Amplifying the story of Claudia Jones
Tags: London, Female Empowerment, Black History, Black British, Carnival

Amplifying the story of Claudia Jones

We have recently experienced the UK’s first online Notting Hill Carnival a few weeks ago, therefore it is only right that we highlight the woman, or women who enabled us to form as a community on the streets of London, to party with one another, to eat, drink and be merry and for the majority of the time not having to look over our shoulders to worry about if the police were going to stop us, at least not until 7pm!

The woman who I am highlighting this week is Claudia Jones, she was a Trinidad and Tobago-born journalist and Activist. As a child she migrated with her family to the USA, where she became a political Activist and Black Nationalist through Communism. Due to the political persecution of Communists in the USA, she was deported in 1955 and refused entry to Trinidad and Tobago, in part because the British colonial governor who considered that “she may prove troublesome”. She subsequently resided in London at the height of post-war immigration, which included the arrival of the Windrush generation. Once again, she witnessed racial tension and anti-immigration rhetoric at its peak as chants of “no blacks, no dogs, no Irish” became a common anthem in Britain. She quickly took on the role of protector and advocate for the 100,000 strong Caribbean community in the capital.

Jones believed that “people without a voice were lambs to the slaughter”, so made it her mission to create a platform for her people to be heard. In 1958, she founded the West Indian Gazette, Britain’s very first Black newspaper. The paper became a key contributor to the rise of consciousness within the Black British community.

I have to digress here because my intention for this piece was to highlight Claudia Jones for the NHC, but she is clearly a woman of many talents. Kudos to Claudia!

Going back to her story… On engaging the political community in the UK, she was disappointed to find that many British communists were hostile to a black woman. Surprise Surprise!

As one of the most important Black Feminists in history, Jones championed Black women and made no secret of her lifelong mantra: no peace can be obtained if any women, especially those who are oppressed and impoverished, are left out of the conversation. Her most prominent piece of work, an essay titled “An End to the Neglect of the Problems of the Negro Woman!”, was published in 1949, and helped to establish the foundations of intersectional feminism. She urged others to recognise the unique oppression faced by Black women specifically in order to create a more nuanced comprehension of the oppression of the race overall.

In the summer of 1958, Oswald Mosley’s White Defence League and racist gangs began attacking the Black community, brewing even more tension. Violent riots broke out on the streets of both Notting Hill and Nottingham in August, lasting for five nights over the bank holiday weekend.

Jones identified the need to “wash the taste of Notting Hill and Nottingham out of our mouths”. As a result, her unconventional response to the events of that summer were that the British Black community should have a Carnival. Originally dubbed Claudia’s Caribbean Carnival, the first event took place at St. Pancras Town Hall on 30 January 1959 and was televised by the BBC. The following six years would see the annual celebration staged in local town halls and community centres, where people would get together for a comparatively low-key version of the street extravaganza we indulge in today. It had people bonding over their love for the West Indies through authentic experiences, music and cuisine, Claudia’s Caribbean Carnival grew to become an event not only binding Londoners together but attracting tourists from across the world. We can only assume that this came to an halt, due to Claudia’s death in 1964.

From retelling the story of Claudia Jones, it seems clear where the NHC originated from, but no, the story continues…

During my research I typed into Google: founder of the NHC? The response was:

I was shocked to see two names being identified as the founder(s) and the active years 1966 -present.

If we revisit Cladia Jone’s story and timeline, it reads:

Her (Claudia) unconventional response to the events of that summer 1958 were that the British black community should have a carnival. Originally dubbed Claudia’s Caribbean Carnival, the first event took place at St Pancras Town Hall on 30 January 1959 and was televised by the BBC.

Google is telling me something different, so I thought I should dig deeper. Here is what I found; Rhaune Laslett was a community activist and the principal organiser of the Notting Hill Fayre or Festival, that evolved into the Notting Hill Carnival.

Rhaune Laslett was born in the East End of London to a Native American mother from North Carolina and a Russian father.

It was said that Laslett was a notable figure in the Notting Hill community and took an active role in becoming instrumental for bringing about Notting Hill’s first multicultural street festival in 1966.

Laslett was reported to have said the idea for the festival came to her in a vision — a “hamblecha”, as it is known among Native Americans — in which she saw people of all races dancing together in the streets.

In a 1989 interview with The Caribbean Times she recalled her dream: “I could see the streets thronged with people in brightly coloured costumes, they were dancing and following bands and they were happy. Some faces I recognised, but most were crowds, men, women, children, black, white, brown, but all laughing.”

Rhaune Laslett found her authority being challenged, and her influence and control over the event gradually diminished. She retired from organising the festival in 1970 due to ill health but died in 2002, amid concerns that violence would erupt because of rising tensions in the black community surrounding numerous police raids on the Mangrove Restaurant, a popular West Indian hangout. She left, dismayed that the festival she had conceived had adopted a confrontational tone that had sidelined her contributions.

Ok, again, so let’s put this into chronological order

Claudia’s Caribbean Carnival, the first event took place at St Pancras Town Hall on 30 January 1959 and was televised by the BBC. This event continued for another six years (1965) Claudia died in 1964 Rhaune Laslett organsied Notting Hill’s first multicultural street festival in 1966.

Some are claiming that this story of Jones and Laslett is a similar narrative to Rosa Parks and Claudette Colvin, whereby posterity favours those who make the best headlines.

For those who are not familiar with this story; Rosa Parks was credited as “the mother of the freedom movement”. Yet Parks was not the first to challenge bus segregation. Nine months earlier, on another bus, 15-year-old Claudette Colvin refused to budge and was arrested; but as a poor, unmarried teenage mother, she was not considered suitable to represent the movement. So Parks became a civil rights icon and Colvin a historical footnote.

In regards to the founder of NHC, for whatever reason, nobody’s ever really tried to sift through the history and work out a proper timeline of events. So Ishmahil Blagrove Jr a regular face at Speaker’s Corner and publisher Margaret Busby took it upon themselves to do just that.

Ishmahil Blagrove Jr, writer, founder of Rice N Peas Film and the author of Carnival: A Photographic and Testimonial History of the Notting Hill Carnival was recorded to have said during an interview with VICE that “there were several camps; There was Rhaune Laslett camp, and the camp for [Trinidadian-born journalist and political activist] Claudia Jones, who organised an indoor event after the Notting Hill race riots and murder of Kelso Cochrane. People said that her event, in 1959, was the real beginning of Carnival, but it had nothing to do with the carnival we know today. I believe the issue there is that Rhaune Laslett, who organised the Notting Hill Festival, which evolved into Carnival, is a white woman, and Carnival is seen as a black Caribbean and West Indian event. It was that issue that was very controversial. You know, I had one person say to me, “How could one little white woman who couldn’t even dance conceive of the idea of a carnival?” Especially when Carnival in Trinidad is dated as far back as the 1700s.

My main reflections on the story of Claudia Jones lean towards looking at vision, but in two ways. I’ll start with the more controversial. In a time of shameless and uncredited cultural appropriation at its peak, I cannot ignore the fact that I question the validity of Rhaune Laslett’s vision. Whilst we will never know and she may well never been conscious to the question of whether the vision was authentically hers or inspired by experience. That’s not important but what is important is that Black people and Black women receive their credit where it is due. Too often do we set trends that are frowned upon when displayed by us the creators but when extorted and glorified presented by a ‘critical’ mass our culture is only then seen as worthy. Not only this but in the same vain in the climate of Black Lives Matter, so many Black people have been called on to diversify, consult and educate without being credited or paid for their work.

However, on a more positive note, I wanted to stress the power of a vision. The fact that small and humble beginnings can grow and withstand time far beyond their initial conception. Claudia Jones has given us a clear example of this. Never underestimate the potential and power of the work you are doing.

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