BERNADETTE JEAN VERONICA THOMPSON December 1947 by LESTER JOSEPH WILLIAMS AKA Jo and son OTIS
SuAndi: This chapter, within a few weeks of the interview, is now a dedication to Bernadette and Jo who passed on October 1st, 2018. Jo came to England from Jamaica aged 16. It wasn’t until he saw his birth certificate did he discover that the woman who had raised him was not his natural mother. This gave some explanation as to why he was treated differently in the family. Jo: I was ill treated at home. I used to get all the beatings. Unlike my brother, his mother and our father were from Hong-Kong. I didn’t know that until I came to England and looked at my birth certificate. My Mother was called Phyllis Billings. She was born in the parish of St. Elizabeth, Jamaica; a little place called Ginger Hill. In Jamaica there was nothing like racial discrimination, we never knew anything about that. Yeah, we were a mix of nations and different cultures, but as Jamaicans we are all the same. We Jamaicans never experienced discrimination until we came to this country. People used to call us ‘Blackie’ and the Indians were called ‘Pakkies’1 so, I think that was the English way of saying that they were more superior than us. What we wanted to show them was that we were just as good as they were, with all the rights to live on this earth as their equal. I was sixteen when I came to Manchester, leaving home for the first time. I was met by two friends who looked after me. It was as if I was drawn to come over here for some strange reason. I found a job working at the railway. I was only getting five pounds a week in those days (laughing). I 1
An insult to anyone who resembles a person from Pakistan.
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