BME Arts
1958 Remembered Festival
Almost 50 years on since the Notting Hill riots of 1958, the 1958 Remembered Festival aims to remind people of the area how far we have come since those days of racism and deprivation. showcase will inlcude events on local history, music, performance and cultural diversity.
Now home to as many as forty (and counting) different nationalities, the festival is a 10 month long celebration that both commemorates the riots and celebrates today's positive community relations.
A series of events over 7 nights from Friday July 25 to Thursday July 31 took place at the Inn on the Green, featuring bands, speakers and other entertainment such as .
The Council has contributed £3,000 to the `1958 Remembered' community steering group which will be staging a series of .
Cllr David Campion, Chairman of the Council's Working Party dedicated to this celebration, said: "We are delighted to be making a contribution to this most worthwhile venture. The riots of 1958 were a new beginning in the borough's determination to build good and positive community relations. I know the events planned by `1958 Remembered' will reflect our positive community relations, the modern diversity of the Royal Borough and the reality of its past".
Well-known former Labour MP and local resident Tony Benn attended to give a speech and shared his recollections ofthe vigilante crowds of people that targeted the Caribbean
community in Notting Hill fifty years ago.
The events were followed by a second wave of remembrance activities after the Notting Hill Carnival.
‘With such a cultural mix, Notting Hill is a vibrant and truly interesting place to be,’ said Manpreet Dillon, Managing Director of KHT. ‘We’ve clearly come a long way since the troubles of 1958 and that’s something we should all be proud of.’ ‘But the events back then should never be forgotten.
Kelso Cochrane Honoured With A Blue Plaque - 7 May 2009
50 years to the day, after the violent murder of North Kensington resident Kelso Cochrane, the Nubian Jak Community Trust installed a Blue Plaque at the Grove Inn Restaurant & Bar, on the corner of Golborne Road and Southam Street, W10.
The commemorative plaque was unveiled on Sunday 17th May at 3pm by His Excellency Dr Karl Roberts, High Commissioner of Antigua and Barbuda, the Mayor of the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea, Councillor The Hon Joanna Gardner, and Jak Beula, Chair of the Nubian Jak Community Trust.
The 1958 Notting Hill riots were recently highlighted in the popular British soap series EastEnders, in an historic episode in March 2009, which for the first time featured an all-black cast.
Kelso Cochrane moved to London from Antigua in 1954, where he settled in Notting Hill and worked as a carpenter. He planned to study law and was saving money earned from his work to pay for his tuition fees. One evening after fracturing his thumb in an accident at work, he went along to the A&E department of Paddington General Hospital for treatment. It was while walking home from there that he was set upon by a group of white racists. One of the men stabbed Kelso through the heart with a stiletto knife; three other men came to his aid prompting his attackers to flee. Those three men took Kelso to hospital, where he died soon afterwards. His funeral was attended by more than 1,200 people.
Oswald Mosley's British Union Movement was active in Notting Hill and North Kensington at the time. A Union Movement member, Peter Dawson, later claimed in an interview with the Sunday People that it had been a group member who was responsible for the murder. Indeed not long afterwards Mosley held a public meeting on the spot where Kelso Cochrane had been murdered. No one was ever convicted.
Kelso Cochrane's death led to the British Government setting up an investigation into race relations, chaired by Amy Ashwood Garvey. It would result in improved community relations, and better understanding between the diverse communities living in the North Kensington area.
Jak Beula, Chair of the Nubian Jak Community Trust said: "The death of Kelso Cochrane and the subsequent outrage it caused made worldwide news in 1959. Like Stephen Lawrence, his passing led to a reassessment of race relations in Britain, and ultimately influenced the government to pass the first race regulations act in Britain."
Councillor Pat Mason, 1958 Remembered said: "Kelso's shocking murder led to the defeat of Oswald Mosley in the 1959 election and his fascist forces chased out of North Kensington"
HISTORYtalk Director Pat Fuller said: "This plaque is a signficant step in the lasting commemoration of Kelso Cochrane, and a reminder that all communities need to stand together now and in the future."
Colin Prescod, Chair of HISTORYtalk said: "Our local history is global history."
other speakers include Manpreet Dillon (Kensington Housing Trust), Colin Prescod (HISTORYtalk and IRR Chair), Alex Pascal (Broadcaster), Karen Buck (North Kensington MP), and 80-year-old Velma Davis, and 83-year-old Lucky Gordon, both residents of North Kensington since the mid 1950s.
More archive information from HIstory Talk
For more info, pleasecontact isis@mrcf.org.uk