England

Contrary to popular belief that a Black population only emerged in the UK with the arrival of the SS Empire Windrush (June 22, 1948), there were small but settled Black communities in the UK for several centuries and “a little-known fact is that there were Black soldiers in the Roman army which occupied Britain in the first 400 years A.D.”. This chapter details the relationship between immigrants from the Caribbean and their white British neighbours and working colleagues in the 20th century; it outlines the struggles of Black life in the UK and contextualises how the successes of Black role models universally inspired the Black communities in Britain during the last century. It was through creative resistance (African drumming and dancing) that many young immigrants and British-born Blacks were able to survive, especially during the latter half of the 20th century. Many of these participants were key to the development of African dance in the UK.