Enrico Stennett - Contributed

AFTER FIVE weeks of homelessness in London's East End, Enrico Stennett came to the grim realisation that stowing away to England was a big mistake. Post-war London was in disarray, so much so that even the Britons themselves were left in the cold. Racism was there to welcome him, and nobody cared about his mixed heritage and privileged upbringing in Jamaica. He was just another black man.

Enrico: "Sometimes I would burst into tears knowing that I had reduced myself to living like this. Jamaica was too far away to help me now. I could not take the next ship back, it was too late, and I had disobeyed the wishes of the people who knew best. For this, I had to pay the price."

Depressed but hunting job

Sleeping in bug-infested, cold, dark hostels and bombed-out homes was the life, until he found a room on Cable Street, which he shared with a friend. But, life on Cable Street was also not for him as, he said, "I realised the life of the people in the area was not what I was looking for - I did not come to England for the purpose of hanging around prostitutes and gamblers, neither was I prepared to work on the railways as a carriage cleaner."

So ,the job hunting continued in earnest, for buckra massa pickney wanted somewhere decent in which to live. His search took him all over east London, sometimes in places where he saw no other black persons. Some days, he went to as many as 20 factories, but not one took him on.

Enrico: "Sometimes I was told ... even if they wanted to employ me, the workers on the factory floor would refuse to work with me. Other times, I was not allowed to see anyone because the moment I reached the entrance to the factory, someone would approach me and tell me in no uncertain terms that I should get lost."

Ray of hope

He soon learned of job opportunities in the West End, and would leave the East End at midnight to join lines by 5 a.m. Invariably, he was not successful, as he had to compete with orphaned and dispossessed young girls, and desperate ex-servicemen. Then he heard that the Savoy Hotel was taking on casual workers. To beat the rush, he made sure he was first in the line one morning. But, when the office was opened, the interviewer simply took him out of the line. The dejected Enrico stood aside and watched as the day's quota was filled.

Yet, luck was on his side. For, as he was about to leave the building with the other rejects, a man told him not to leave for he had the 'right' job for him, to empty the bins in the hotel rooms and to assist the florist.

Enrico: "My wage would be £210 shillings per week. I was glad I had a regular job at last. The money was not good, but at least I could eat all the food I wanted, and when I was off duty I could still go in, just for my meals, meaning I no longer had to go hungry."

Working at the Savoy was very hard, but Enrico didn't mind. He was saving to buy a new suit. His room-mate's girlfriend borrowed his ration coupons, but sold them. The room-mate himself stole the cloth that he bought for his suit, and he had to walk five miles to work every morning to save money. One morning, the police stopped him and took him to a station.

Sent from the east end

They wanted to find out who he was and what he was doing in the East End. His behaviour, associates and speech made him a standout. He learned that he was being investigated for quite a while, as the police knew much about his movements. He was told that he was too decent for the East End, and was forbidden to be seen in that section of London.

The superintendent gave Enrico a note to take to an address and five shillings. After work, Enrico travelled miles to find the address, which was located in Cockfosters, one of London's posh neighbour-hoods. The recipient of the note was the superintendent's mother, who took Enrico to a large upstairs bedroom, the superintendent's room.

An adulterous affair

After much quizzing, the woman said: "Anyway, you are not so black. Knowing my son, he will send me an Eskimo next."

Enrico moved in, but under certain strict conditions. The accommodation was excellent, yet it was too far from Enrico's workplace and he was very lonely as a result of the stipulations to which he agreed. He changed his job to Cumberland Hotel, and also moved to Orsett Terrace in Pad-dington, where he was to be the willing partner in an adulterous affair.

He became reasonably acquainted with the man of the house, but one morning after he left for work, his wife, Enrico's landlady, rapped on his door. She, dressed provocatively, went to serve him breakfast in bed, and asked him if he liked what he saw. The lascivious Enrico replied, "Yes, you are beautiful!" And that was the first morning they 'set London on fire'.

Booted

The early morning encounters continued for a little while, until a rare case of foolhardiness overcame Enrico. There was the regular knock on the door. The landlady entered, but Enrico pretended not to be in the mood. She was not going to take no for an answer, so the hanky-panky went on. Then, strange sounds started to come from a large wardrobe. The landlady rushed towards it, flung the doors open, only to come face to face with three giggling teenage girls.

Enrico: "She was furious, and the girls and I were thrown out immediately. When I returned to Orsett Terrace, after taking the girls to the railway station for their train, I found all my belongings on the steps. I took them to the station and put them in the left luggage department, while I started to look around for somewhere to live."

The night before, Enrico had met them, two white and one mixed-race girls. They were friends, but had missed their train, and could not have gone home. Enrico decided to put them up for the night. Now, he was searching for somebody to rescue him for the night.

Life of trials

That was to be the rhythm of his existence, in and out of a home, in and out of a job, and though the decisions were sometimes his, he was buoyed by the prevailing negative mentality towards black people. Imagine being falsely accused of beating a Jewish shopkeeper and getting thrown in jail; being barred from dancehalls because of your skin colour; being told that your Cambridge examination certificates were of no use to you in Britain; being turned away by a hotel on your wedding night. Enrico Stennett cannot. It happened to him.

Enrico: "The funniest incident that happened to me at that time was when I was standing in a long queue at a bus stop, when a child of about seven years old shouted to his mother, 'Momma, Momma, look there is a white man with a nigger's head'. ... At the same bus stop on another day, a child approached me and said, 'Mister, can I see your tail?' When I told the child I had no tail, the child said I was lying, because his father had said all black people have tails."

Naïve thinking

Enrico's determination led him to become a skilled woodworker, a very popular dancer, politician and trade unionist in London. He himself had met many influential people, some of them heads of government, but more poignantly, his home became a refuge for West Indians, just coming off the ships, and having nowhere to go. A leading advocate for the rights of black people in Britain, he faced great difficulties himself, as this little man worked tirelessly to uproot the giant trees of racism.

"My argument was that, I was not running away from anybody. I intended to stay and fight for what I believe was right, and I was determined to be a messenger and spread the news of our suffering in any way I could ... It was the dream of a young inexperienced man who believed he could change the world. In my twilight years, I now realise the naivety of my thinking."

paul.williams@gleanerjm.com