A ‘collective memoir’ of Britain sees migration as a reflective process

Those England fans who didn’t travel across the Atlantic to attend the FIFA World Cup earlier in July were glued to screens, raising the heat about “football coming home”, sung by The Lightning Seeds, David Baddiel, and Frank Skinner to commemorate the English team’s 1966 victory, when it was captained by Bobby Moore.

This is the right time for them to read Colin Grant’s What We Leave We Carry, a collective memoir of Britain that many rarely experience. It opens out a new map of the globe by compiling interviews with writers, thinkers, artists, engineers, and a diverse workforce about what makes Britain today what it is.

Listening to neighbours

This is how Grant presents the quest of the book: “This is an oral history of overlooked and marginalised individuals. It’s a chance to listen to neighbours, voices often drowned out by the shrill anti-immigrant rhetoric that is afforded too much space in our culture”.

The book follows three or more generations of immigrants to understand what it means to be British today. Migration is mapped across emotive, physical, and intellectual geographies. Each chapter is themed to recollect a “view from abroad”, the compulsions of romancers and dreamers, and understanding “The Grip”, which is simply the suitcase every West Indian family possessed. A suitcase with family secrets too. Hidden histories. The chapters frame the experience of migration through stories.

The reader traverses 70 years between the 20th and 21st centuries with immigrants from the Windrush Generation of the West Indies, India as part of the Commonwealth, Europe and non-European territories including Greece, Colombia, Vietnam, Tunisia-Algeria, Haiti, Ethiopia, Cameroon, Zimbabwe, Romania, Syria, Eritrea, the US, Argentina, Guyana, Yugoslavia, Uganda, Cuba, Turkey, Israel, Kenya, Philippines, Malaysia, Australia, Serbia, Thailand.

The British Empire operated on some of these territories but its influence extended beyond their borders. It is from here that people were dispersed, heritages mixed, and the English language became the lingua france. It is as much about multiculturalism as it is about strategic expansion of psychological dominion through the estate of language. We also witness generosity in shared food, languages, and creation of new jobs. Migration, thus, becomes a reflective process.

The chapter “Enigma of Arrival” documents first impressions of arrival. It is remembered as “endless people coming from tubes”, airports, and railway stations. Miguel Hernando Torres Umba, an immigrant from Colombia, arrived at Britain’s door to realise “there’s a street at the end … there’s a neighbourhood… at the end… it’s a city.” Along with nostalgia, triumph, and cautionary tales, we lear about the adventures for the soul. For some women, it was their first taste of independence. Immigrant Dulani Kulasinghe remarks, “English is universal… whatever the training in the field you study gives you access to the world you wouldn’t have otherwise”.

Finding roots

The records of West Indian migration have a strong voice in the Windrush Generation of the 1950s. Migration from India began in the late 19th century, especially from Punjab to Birmingham, where Indians were employed in northern mill towns of Yorkshire and car manufacturing factories.

An interesting migration pattern emerged in the 1980s and 90s. Generous funding to the Department of Media, Culture and Sports, and Arts Councils created spaces for exchange through performing and visual arts, inviting immigrants to partake in cultural dialogues. However, when funding was cut back from 2010 onwards, artists have either stopped coming to Britain or are migrating onward to other countries for better opportunities.

The 60 or more interviews offer a wide range of perspectives. The themes may be broadly categorised as the anticipation of travel, the obstacles faced from home as well as the new country, and the yearning for community. The book also acknowledges how the diaspora itself becomes the host by staying on – the roots, though uprooted from their “native” land, hold on firmly to the new soil.

What We Leave We Carry: Voices of Migration to Britain, Colin Grant, Jonathan Cape.