I frequently have a love/hate relationship with London, the city I was born and raised in, love wins mostly though! One of the best things about London is there is always something fun and free to do, if you just look hard enough. The South Bank is generally a pretty good place to head for an afternoon of fun or a date...there's so much to do, see and eat, all in the same place. I headed down there a couple of weeks ago and here's what I got up to!
It happened to be Nelson Mandela weekend, so there were loads of free film screenings and events on at the South Bank Centre but we also took some time to appreciate the memorial statue they have just at the top of the steps.
Perhaps as an anti-dote to the constant anti- migrant rhetoric being fed to us in the media at the moment, there is currently an exhibition on migration to Britain that looks at just how migration has worked here over the past 70 years and helps us to see how this makes up the Britain we know and love today. There was a display of staff who work at the Southbank centre who have migrated here and these paper discs where visitors who have at least one grandparent who migrated here could share their story. Three of my grandparents migrated to this country, my dad and his parents came from Jamaica and my nan on my mums side from Guyana. I am a product of this country's migration.
A West-Indian female bus conductor.
Lots of people from the Caribbean went to work in transport. Above is an extra large hat for London underground staff with dreadlocks - love it!
The section on how the media present immigration currently was so interesting, often used to sensationalise or whip up a moral panic.
We stepped out into the afternoon sunlight to enjoy the busy street food market. Fresh juices and flavours from all over the globe! Very fitting after the exhibition
We ended the day sipping Pimm's in a rooftop garden. The beers weren't mine but I thought they looked like British summertime...we use any excuse to drink outside!
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