otis corbie
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Karma: 2 |  | 50 Years of Notting Hill Carnival
« Thread Started on Aug 31, 2008, 3:18pm » | ![[Quote]](http://s2.images.proboards.com/buttons/quote.gif "[Quote]") |
Historians and community activists are keen that the architect of one of the UKs most successful tourist attractions is not airbrushed from history.
They have welcomed the advent a blue plaque commemorating this work behind this international event, which was the achievement of Claudia Jones, affectionately known in many quarters as the Mother of the Notting Hill Carnival.
The largest street festival in Europe, was the brain child of a Claudia Jones. It marks just one of the accomplishments that this little known luminary attained during her life's work of improving the conditions and treatment of black communities living in London during the 1950 and 1960s.
Community activist
claudia_jones.jpgNoted as a passionate community activist Jones dedicated her energies to addressing social injustices where ever they arose within the newly settled African Caribbean communities that were being established in west London at that time.
The publisher and editor of the first black British Newspaper, the West Indian Gazette, Jones used this newspaper and her community networks to speak out about the social injustices and later the violent racist attacks against black people during this period.
Jones organised the first ever Caribbean carnival on British soil in 1959, and held it at St Pancreas Town Hall.
The success of this event led to several other events held in halls around the city with the help of her friend Amy Ashwood Garvey.
For these two ladies, working together back in 1959, a driving factor behind these Carnivals was to create an occasion, which could act as a focus for cohesion, unity and healing in response to the tragic racist murder of a young African Caribean man, Kelso Cochrane, the year before, in 1958.
Disturbingly this was followed by a number of unprovoked racist attacks against people from the black community in the same year.
Jones ground breaking vision of introducing an annual carnival of celebratory street dance and song inspired by life in her former home Trinidad and Tobago was an expression of African Caribbean history and culture. This has now evolved into London's largest annual public even. Supporters of the original architects of the carnival are keen to see the integrity of this vision as an expression of black Briton kept intact.
Blue Plaque
claudia_jones_blue_plaque.jpgTo mark the 50th anniversary of the first Carnival, held in 1958, the high commissioners from Trinidad and Tobago, John S. Jeremy and the mayor of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, Joanna Garner unveiled a commemorative blue plaque, in honour of Claudia Jones' work and vision and to commemorate the Nottinghill Carnival.
Placed on the corner of Portobello Road and Tavistock Square the plaque is seen from many quarters as a fitting accolade of this public celebration.
Organised by the charity Nubian Jak Community Trust and supported by the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, another bronze plaque was also unveiled on Friday 22nd August, at the Carnival Village in Powis Square, London W10.
Three minutes silence
A call for three minutes silence at this years Notting Hill Carnival on Monday 25 August at 4.00m has been made to commemorate Claudia Jones life and work as well as the millions of people lost during the Maffa.
3_minute_silence_for_claudia_jones_-_mother_of_nottinghill_carnival.jpgAt the height of the reveling of campaigns group Ligali have called for everyone involved in this years carnival from floats, vendors, sound systems and visitors to support this three minutes silence.
Organisers of this tribute have asked for local community radio stations to get this message out to those attending so that people will set their alarms and mobile phone at 3.58 as a reminder of this commemoration.
‘It does not matter if only a thousand people out of one hundred thousand stop in remembrance.
It is not about numbers and following the majority, it is about being amongst those that are doing what is right. If we don't honour our own Ancestors who will?' organisers of this act of remembrance said.
This year marks the 50th Notting Hill Carnival which will take place this bank holiday from Sunday 24 August to Monday 25 August.
http://blackmentalhealth.org.uk/index.ph....=414&Itemid=117
How do you feel about that, did you hear anything in the media? Was it downplayed? or just second to the olympics
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socapro
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Karma: 0 | | Re: 50 Years of Notting Hill Carnival
« Reply #1 on Sept 2, 2008, 10:17am » | |
Sad to say I am only hearing about this after Carnival & I am closely involved with Carnival! So this definitely was not well publicized!
Either our Carnival media needs to get their act together or there was a deliberate effort not to publicize the 3 minutes of silence for Claudia Jones so that as many folks as possible could pay their respects!
For example I'm only reading about this now on Trinis In London after the event but didn't see it on here prior to Carnival. It might be an oversight on my path but if all media channels were used to notify everyone then I’m sure many more folks would have heard about it and would have been happy to pay their respects!!
I mean all the black community stations could have been publicizing this, why weren’t they approached? All the established soca media and various Carnival disciplines could have been publicizing this! Why weren’t they told about this way in advance so that all Carnivalists could have been notified?
Nice to hear about the plaque though, I’ll definitely go have a look and take a photo next to it!
Respect to all our Cultural Ambassadors & freedom fighters every time!
Soca Professor
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otis corbie
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« Reply #2 on Sept 2, 2008, 1:02pm » | |
Ah mih boy well said.
Next question who or what connection does the company Nubian Jax have with Carnival and Kennsington and Chealsea council? Especially when we the Masqueraders and true Carnivalist ,if thats a word, can't get notified about stuff concerning our own community?
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socapro
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Karma: 0 | | Re: 50 Years of Notting Hill Carnival
« Reply #3 on Sept 2, 2008, 10:58pm » | |
Good question, maybe our friend connected to Nubian Jax who got arrested at d BBC 1Xtra float could answer that!
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