West Indian English: Origins, 1974

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This film was made for teachers at London schools by the Learning Resources Branch of the Inner London Education Authority (ILEA), the body responsible for the education of London’s children from 1965 to 1990.
The first episode in the ‘West Indian English’ series explores the history of the West Indies with focus on the power struggle between rival European countries, the impact of the sugar cane industries and the growth of slavery. Throughout the episode, extracts from an interview are shown on West Indian culture and the impact of its history on local communities in the 1970s. Attitudes to integration, law and order, and slavery are all explored including footage of life on a sugar plantation. The immigration of West Indians to Britain in the 1950s and 1960s is also described with original footage of arrivals by train and aeroplane. The film concludes with a discussion of integration, with reference to language, prejudice and culture.
A teacher’s pack which accompanied the series can be found in the London Metropolitan Archives Collections Catalogue under the following reference: ILEA/S/LR/11/144
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The guidance for teachers provided in this series was arguably a response to significant campaigns for racial and social justice that occurred on the national and international scene including the black supplementary schools movement, Black Parents Group and Black Parents Movement.
The supplementary school movement developed in Britain from the 1960s, mainly as Saturday Schools to provide children with specific teaching which reflected their personal and community needs. In the Black Caribbean community the movement was driven by such works as Bernard Coard's, 'How the West Indian Child is Made Educationally Subnormal in the British School System' (1971), which emphasised the effect of educationalists' prejudicial attitudes and government policy in the academic underachievement of black children.
Relevant documents available for research at London Metropolitan Archives include the Community Education and Careers Branch of Inner London Education Authority's grant files (ILEA/PS/CE) with submitted annual reports for supplementary schools including Black Caribbean and Bengali communities. Correspondence, leaflets, exercise books and photographs (LMA/4463/D/11) are also held for Peter Moses Supplementary School, Ealing founded by Eric and Jessica Huntley and named after Dominican born Peter Moses (1945-1972) who was actively involved in Black politics including the Black Liberation Front and the Black supplementary school movement. Records of Bogle-L'Ouverture Publications Limited include a detailed manuscript, 'West Indians' Emphasis to Alternative Supplementary Education Sample Survey in Hackney', submitted for publication by Joseph Ramlal, 1981 (LMA/4462/D/01/311).
Further information on relevant collections and documents can be found in the London Metropolitan Archives research guide Black African Caribbean Community. You can find this research guide below:
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Date: 1974
Reference No: ILEA/VID/01/2793
Collection: ILEA
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[@benjaminahisrael611]

All I see in London are Grenadians and Jamaicans. Bless up the ancient Britons have returned. If you know you know

[@saraholiveedwards4697]

"Their discovery". Wow