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That
August, over the Bank Holiday weekend, vicious race riots erupted
across London. They raged unabated for five notorious days and nights.
In Notting Hill, the violence was especially vicious. A young West
Indian carpenter named Kelso Cochrane was murdered
there
by six white
youths.
Along with activists such as Amy Ashwood-Garvey (the wife of Marcus),
Jones was central in defending London's black community. Understanding
the unifying power of Carnival, she suggested London needed a
similar
festival.
If people only learned to understand
each other's cultures, Jones argued, they would be better neighbours
and better citizens. Carnival, she knew, was the Caribbean spirit
at its most inclusive and joyful.
Jones was successful in launching her carnival, although it
had to be known as "Mardi-Gras". It first took place as a cabaret-style event on 30 January, 1959, in St.
Pancras Town Hall. Its organizing had been centered in Notting
Hill and, according to historian Marika Sherwood, it featured artists such as the Boscoe Holder Troupe, Fitroy Coleman, Cleo Laine, the Mike McKenzie Trio, the Mighty Terror, the Southlanders, The Mighty Terror, Pearl Prescod, Rupert Nurse and his Orchestra, Sepia Serendares, Corinne Skinner-Carter, the Trinidad All Stars and Hi-Fi Steel Bands and the West Indian Students' Dance Band.
The Carnival moved to Notting Hill only in 1964, due to the efforts
of a social worker, Rhaune Laslett. Nevertheless, by the summer of 1962,
Claudia Jones
had added its first mas costume competitions. These were a giant step towards
the real Carnival she envisioned.
Sadly, Claudia Jones never lived to see her dream realised.
On Christmas Eve, 1964, she died in her home. Her funeral on 9 January, 1965
was attended by
hundreds of mourners, and she was laid to rest in Highgate Cemetery
next to Karl Marx.
The greatest homage of all, however, occurred later that
year, when London finally held its first official Carnival.
BACK to the Mother of the Mas || Read more about Claudia Jones
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