Yorkshire Writers' Lunch

Changing flights at JFK airport in New York from London on route to Kingston Jamaica is not my favourite thing to do, but Delta and Virgin airlines have a relationship and had a super deal with Premium seats, so the inconvenience of an eight-hour layover 6 th to 7 th of June 2019, seemed worth it. I had it all figured out in my head that I would spend the night asleep in the lounge, but when I got there I was invited to look around and thought that for $70 there wasn’t that much on offer. The buffet looked tired, and people were lounging around on comfy chairs fair enough, but that was not what I was expecting to see. I had fantasised about little cubicles where I could really lay out and snore.   It was now close to midnight  and my departure was at 7am. I realised that my phone had lost power and I didn’t have a charger on me with the correct electrical plug as that was all snug in my suitcase. Eventually, I found the parade of airport shops which were all closed apart fro...

I was asked recently by Kirklees College students doing a film project “What Windrush means to  you?”.  I had not thought much about the question before I started speaking, and found myself surprised that my memories were all infused with family gatherings of relatives and family friends who we called aunty and uncle out of respect. A time when Jamaicans identified strongly as part of the British Empire and the Queen held as much significance in Jamaica as she did here. A time when as children born in the UK, we were encouraged to inculcate and practice British values, speaking any Jamaican dialect was frowned upon and we were encouraged to read. Back in Jamaica during the same period, children sat British exams and studied for Cambridge GCEs.  I observed my cousins in their teens and they dressed modestly as our parents would chastise us otherwise, and found the mini-skirts of the time quite revealing. Any interest in boys had to be declared and approved by the fami...