Southall’s Caribbean history: free talk at the Dominion Centre

Would you like to understand more about Southall’s Caribbean history? A free talk at the Dominion Centre on Saturday 17 October will explore the local community’s life from the middle to the end of the twentieth century. It starts at 6pm and is scheduled to last one hour. Although admission is free, the organiser asks people to register online in advance.

“Tracing Southall’s Vibrant Caribbean Community Over the Mid-to-Late 20th Century” will be presented by Elisia Sebastian Swaby. The venue is the Dominion Centre, 112 The Green, Southall UB2 4BQ. Registration is handled through the page linked by the council, and the event forms part of the local Black History Month programme.

What the talk will cover

The Ealing Arts and Culture listing says the presentation will draw on written records and images. Its themes include music, celebrations, sport, charity and the Caribbean community’s engagement with other communities in Southall.

Background material published by Around Ealing shows the range of the subject. People of Caribbean heritage lived in Southall in the early twentieth century, but a larger community became established with the Windrush generation during the 1950s and 1960s. Over time, that presence became visible in schools, churches, sports clubs, community organisations and local music.

One example in the council’s account is Misty in Roots, a band formed in Southall in the mid-1970s. Its members attended Featherstone High School, and the group combined music with activity opposing racism. Cricket, cultural events, exhibitions and gatherings organised in libraries and community centres were also part of local life. The Caribbean & Commonwealth Cricket Team was based in Southall. In 1986, Caribbean Focus presented paintings and exhibitions at the Broadway Centre, while a ten-hour music festival took place at Southall Football Ground. In 1998, marking 50 years since the arrival of the Empire Windrush, residents gathered by the canal at the Hamborough Tavern to board narrowboats, hear Caribbean stories and share food, drink and music.

The council article also recalls Unity of Afro-Caribbean People, an organisation formed in Southall in 1982. It ran Saturday schools, drop-in sessions, classes and a youth centre at the Dominion Centre. These examples are a starting point for discussing residents’ experiences rather than a complete history of every Caribbean group in the borough.

What to do before travelling

The event is free and open to everyone, but a place must be reserved through the page provided by Ealing Council Libraries. The official event listings give the start time as 6pm and confirm the Dominion Centre address. Attendees should keep their registration confirmation and check any message from the organiser before setting out.

This is an in-person talk. Its main value is to bring local documents and images together in an account of everyday Southall: family life, culture, faith, sport, music and community solidarity. For residents, it offers a chance to see the area’s history through the experiences of a community that helped shape its modern identity.