Sir Lenny Henry speaks out over mother’s racial abuse
Sir Lenny Henry has told how his mother suffered racist abuse when she arrived in the UK from Jamaica.
The Dudley-born comedian, aged 60, said she had been followed down the street and asked where her tail had gone.
Speaking at a screening of Soon Gone: A Windrush Chronicle, Sir Lenny urged descendants of the Windrush generation to ensure their parents' and grandparents' stories were not forgotten.
He said: "It's important to catch them and set them free into the public consciousness so people understand what the journey was like.
"This is a massive heroes' and heroines' journey. People left where they lived and they came here to start a new life."
Sir Lenny, who grew up living opposite Buffery Park, labelled those who travelled on the HMT Empire Windrush 'heroes', hailing them for tolerating the abuse they suffered on arrival.
He added: "It's heroic, it's a heroic story, when you talk about coming to this story and experience.
"My mum came here and people followed her down the street and asked her where her tail was. You know, this is the stuff our grandparents and parents experienced."
Sir Lenny appears in the series of 15-minute monologues, which tell the story of a Caribbean family from their arrival in the UK in the 1940s to the present day, focusing on their experience of racism as well as their happier moments.
He continued: "It's important to talk about that stuff but it's also important to talk about the good things - the people who were nice, who were kind, that facilitated relationships and working experiences.
"We've tried to do that with this story by telling the story of one particular family."
Soon Gone is produced by BBC Four in collaboration with Sir Lenny's Douglas Road Productions and the Young Vic, and features Vinette Robinson, Montserrat Lombard, Danielle Vitalis and others.
