Life in a Changing Area - Introduction to Voices of East Bank

Stories of community, belonging, racism and a changing social landscape. 

Some of these stories contain references to racist violence. Take care when reading. 

Sardar 
It has changed quite a lot in respect of racism, I suppose, because when we came here in 1967 you know, early 70s, there was a lot of racial violence, racial abuse everywhere and so most of us have gone through quite hard times and so thanks God it's you know it's a little diffferent now. [Suresh:  How has the Sikhi helped you combat that?] Well, you have to have faith and believe in yourself, I suppose. It doesn't really matter what faith you are, but obviously being a Sikh, you know, try to bind yourself by the principles of the Sikhi, but I suppose it goes as a human person rather than any particular faith. Because all faiths teach you to be good, to try to look within yourself.  

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Narjess 
One thing that I appreciate about East London or London, I'm not sure if it's different, compared to where I was before I came to London, is the community centres.I really like community centers here. I find... Yeah. Yeah. The concept in general, like not all countries have community centers. In Tunisia we have youth centers, we have cultural centers, but they're not community centers where neighborhoods actually, like neighbours actually go and interact and all families go and... It's entirely dedicated for the community. We don't really have that in Tunisia. I really like this concept here. I know it exists in the U.S. as well, and I liked it there as well, but it's something I really appreciate. And I find that it does have a certain real community feel. Of course, it varies. Some community centers are different. But I do find that those are interesting and probably worth maintaining, keeping, funding, etc. because I know funding is an issue of any kind.  

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Althea 
My dad came when he was 17 or 18 from Dominica. He came on a boat. And my mum came by herself when she was 13. 

 
She had a long journey here by herself on a boat. So they came when they were very young. My dad obviously a lot older and he came to meet his brothers who were already here working. My mum came to be with her mother in Leicester and her dad who were already living in Leicester. And the two of them met in London when she was 18 at a party with him and his brother and her and her cousin, who are still married to this day. So yeah, the pairs went out and met each other and yeah, bingo. That's how it happened. So I came here very young. I don't remember much about my dad's journey here. My mum's journey here was amazing. Not sure if I've got time to tell that story. Can I? Yes, of course. So my mum came on a boat. She was 13 and she was by herself and she was very, very seasick. When she got on the boat, one man actually saw to her who was very, very kind and very, very nice. And he made sure that she was okay, that she got tissues, that she'd go to her room at the right time, come out and have dinner at the right time, and that she was okay. And he looked after her for a whole, I think it was between seven and ten day journey to the UK. And then he said to her when she got here, who's going to take you when you get off the boat? And she said, some people are coming to meet me, because as yet she didn't know anybody here. So he said, okay, I'll walk out with you and make sure that you get to the right family and as he came off the boat and handed over my mum to the family lo and behold it was the same family he's actually my uncle he was married to my auntie and they didn't know this. He's 95 years old to this day and still going and we still see him and he's like a granddad to me really so this total stranger that turned out to look after her, turned out to be the best person in the world and made sure she was okay and handed her over to the family. 

Lynette 
What's his name? We need to know.  

Althea 

His name is Thomas Henderson. Oh, he's so amazing. We still see him, he’s like a grandad to me. 

Lynette 

That's wonderful. That's a really fantastic story. So would you say, growing up in East felt in those younger years a part of the community as a whole? 

Althea 
Definitely. East London's got such good vibes and such good people, happy people. No matter the struggle there's always a laugh. There's always a togetherness aspect. Yeah, I just feel like East London to me shaped me to make me who I am, that bubbly, happy, community person. I feel like I've gained so much by working and living in Hackney. I wouldn't want to leave. 

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Tee 
There was a time there was a lady, a single lady, that had triplets on the estate. And the women just came together, agreed, had a rota and supported her throughout. That is a community. That is a community. And when the children eventually... This is not just during the day. Night, there is a night rota too, because they realize that she will need that help. That is to me is what a community is for. Looking after each other, being the helper, giving that helping hand to others. So that is something and then you find that we have, we used to have a lot of elderly people. Before COVID, the people would be going there to do the shopping for that, to do the cleaning for that. To me, that is love. That is something that I like, that is something that I really admired. And unfortunately, it hasn't disappeared completely, but it's something that I missed on the estate. It is something that I really missed on the estate. And so you find that the unity and the love, this is an estate that we have hundreds of people from diverse places and still there are no tribal wars, there are still no gang wars, there are still no so peaceful. Those are the things. 

*** 
 

Calu 
[Queer Newham] came out out of a need. When we moved in I identified it was, there didn't seem to be a lot of representation or we, like a few more of us, there's two more people who like we did it together, so close friends. It's like we don't see many flags, we don't see many other organizations, like what can we do about this? So how can we contribute to our borough being more LGBTQ plus friendly? And it happened at precisely the right time where there was a change in local government, which then allowed some funds to be more available for sort of marginalized communities, which wasn't the case before that. And so since then, in lots of different ways, we've managed to access some funding and to carry out lots of different activities. We, not just through council funding, but also, yeah, just generally trusts and whatever funding is available, National Lottery. And so we ran everything, anything that helps us like raise awareness from like queer cinema, that we did that for a year, we did lots of conversations that spoke about the intersection between like queerness and faith, queerness and race, queerness and all of the other aspects of of our identity, Queerness and mental health, and just to also bring the language. And that first big exhibition was with this huge banners with the LGBTQ plus, and expanding on what does the L stand for, and each of these letters, what they stand for, some references of some high-profile prominent figures in all sorts of walks of life, some of the challenges that they still face globally. And that's when we tour around all the libraries together with different workshops, but the idea is to facilitate conversations, to normalise the topic, to invite people to ask questions. We also did a wonderful embroidery project which we took around the progressive pride flag and we worked at libraries and got chatting with people but also stitching words of encouragement and or just yeah how people related and what they wanted to put in this flag that then got exhibited in a town hall and yeah, we still bring it out from time to time because it has, it brings together the skills of the community and then the topic of LGBTQ plus identity and so it allowed us to have lots of lots of conversations with members of the community that wouldn't probably have approached us if there wasn't a stitching element to it. 

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Harris 
My main school was Old Church Nursery, which is just round the corner, and then to Mary Richardson. 

Ansar 
Tell me more about Mary Richardson. 

Harris 

Well, it was very diverse at the time even. In the 70s, while we were growing up, there were many different families from different backgrounds, mainly from Bangladeshi and Pakistani and Indian background, and obviously there were the local people, the white people that were living around here as well. I can talk a bit more about what happened back in them days in regards to racism and all that, but I don't know if you want me to answer these questions just now. 

Ansar 
Yeah, you talk about what the way you used to... 

Harris 
So yeah, the experience of school in Mary Richardson was... it was running the gauntlet sort of thing. So as you're going to school, you're thinking whether you're going to be attacked or not. Saying that, my mum used to take me to school and she used to carry a milk bottle purely for the reason of you know because you might get attacked. 

Ansar 
So this is you might get it while going to school? 

Harris 
Yeah. 

Harris 
[Who by?] By the local white skinheads or National Front or whatever they were at the time you know I don't see any of the faces no more maybe they've made loads of money and they've moved out, but you know, probably somewhere down in Essex and belong to the ICF if you know what I mean. 

Ansar 
And this is why you went to your primary school? 

Harris 
Primary school, yeah. 

Ansar 
And was it often or...? 

Harris 
Well, the fear was always in your head. So every time you're coming out of the house, you're thinking of like, yeah, whether you're going to be attacked or not. [Were you ever attacked?] Many times, many times I've been chased, attacked. My mum including was with us at one point when she was chucking milk bottles at you know boys that were attacking us and it was like me and my brothers were just walking down the road just yeah. [And how you coped with racism or] Yeah i mean i got on with white people yeah you know but then again I was also scared of some of them as well but yeah i knew racism was there. [I think he said it was worse than Oxford well not worse but you know] It was completely yeah it's it's it's it's uh night and day difference because those lot over there in Canvey Island they're proper you know, well the images were like, okay, National Front sort of image. Well they were mods. Yeah. Yeah, so you used to have the Teddy Boys and you had the mods. So I was hanging about with these mods over there. So how long were you in? I was there for a year. Oh okay. And I come back to East London again and then I finished my school life in St Paul's Way. 

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Michael 
I wouldn't say I've done anything in the community to help East London or like not even I don't think I've attended an East London community day but I've just met bare people from East London, I don't think I have 

Lynette 
Okay. But I guess to feel a part of the community I guess community is an interesting word because you really feel very connected to your community in your area Yeah You feel connected to your church community. So you do mentoring and so many things you've done that you do. I guess it's interesting, I guess it means what is community to you? 

Michael 
To me, I'll probably split it up in two things. So there's an inner community and an outer community. I'll say the inner community is the ones that I'm more comfortable with, the ones I come across day in, day out. And it's like I've shared most life experiences with my inner community. But then with outer, I'll say that East is a big place. I probably haven't been everywhere in the East to even know most communities there so I would say that our community is just like everything on a whole and yeah. I would say it's more modern and it's more like techno- is that the word? Technological. Yeah I feel like there's just so much technology in the east now. Like when I was young, ooh I would say one thing that has changed is I don't see a lot of children play outside no more. Everyone's just on a computer or PlayStation. When I was young everyone would be outside playing sports or something but now everyone's inside playing games and stuff so it's changing the technological aspect. I'll say from being from East you learn to be confident and to talk to someone and get to know them even if you don't know them. It;s made me a more social person so I'm able to try and communicate with everyone anywhere I go. 

*** 

Hardial 
I couldn't move, I couldn't move. The way I've been brought up, I love the area. 
It's not great 100%, obviously every area has their flaws, but I'm not that type of person that would just end up moving and be happy. I wouldn't leave East London. 

Suresh 
Me and you are exactly on the same line there. I love East London different from you. You tell me, I'm 62, so you tell me what what do you love about the East End of London like you know the food, the going out, the people, the shops, just talk me through and then we'll move on to the gudhwara later. 

Hardial 
What I like about East London is where I am, where I live in, I've got everything there, I've got right opposite, I've got the park, I've got schools everywhere and I know the area so much I would hate to go somewhere new and then have to adapt again to that environment and stuff. So yeah, East London is good for me. 

Suresh 
And you specifically Newham, yeah? What about shopping and going, you know, buying things and the community and people. 

Hardial 
Yeah, that's brilliant. I got one side, I got the Asian Bazaar, Green Street, all the Indian shops, all everything. Then I got Westfield, all the other shops and stuff. But to be honest, I hate shopping. There's got a stage where somebody says shopping, I want to get out of there. So, yeah, but it is alright. You can find anything where I'm living currently. Everything's there. Like, it'll be just like, just do as much as you can to help the community actually. As much as you can, even if it's a small amount, you do it, you feel good about it after. And automatically life will like fall into place. That's what I'm trying, hoping that will happen. So I'm just doing as much as I can to be part of the community, to be a good Sikh. Okay, not everyone's perfect, but we try our best. So yeah, that's about it. 

Suresh 
And so one Cockney to another, right? You know, we've got a tense, you know, an invert inside us, like to get on with people. You know, it's very like Sikhi, you know, I see it as very Punjabi. Can you speak, you know, has it, the cockney in East London kind of relates to my Sikhi and my Punjabi. Is that the same with you? 

Hardial 
It's kind of, yeah, because we, when I meet somebody new, I'll treat them like I know them from years. And that's how we are as well in our Sikh culture. like what I see people doing, giving Savor, feeding the homeless, that all relates around how we should all be to help, help one another. It is a difficult world out there but if you get a little bit help from somebody or you help someone it there but if you get a little bit help from somebody or you help someone it makes a big difference.