Huddersfield Railway Station and St Georges Square, March 2010
Take a look at the new images of Huddersfield added to the Asian Voices website, including the new look St Georges Square, The Empire Cinema which was popular in the 1960’s and still stand today. Also see if you can see the symbols of the British Empire on the buildings which have been around since the 1800’s.
Posted in community, heritage, Heritage Lottery Fund, History, Oral History, Research, http://www.asianvoices.org.uk/, Huddersfield, Huddersfield University, Immigration, oral history, Oral History Research, Oral History, Centre for Oral History Research, audio t, traditions, West Yorkshire
Tagged Afro-carribean, asians, bangladesh, buildings, children, culture, digital storytelling, family, heritage, Heritage Lottery Fund, history, home, Huddersfield, Huddersfield University, Immigration, indian, kirklees, oral history, Oral History Society, Pakistan, railway station, south asian, south asian community, tradition, West Yorkshire, yorkshire
The British National Party (BNP) have gained their first ever seats in Parliament and despite their clear membership regulations, only allowing “indigenous British ethnic groups deriving from the class of Indigenous Caucasian descendents to join the party” cited Guardian 2009, the BNP now have a say in European policies. Britain is now an ethnically diverse country with ethnic minorities from all over the world and many British English are proud of their dual heritage.
After the Second World War immigration became visible with regards to the colour of a person’s skin, after the migration of hundreds of people from the West Indies and South Asia; this continued migration from all over the world became less and less visible with more recent migration from Europe and Poland and now immigrants are similar in appearance. The BNP policies of ‘indigenous Caucasians are questionable as even English heritage has its dilution of Jutes, Angles Saxons and Romans, from which the Angles and Saxons were from Denmark and Germany.
So how does the majority of Britain feel in relation to giving the BNP two seats in the European Parliament? Is this a sign of things to come for the ethnic minorities or is it just a political cry for help? How do the many South Asians, Irish, Europeans and others born and bred in Britain feel towards the notion of someone telling them to go home? Where is home – I though it was Britain. These residents, descending from migrants, have no other country other than Britain. This is their birthplace, culture and now heritage. Despite many having dual heritages; many have not seen the place where their parents or grandparents originate from so how can they be told to go back home?
Parliamentary seats going to the BNP are said to be a result of people not voting, let’s hope this is the case.
Posted in community, heritage, Huddersfield, Immigration, West Yorkshire
Tagged Afro-carribean, BNP, Britain, British National party, elections, european elections, Immigration, Irish, Parliment, poland, south asian, voting
Clashes are continuing in the Swat, Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province with many women and children left homeless and seeking shelter in camps after becoming displaced by the conflict. The severity of the conflict which has destroyed homes and families and left young children parentless is just part of the problem; the rest is the infection and disease in which it is leaving the country. Babies are dehydrated and malnourished while the lack of facilities is causing disease to spread rapidly in a population which has no other choice but to remain where it is and do the best that it can.
War and conflict is often the root of a population’s migration to another country and many from the Swat Valley are fleeing to neighbouring areas to try and find peace. This is why compassion for migrants becomes so important as we need to understand the reason for an individual leaving their home. Often the assumption is that they are intruding on another country but who would leave their home other than for sheer reasons of desperation? This is what is happening now in Swat. It is what has happened before in many countries and will most likely continue to do so all over the World for the foreseeable future.
Posted in community, family, food, heritage, Immigration
Tagged children, dehydrated, disease, displacement, Immigration, malnourished, migration, Pakistan, south asia, swat
The Asian voices project is collecting audio interviews of South Asian men and women who came to Huddersfield, West Yorkshire in the 1950’s and 1960’s through oral history recordings.
The aim of the project is to show the contributions this community has made to Huddersfield and the way in which the communities have integrated into a now culture rich Huddersfield. We want to celebrate the hard work of this once unheard community and want to relive with them the highs and lows of coming to a foreign land, leaving behind their families and working in what was then a ‘blackened’ Huddersfield.
Greenhead Park, Huddersfield 1975
For the next two years, I will be collecting audio interviews, requesting photos from the 1950’s onwards in relation to Huddersfield and will welcome any comments and suggestions to improve or compliment the project (more of the latter please!!).
I have had a lot of media interest from the Examiner, Huddersfield and have a look at the Yorkshire Post web video ‘Eastern Eye’ http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/video/Eastern-eye-The-Asian-experience.4385233.jp
The website is now up and running and have a browse and listen to the interview which is now in dual languages English and Punjabi http://www.asianvoices.org.uk/ so enjoy J