Mama Gatha

After the Second World War, when black Caribbean soldiers had fought alongside British troops, Britain welcomed Caribbean immigrants, as there was plenty of work for them to do. This was an era of teddy boys, winkle pickers, crew cuts and two-tone suits. Long-haired, leather-jacketed greasers roared around on Harley Davidsons, pitting themselves against skinheads wearing Doc Martens and Nazi stickers. I’m Jean Smith, and this is my story. I’ve been living in Britain for 55 years now. I was 24 when I first revisited Jamaica, but now I go back for months at a time. All my life, like other human beings, I have been searching for meanings and answers. Answers to the trials and tribulations, the wrongs and sorrows, which lurk in the shadows of daily life, and particularly in mine when I was younger. Please join me on my sixty-year journey.