The Blackwash
Making cultural & historical commentary on social issues. Laundry is the only thing that should be separated by colour!
The Blackwash
Kelso Cochrane: Pain, Protest, Party and Present
How does a tragic event evolve into a symbol of resilience and celebration? Join us as we unravel the origins of the Notting Hill Carnival through the poignant story of Kelso Cochrane. You'll learn about the harrowing night in 1959 when Kelso, an aspiring law student and skilled carpenter from Antigua, was brutally murdered in a racially motivated attack. This heinous act galvanized a community, igniting protests that would forever alter the landscape of race relations in London. As we recount Kelso's final day and the subsequent struggles for justice, we honor his legacy and explore how these events paved the way for the vibrant Notting Hill Carnival we know today.
From a humble beginning to a major event generating nearly 400 million pounds for London's economy, the carnival has become a beacon of community spirit and resilience. We'll discuss how the memory of individuals like Kelso Cochrane is preserved, not just through commemorative plaques but through the very fabric of the carnival itself. This episode is a testament to the enduring power of collective pain and the incredible journey from protest to celebration. Tune in to appreciate the rich history and the continuing significance of this Caribbean cultural phenomenon.
Welcome to the August edition of the Black Wash. As it's August, notting Hill Carnival is upon us. As a direct result, the title of today's podcast is Kelso Cochrane, pain, protest Party and Present. So I did this on my Tuesday night live and I'll do it here again for you guys. I want to start with some self assessment on a scale of 1 being very little knowledge, 5 being average knowledge and 10 being proficient knowledge. How would you assess your already existing prior knowledge of Notting Hill Carnival's origin story? Make a mental note of that number, be it 1, 2, 5, 7. Make a mental note and my hope is, by the end of this podcast your number would have increased. So let's start with the reason for the season. The broadcaster and political activist and overall, don don dapper, darkest how, was quoted as saying and this is listed on the notting hill carnival official website if it weren't for the race riots in notting hill, I don't believe we would have had notting hill carnival. He then goes on and says if it wasn't for the race riots in Notting Hill, I don't believe we would have had a Notting Hill carnival. He then goes on and says if it wasn't for the murder of Kelso Cochrane, carnival wouldn't have happened. Hence the focus of this episode being Kelso Cochrane pain, protest party and present. So let's start with who was Kelso Cochrane? Back then I could have envisioned the name being pronounced Kelso, and it's so important that we humanize this individual.
Speaker 1:In 1959 he was 32 years old. He was born in Antigua Big up any of my Antigans listening. He made his decision to move to England in 1954 and he made his home in Notting Hill. He was a carpenter by trade, just like my granddad, and he wanted to save up enough money to go to law school. On saturday, the 16th of may 1959, his profession caused him a nagging thumb injury. That morning he had the plaster recast on his broken left thumb. The fracture was unusual in the fact that it was at the base of the first segment. As a result, the doctors struggled to shift it back into position.
Speaker 1:When kel Kelso was done, he met up with his trainee nurse girlfriend, olivia Ellington. They went shopping at the market around the corner from their home. They went back home. They briefly saw Kelso's younger brother, malcolm. They went to Hyde Park Speaker's Corner Sounds like a long, busy day right.
Speaker 1:By the time they returned they were ready for bed. But the pain. The pain in Kelso's thumb was agonizing. Olivia suggested codeine as he had a follow-up appointment on Monday, bearing in mind this is Saturday, so Saturday, sunday, monday. But he couldn't wait and needed it seen to immediately. So he emptied the loose change from his pockets on the dressing table and set out for Paddington General Hospital. He, of course, was smartly dressed blue, blue trousers, shirt, brown jacket and matching brown suede shoes. You know how they did it. Back in the day he reached the hospital and was given stronger medication to take when at home. It was just before midnight when Kelso left the hospital. As he approached his area, he approached Southam Street, and that's when he was approached by a gang of white youths who surrounded him. There was pushing, there was shoving. He tried to defend himself with one hand, but it was over very quickly. Kelso fell outside the bagwash laundry. A single stab had penetrated the main chamber of his heart.
Speaker 1:Initially I was going to call this section the past, but that felt dismissive, it felt irrelevant, because when it comes to our history, when it comes to black history, we're often told forget about the past or or get over the past. So instead I called it Kelso Cochrane pain, protest party and present, the major difference being that with pain, it's a process. It takes acknowledging the pain, not only Kelso's physical pain, but the pain of his friends and family and the collective community pain which is hard to heal from, especially when, to this day, there are no convictions and probably never will be, because the police destroyed Kelso's clothing in the 1960s. The pain, the pain, the pain. It keeps happening with every generation First Kelso, then 34 years later, in 1993, stephen Lawrence. The pain, the pain, the pain. 34 years on from 1993, and Stephen Lawrence is 2027. The pain, the pain, the pain.
Speaker 1:Knowing that we're on a rinse and repeat cycle due another unprovoked, racist murder of a black man that, coupled with the recent racist and fascist riots and random attacks, it doesn't seem too outlandish to say that the pain, the pain, the pain acknowledge the pain. But rather than allowing them the space and the time and the answers, no more than 48 hours later, before any in-depth investigation, the daily mirror was tipped off by the detective and they ran with the headline not a racist murder. The detective said the motive could have been robbery. And remember I said earlier the details you see the details that Kelso put his change on the nightstand. The detective then went on and said the fact that he is coloured does not, in our view, come into question. Yes, the age old trope of it's not racist, which is a preset to our pain, trying to pacify rather than validify our collective pain. Rather than validify our collective pain, racially gaslighting, as if the not in hill race riots weren't a year prior, which only leads to our rage and frustration and protest. A reminder of the title of this podcast kelso cochrane pain protest party and president.
Speaker 1:Moving on to the protest, by the wednesday the campaigners had formed in response the Interracial Friendship Coordinating Council. Yes, a big name for a big purpose. They spent an hour at the home office appealing for a new law banning racial hatred. Among the activists were Claudia Jones, the founder of the West Indian Gazette newspaper, as well as many other things, and Amy Ashwood Garvey, the ex-wife of Marcus Garvey, of course, as well as many other things. Amy said the eyes of the world are on Notting Hill.
Speaker 1:Listen to that foreshadowing. And the good name of Britain as a democratic nation in which we can all live together in mutual respect, equality and dignity. That's in danger by the actions of a small minority of thugs holding fascist ideologies, which millions of men and women died to wipe out. Why does this quote from 1959 still resonate today? That our mutual respect, equality and dignity are in danger by the actions of a small minority of thugs holding fascist ideologies? Further to that, the paradox of the fascist ideologies when, just shy of two decades earlier, the Blitz in the early 1940s destroyed 60% of homes in London, and in Notting Hill specifically. According to Bombsite, notting Hill had experienced over 20 high explosive bombs as a result. Yes, circumstances were challenging. According to the census at the time, southam Street and the ward was the most overcrowded District in London, with a population density five times greater than the capitals average. The narrow terrace housing was said to have reeked of decades of decay. However, both then and today, fascists, your protest is dishonouring and misguided.
Speaker 1:Back to the Interracial Friendship Coordinating Council. They had more work to do, and that included raising the £257 required for the funeral. On the day of the funeral, over 1,200 people attended to show their support and defiance against racism in the area. At this time, claudia Jones was already holding an indoor, bbc broadcasted Caribbean carnival, which was a response to the Notting Hill race riots. Claudia identified the need to wash the bad taste out of our mouths. It was suggested that the Black British community should have a carnival, so Jones used the connections to gain access to St Pancras Town Hall and in January 1959, she used it for the carnival. There are a number of events, and these events were seen as precursors of the celebration of Caribbean carnivals that accumulated in the outdoor Notting Hill Carnival that began on the streets in the mid-1960s.
Speaker 1:But I always say that Notting Hill Carnival is a story with many authors. And the second protest, the contribution contribution, came from Ronnie Laslett, an English community activist and the principal organizer of the Notting Hill Fair or Festival that that too evolved into Notting Hill Carnival. Ronnie Laslett outlined the aims of the festival was to bring various groups of Notting Hill together, to become more familiar with each other's customs, to bring more color and life to the streets and to counter the perception of the area being a run-down slum. She said that although there's West Indians, africans, irish and many other nationalities all living in a very congested area, there's very little communication between us. And so she birthed the Notting Hill Fair or pageant, or sometimes called the London Free School Fair, and it was held over a week starting on the 18th of September 1966, and it featured a pageant that included children dressed as Charles Dickens characters and, according to police figures, approximately 1,200 people attended. And, of course, from there it grew and grew and many other people contributed, and I cannot mention everyone.
Speaker 1:As for this podcast, the focus is Kelso Cochrane. So I say that to say this knowing or unknowingly, your attendance at Notting Hill Carnival is also a protest. A protest and an example that multicultural London and Britain works. The party is a protest. I did a panel at a well-known, unnamed music platform last year and I asked the audience who had been to Notting Hill Carnival and everybody put their hand up. I then followed up with an additional question who here knows the history of Notting Hill Carnival? And every hand went down and not a single hand was left up. I say that to say, as we party in the present, we're doing so because of the pain and the protest. Without those two ingredients, we're merely having a party, and that can happen anywhere, and we've seen historically that there's been talks about moving Notting Hill Carnival. One suggestion many years back was to Hyde Park. That would be forgetting the pain and the protest, because the current procession literally takes you past Southam Street, where Kelso lost his life Least we forget. Speaking on forgetting.
Speaker 1:Initially, when Kelso transitioned to be with the Ancestors, the officials feared that his grave in London may spark trouble, but nine months after his death, the authorities fears were unfounded. The burial plot, where thousands gathered the previous summer, lay abandoned. The paper wrote the brutal murder of this quiet citizen shocked the whole nation, but no headstone marks his grave. One man who read the article was called Rudolph Bersford and, like Kelso, he was a West Indian born carpenter. His form of protest, he started a memorial fund, and the price of a headstone back then was 16 pounds. After approaching the local trades council for help shout out to them, he raised the funds and it was unveiled in a little memorial service. Rudolph said I'm not doing this because I'm west indian. This is not a question of color, just a feeling of one human being to another. What an amazing sentiment. Another memorial service was held in 2009, 50 years after the violence erupted on the streets of notting hill, and with the passing of time, around 70 people attended that, from thousands to less than a hundred.
Speaker 1:I visited the site for the first time this year and there isn't much information online about its location, so I went in blind, but I found it and it was sombering to see that millions attend Notting Hill Carnival but from the looks of things, very few acknowledge Kelso's final resting place.
Speaker 1:However, my cameraman reminded me in my somber moment that Kelso has been acknowledged with a plaque, for example on Southam Street by Newbie and Jack Trust. So shout out to them, and I suppose me doing this podcast is my way of keeping the pain and the protest alive so we can party in the present. So a circular narrative. How are you now in regards to the origin story of Notting Hill Carnival? Hopefully your number has increased. Yeah, yeah, great. Last thing I will say present Presently, notting Hill Carnival makes just shy of 400 million for the London economy. The last time a review like this was done was over 20 years ago and at that time it was 93 million. So we need to change the narrative that Notting Hill Carnival is a success story, not only for the London economy but also for race relations. I'm Kane and you've been listening to the Black Wash.