfortunately, but I can try putting some clips from it on YouTube at some point maybe?)

In the meantime, don’t forget to utilize your Long, Hard Stare appropriately.

, , , 0 Comments

representativecharacters:

Character: Lucille Anderson

From: Call the Midwife

Representation: West Indian

Their Importance: Lucille is the first black midwife to join the team in Call the Midwife. She’s highly trained and extremely good at her job, but she still faces occasional racism from white Londoners. Her culture among the black community in Poplar at the time is also explored. Her actress, Leonie Elliot, has talked about how she wanted Lucille to represent the experience of the real Caribbean nurses who went to England in the 1960s.

This is especially important due to the issues with the British government. As far as I can tell, Lucille’s a member of the Windrush generation (people who came to the UK from the Caribbean between 1948 and 1971) who were later treated appallingly by immigration laws until the scandal came to light in 2018. You can read more about it here. It’s so ridiculous and cruel that people were Lucille were eventually denied access to a health service they helped create.

Thanks to @sarah531 for the write up!

, , 0 Comments

wcrdogs:

I KNOW WHAT I SAID YESTERDAY,  but i need you all to educate yourselves on something that is going on at the moment.   

if you’re in the uk,  i am sure you have heard of what is called the WINDRUSH GENERATION, but for those abroad essentially it is this:   a group of people from the british commonwealth who moved here legally have had their records lost / destroyed (to be determined) and a number of those people have been detained / not been able to be let back into the country after being abroad.  there are threats of deportation flying,  a man has his access to vital medicine on the NHS removed.  like i said,  these people are people who moved here when free immigration was legal,  prior to 1971,  and a lot of them LEGALLY on their parent’s passports (as was the system here) meaning a lot of them have no papers in their name.   primarily,   the people are black caribbean. 

here’s the scary part, and why i am posting,   my family are a part of this generation. my papi has lived her since he was 7 months old.  while my mammy is jamaican born and bred,  my papi never lived in his homeland,  and he could lose his right to work,  his right to the NHS,  his right to live here,  all because the home office lost papers,  and his were in his parents name.  now,  yes,  there have been A LOT of promises made in parliament,  and i know theresa may is saying nothing will happen to these people and cases of discrimination against rightful british citizens will be negated by the government but 1) MAY HAS A TRACK RECORD OF BEING ANTI-IMMIGRATION and 2) because the government lost the only things proving when people like my papi moved here,  we can’t prove they are rightful british citizens. 

so what am i asking????    

first,   educate yourselves,   please.   you can read some more in depth pieces about this through these links:  X, X, X, X– mentions of death in this one, VIDEO HERE.   

second,  if you are in the UK,  please please please please LOBBY YOUR MP’S.   you have a voice,   we have a voice.  send letters,  call them,   email them,  tweet them,  facebook them.  create a stir.  we are the people and we will not stand for some britons being treated better than others.

third,  if you are not from the UK —– share our voices.  seek us out,  we are speaking,  use your power to make us louder. 

forth,  PLEASE,   if you read nothing else i link,   read this.   please,   i beg you.   listen to the stories of people like my father.   listen to the windrush generation.     hear their voices. 

i know tumblr is america centric and i get it,   honestly,   i do.   but i am british-carribean before i am here for any of you and i am begging you,  don’t let us be silenced.