For the love of books: Coming to England
This week I continue my focus on books relating to black British history. ‘Coming to England’ is a book that is autobiographical. It’s the story of a journey and it is brought to life for children of any age by the author, Dame Floella Benjamin and its illustrator, Diane Ewen. I’m a big fan of true stories, whether it is a movie or a book, because I think that it brings something else to the table in terms of storytelling. It’s impossible to make up a true story – yes some of the details might be adapted through a retelling in some cases – but the essence of it is based on facts. More to the point, the retelling of a true story is history, and if you’ve been reading my blog or checking out any of my content on social media recently, you’ll know by now that I am a big fan of history. I led a course on chronology this week and emphasised the fact that history is built upon stories. And the story of Dame Floella Benjamin’s life is one that is most definitely worth reading!
Not just Floella
Throughout the history of Britain, black people have travelled to Britain. In Roman times, there were a group of soldiers known as the Aurelian Moors who were stationed on Hadrian’s Wall, defending the rest of Roman Britain from the peoples who lived in the North of England and Scotland. There is other archaeological evidence of black people potentially living here during the Stone Age - we’re talking 10,000 years ago. There were black people who came to Britain throughout the last 2,000 years, and there is specific evidence from multiple time periods across that, including the Tudor Times. Floella’s story, is one that isn’t unique. And I don’t say that to be negative. In fact what is brilliant about this story is that it highlights the fact that there were many black people throughout history who have travelled to Britain and considered themselves British in a similar way.
Floella came from Trinidad as part of the ‘Windrush’ generation. It’s a misconception that it is only from this point in history onwards that black people had a greater presence in Britain, but I think it is important to recognise the importance of this time nonetheless - especially with the events of the Windrush scandal in recent times. Floella’s journey is one that was taken by many people, across the oceans and seas, from countries which were part of the ‘British Empire’. A friend of mine made the same journey from Jamaica at around the same time and, in an interview, he echoed some of the same thoughts and feelings as Floella does in her story.
Being British
Often, people talk about being British in the sense of being ‘from Britain’ and it makes me laugh to an extent sometimes, because within Britain, you have four separate countries. Four separate countries, where for some people, when it suits them, they are British, and when it doesn’t, they are English, or Scottish or Welsh. There is animosity (mostly between England and the other countries of Britain) at times, an example being the clashes that English and Scottish government sometimes have over different aspects of politics (which I neither want to get into here, nor do I always fully understand them). And it makes me think, who are we to tell someone they aren’t British?
This brings me to the point I really want to make about this story, which is that before even setting foot on these islands, Dame Floella Benjamin, just like my friend who has a similar story, probably considered herself British. Trinidad was part of the ‘British Empire’ just like many islands in the Caribbean, and so in her story, Floella talks about how at school they used to locate England on a map and were taught that they were part of the British Empire.
“Every day at school, before lessons even started, all the children sang ‘God Save the Queen’”
My friend said similar things. He also talked about how, growing up, his family and friends referred to Britain as ‘the motherland’ and that he felt proud to be British before he even travelled here. Being ‘British’, in our day and age, means being diverse. It means understanding different people that live in and different cultures that exist within our society. It also means that we should be celebrating those differences as things which are special and features of our home that we should be proud of.
Key themes
Unfortunately, Floella’s tale of going to school with other children who were not particularly kind to her initially, is an all too familiar one from that period of time. Floella’s story is important because it explains some difficult concepts around prejudice and racism in a really straight forward and child friendly way. She doesn’t go into the nastiness of it, but she gives enough that I think when children read this story (or have it read to them if they are younger) they will begin to see why it is important that we treat all people with respect, kindness and dignity regardless of any differences that may be apparent.
Floella’s story flows beautifully. It demonstrates the importance of family, it represents the lives of so many black British people who made a similar journey, and it demonstrates the hopes and dreams that these people have. Throughout, she implies the emotions that she felt, whether it was when she first arrived in Britain and the massive shock to her system that was, to how she was treated, to finally achieving her dream and meeting the Queen. It’s a celebration of the journey that many black people took, crossing the Atlantic Ocean in order to find new opportunities and a ‘better life’ for themselves, and it touches on both the highs and lows that were involved in this journey.
The illustrations of Diane Ewen are also hugely important in terms of bringing this story to life. Her style is engaging for children and her use of colour really opens up the imagination as to what this journey was really like for Floella and her family. There are many black British writers and illustrators out there and this book is simply another one that highlights this fact.