50+ AUTUMN UNITY
Aims to promote mainly the benefits of the African & Caribbean inhabitants of Hampshire especially those in Southampton, in a common effort to advance education and provide facilities in the interest of social welfare for recreation and leisure-time occupations with the object of improving the conditions of lives of the African & Caribbean community.

All of us cherish our photos of family and friends. They say a photograph is worth a thousand words, but every photograph contains a story waiting to be told. The Media Workshop has carried out numerous projects over the years helping people to tell that story and share their experiences with others. This project took place in 1997/98 with the 50+ group at the African Caribbean Centre, Southampton. The final exhibition was shown at the Tudor House museum Southampton.

Glester Scott

This picture was taken at a fund raising do at the Royal Pier in aid of the West Indian Association, now the African Caribbean Federation. It was a very good night, everybody had fun and we are still having fun. In the photo Keith Spence, Beryl Cooper and Glester Scott The West Indian Association had been going on before I came to England. My father, Joe Malcolm and Ben Davis and a few others started it.

Ben Davies and Joe Malcolm were left from those who came in the Forties and Fifties. The association had been on and off for some time when it started again at Ben’s house. (He died some time back) There where ups and downs trying to get funding. Somebody mentioned the Church was not being used. Eventually we were offered it and we are still there now. With the help of Susan Penny, who was then a community officer working between the Civic Centre and Caribbean Community. That was where it all started. Without the help of Susan Penny and her colleagues, I don’t think it could never have happened.

We did have an offer of what is now the Concorde Club. But the African Caribbean people that lived in the local area said it was too far to travel. As not many people had cars. Since then lots of people have moved out of the area and many people went back. Like my father. He went back and he died out there. He had come over with Joe Malcolm on the Windrush. There were obviously many other African Caribbean people who came over on that ship to Southampton, but many have moved away or a lot of people were following up the work situation so moved on to other parts of the country. It is nice because I think we have achieved something. It has taken a long time there’s always been barriers and we have gradually over come some of those barriers. We have been patient.

I was working in Millbrook. On the way home youngsters would literally opened their legs so you could not sit down and say there is somebody sitting there. So you would move to the next seat and the same thing would happen. Now I’ve seen people making way to let me sit beside them. There have been a lot of changes; there is still a way to go. I hope it will continue to change.

Mrs Scott

There were prejudices; there’s no two ways about it. I remember being sent (this was in London) as a student nurse, to admit this lady. I bounced down the Ward went behind the curtains and said “Hello” “Take her away!” She screamed. I didn’t know what it was all about. I could hear the Sister storming down the ward. I thought I’m dead, as they were dreaded. She just came and moved me aside and said now “Shut up, I don’t know what your problem is, these people are here to help you.” Then I realised; it’s because I’m black.

You become quite weary of it. There was quite a lot of subtle prejudices, as well as the blatant forms. Very, very, subtle prejudices. I remember going up to this man one night and I said to him “Hello James”

“And what are we suppose to call you then.” He said

And I said to him “Did you see any one today in the same colour uniform as this?”

“Yes” He said

“What did you call them?” I said. And he said

“Sister” “There you are then. I said. These are the subtle prejudices that you get It’s changed, but I haven’t found blatant prejudices to me personally, yes there are always the odd blatant ones, but not directed to me as an individual because I’m black. [At work] I am treated the same as my white colleagues. . I think there will always be prejudice, it not going to be eradicated you know. I think the worst prejudice I came across was in the Churches. You went and you weren’t made welcome and you were ignored. So we just stopped going.

Stevell Weir

This is a bit of history. When this photograph was taken, we were not even friends, we were just moving along with nothing in mind. It was one of my cousins getting married, 1966. There was a little hall by the YMCA that’s where the reception was we were just talking about. And I said to her, ‘Let’s take a photograph’, and they took this photograph and a lady said, ‘That’s going to be the next wedding’.

I had no intention of getting married to nobody, and then we ended up getting married, for 32 years!

Mrs Simmons

I was about 22 years old. I had just come to this country when I decided to have a photograph taken to send to my mum. We all would send photographs home to keep our parents happy, and they could see how we were getting on. I was living in Birmingham with my brother at the time. I wore that dress to a wedding a few months before, so I decided that would be a good dress to have the photograph taken in and have sent to my parents in Jamaica. When I went home one year, I saw it, right in the hall-way as soon as you went into the house.

Mrs John

When I lived in St. Vincent I was a seamstress. When I came here, I did not go back to sewing - it was strange here. I was at the South Hants as a nursing auxiliary, and that’s where I ended up. I came straight to Southampton when I left St. Vincent. Well it was quite strange to me as I had never been here before.

This was taken when I first came here in 1959 (image on right). I was taken in my first overcoat - as back home we didn’t wear coats. I thought, I’ll get one [a photograph] and send it back home, for them to see how I had to dress. This was the first photograph I had taken here.