‘Land hunger, unemployment and under-employment are now prevalent on a wide scale.’
(Cheddi Jagan, opposition leader of British Guiana’s People’s Progressive Party, 1961)

In the early decades of the 20th century, British colonial rule was increasingly questioned and resisted by the region’s inhabitants, then collectively known as West Indians. British economic exploitation led to region-wide unrest. Poor conditions, including stagnant wages, unstable employment, long working hours and inadequate housing, led to an increase in trade union activity. Activists formed political parties and calls for independence grew. A political union known as the West Indies Federation was formed in 1958. It aimed to obtain independence through the unification of several Caribbean territories, but collapsed in 1962.

‘Take ah stand
ah stand firm
as a people and
working nation’
(Nelson Fraser, ‘We Revo Call’, from Tongues of the New Dawn, 1981)

The process, shape and timing of independence differed significantly across Britain’s former Caribbean colonies. While Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago gained independence in 1962, islands such as St Kitts and Nevis remained colonies until the 1980s. Other states, like the Cayman Islands, the British Virgin Islands, Turks and Caicos, Montserrat, Anguilla and Bermuda, have varying degrees of self-governance but are now classified as British Overseas Territories. The region was influenced by the political tensions of the Cold War and competing visions of the future.

‘The stories of regional success... serve as a constant reminder of what we can achieve with unity of purpose’
(Dr Carla Barnett, current CARICOM Secretary-General, 2021- )

The period since independence has been characterised by the creation of new political structures. Populations stepped into their new roles as independent citizens, and governments widened political participation through education. In 1973, four states founded the intergovernmental organisation CARICOM (The Caribbean Community). It aimed to improve conditions through diplomatic dialogue, economic integration, cultural co-operation, collective security and social development initiatives. Most former British Caribbean colonies are still constitutional monarchies, although Barbados moved to republican status in 2021. Six other states have declared their intention to do the same.

Four Caribbean-born respondents describe how and why they migrated to Britain. Explore their oral histories by clicking on their portraits. 

‘Wat a devilment a englan!
Dem face war an brave
de worse, but me wonderin
how dem gwine stan
Colonizin in Reverse.’
(Louise Bennett Coverley, ‘Colonization in Reverse’ in Jamaica Labrish, 1966)

Anxiety about the impact of Black migration on the ‘racial character’ of Britain was evident in segments of society by the late 1950s. This included calls to ‘Keep Britain White’. The 1962 Commonwealth Immigrants Act aimed to restrict the entry of migrants from current British colonies as well as those which had become independent since 1945. The latter are collectively known as the New Commonwealth. Subsequent legislation – culminating with the 1971 Immigration Act – aimed to bring migration to a virtual end. The perception of West Indians as immigrants correlated to an increase in police brutality. State racism pushed Black settlers in Britain into more militant forms of resistance.

‘Come wat may,
we are here to stay’
(Linton Kwesi Johnson, ‘It Dread inna Inglan’ in Selected Poems, Penguin Books, 2006)

Increased representation in politics enabled prominent MPs like Diane Abbott to fight for marginalised communities. Important inquiries such as that into the murder of Stephen Lawrence exposed police racism and heightened awareness of systemic racism more generally. Yet in 2012 the then Home Secretary Theresa May announced plans to create ‘a really hostile environment for illegal migration’. Little attention was given to the possible impact of these policies on undocumented but legally resident members of the Caribbean’s British diaspora or those of the wider Commonwealth.

Four British Caribbean respondents explain how border control practices and changing immigration legislation impacted their lives. Explore their oral histories by clicking on their portraits. 

Born 4 January 1901, Trinidad and Tobago
Died 31 May 1989, United Kingdom

Cyril Lionel Robert James was a historian, political philosopher, cultural theorist and a pioneering Trotskyist. He had begun campaigning for the independence of the West Indies before moving to London in 1933. In London he became a champion of Pan-Africanism and joined the city’s anti-colonial networks. In 1958 he returned to Trinidad and Tobago and became General Secretary of the West Indian Federal Labour Party in the lead-up to independence. His books, The Black Jacobins and Beyond A Boundary, became key texts for Black Radicals and had a profound influence on the British Black Power movement. He laid the groundwork for many future Caribbean and Black British intellectuals and activists.

Born 16 April 1921, Jamaica
Died 26 April 1998, United Kingdom

William ‘Billy’ Arthur Watkin Strachan settled in Britain after serving as a bomber pilot in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. He became a leading member of the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) and a mentor to many Black civil rights activists. He was the Secretary of the Caribbean Labour Congress’ London branch, which campaigned for Caribbean self-government and workers’ rights. Strachan dedicated himself to campaigning through the Congress’ events and his newspaper Caribbean News. He is widely considered a pioneer and one of the most significant Black civil rights activists in British-Caribbean history.

Born 21 February 1915, Trinidad and Tobago
Died 24 December 1964, United Kingdom

Claudia Jones was an anti-imperialist intellectual and radical Black feminist. She spent most of her early life in the US, but was deported to Britain in 1956 for her commitment to communism. On arrival she worked in various organisations including the Caribbean Labour Congress’ London branch. In 1958, Claudia Jones co-founded The West Indian Gazette, an anti-racist commercial newspaper which aimed to unite and support Black British communities. It also stood in support of the West Indies Federation and Caribbean self-government. In response to the 1958 Notting Hill race riots Claudia launched an indoor carnival at St Pancras Town Hall. Claudia’s carnival is viewed by many as a precursor of the Notting Hill Carnival we know today.