Coming of Age : 1976 and the Road to Anti-Racism
Coming of Age : 1976 and the Road to Anti-Racism by Jagdish Patel and Suresh Grover
Coming of Age : 1976 and the Road to Anti-Racism
by Jagdish Patel and Suresh Grover
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
Stafford Scott<br />
Coordina<strong>to</strong>r <strong>of</strong> Tottenham Rights<br />
The Uprising that <strong>the</strong>y wish <strong>to</strong> forget<br />
August <strong>1976</strong> I had just turned 16 <strong>and</strong> was excited at <strong>the</strong> thought <strong>of</strong> attending my first<br />
Notting Hill carnival as an ‘adult’. I had been <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> carnival <strong>the</strong> previous year but had gone<br />
on <strong>the</strong> ‘Family Sunday’ as a 15 year old school kid with some <strong>of</strong> my classmates.<br />
It had been fun, but this year I was going <strong>to</strong> Carnival with my bro<strong>the</strong>r <strong>and</strong> his friends on<br />
<strong>the</strong> biggest day <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> 2-day event. This was going <strong>to</strong> be <strong>the</strong> real carnival that I’d seen on<br />
<strong>the</strong> black <strong>and</strong> white pictures in <strong>the</strong> press <strong>and</strong> on TV. Only this year I was going <strong>to</strong> be a part<br />
<strong>of</strong> it.<br />
I went expecting <strong>to</strong> see <strong>the</strong> colourful floats filled with happy smiling bro<strong>the</strong>rs <strong>and</strong> sisters<br />
adorned in <strong>the</strong>ir finest carnival outfits. I went expecting <strong>to</strong> hear <strong>the</strong> sound <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> steel b<strong>and</strong>s<br />
filling <strong>the</strong> air with <strong>the</strong> sunny Caribbean beats some <strong>of</strong> Calypso <strong>and</strong> SOCA. But most <strong>of</strong> all I<br />
<strong>Coming</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Age</strong> | 161<br />
<strong>Coming</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Age</strong> Final version 16.10.indd 161 17/10/2017 12:08
Change language