Does your road lead to London? The magic of Black London - includes tourist information for visiting the United Kingdom

American Visions, June-July, 1993 by Margaret Busby, Vastiana Belfon

"London was a city not to be visited, but to be captured," wrote James Weldon Johnson in 1933, and even for longtime residents, the qualities that make the English capital eternally fascinating can prove elusive. But let us try to capture something of the mood of that very particular, magical part of the city that is essentially black London.

Significant black populations exist in most major urban areas of Britain: Cardiff, Wales; Dublin, Ireland; Edinburgh, Scotland; and in the English cities of Birmingham, Bristol, Liverpool and Manchester. The oldest black communities, dating from the 18th and 19th centuries, are to be found in Bristol (memories of its era as a slave port linger in place names, such as Black Boy Hill and Whiteladies Road), in Cardiff and Liverpool (both legacies of visiting black seamen's intermarriages with local women), and notably in London.

The capital, as you might expect, boasts the largest concentration of black citizens--around half a million, perhaps 8 percent of the Greater London population. This is a fact that may well pass visitors by unless they know that, as in many other Western metropolises, there are discrete areas in which people of African and Caribbean descent have mainly settled, such as Brixton, Cricklewood, Hackney (Stoke Newington, Dalston), Hammersmith, Ladbroke Grove, Peckham, Shepherd's Bush, Streatham, Tottenham, Willesden and Notting Hill Gate--home of the world-famous Notting Hill Carnival.

From summer to early fall is an ideal time to set out on the trail of black London, for a highlight of the yearly calendar is the annual Notting Hill Carnival. Inspired by the Trinidad and Tobago Carnival, which is traditionally held on the Monday and Tuesday immediately preceding Lent, the Notting Hill Carnival takes place around the August Bank Holiday weekend--the last weekend in August. Now Europe's largest street festival, it attracts more than a million visitors not only from Europe but also from the Americas, Africa and the Caribbean.

The Notting Hill Carnival's origins date back to 1958, following the notorious race riots in the area. Recognizing the need for a social and artistic outlet for Notting Hill's immigrants, Trinidad-born activist Claudia Jones coordinated the area's first West Indian Carnival, an indoor celebration held in Porchester Hall in Bayswater. The outdoor precursor of today's festival took place during the 1965 August Bank Holiday; it was a relatively restrained occasion--with one steel band and 500 revelers--compared with the current affair--with close to 50 sound systems, some 20 steel bands and 120 "mas" (short for "masquerade") bands in thematic costumes.

The atmosphere of it all is heady, as the tensions of the year are dissipated in a wonderful explosion of music, dance, color and sheer enjoyment. While the throngs of revelers and floats take over the streets and banish normal traffic, the sidewalks are lined with stalls offering a tempting multitude of Caribbean food and drink, as well as artifacts, books and commemorative T-shirts.

During Carnival, racial harmony seems a reality. Despite the fact that sporadic trouble in previous years has led the national press to predict doom, in over 20 years of attendance, we have had to be no more cautious than you would be at any other crowded event. There is a fairly noticeable police presence--the darkblue uniform of the British "bobby" is instantly recognizable--but be reassured: The following day's newspapers are likely to feature nothing more sinister than photographs of a smiling police officer being danced along in the embrace of some abandoned nubile mama.

If you miss out on Carnival, don't despair. Black London holds many other exciting possibilities. To inform yourself of what's happening once you're there, look for some of the following publications at newsstands or black bookstores: The Voice, a popular black. tabloid weekly; The Weekly Journal, a broadsheet newspaper giving world news from a black perspective; Wire, a monthly jazz magazine; Time Out, the ubiquitous general listings magazine; and Artrage and Black Arts, published by the black arts development agency Minorities Arts Advisory Service. There's plenty to stimulate the imagination and warm the soul in black London.

PLOTTING YOUR PATH

If you find yourself in need of someone to answer those nagging, last-minute questions before you take off for London, contact the British Tourist Authority [551 5th Avenue, 7th Floor, New York, NY 10176, (212) 986-2200].

USAir, American Airlines and British Airways offer travel packages between the United States and London. "British Airways Holidays," which include round-trip airfare and mix-and-match travel options ranging from hotel specials and city-saver packages to designer holidays and day and evening excursions, are available from your travel agent or from British Airways.

The 5 Sumner Place Hotel (5 Sumner Place, London SW7 3EE, 071-584-7586), in South Kensington--one of London's most stylish areas--is a quiet, elegant bed & breakfast. Its prime location provides easy access to shops, restaurants, the subway, buses and taxicabs. La Reserve (422-428 Fulham Road, London SW6 1DU, 071-385-8561), a cozy, charming hotel conveniently located near the subway, takes a fresh, artistic approach to providing comfort and privacy.