title: West Indian interventions at the heart of the cultural establishment: Edric Connor, Pearl Connor, and the BBC.
abstract: The history of New Commonwealth migration to Great Britain and its impact on British national identity have been the subjects of growing scholarly interest, but they are often viewed overwhelmingly in terms of racial tension and conflict, a perspective reinforced by the tendency to trace this history as a succession of crisis moments marked by violence and immigration restriction. This article instead focuses on an instance of cultural collaboration between two Trinidadian settler-artists, Edric and Pearl Connor, and Britain's premier cultural institution, the BBC. The BBC careers of these two individuals suggest that the Connors used their professional opportunities to integrate West Indian history, culture, and talent into BBC programming in an effort to formulate and promote an inclusive conception of British culture, one that embraced the imperial connections between the colonies and the 'mother country' and involved the growing West Indian and New Commonwealth communities in Britain itself. Furthermore, their success highlights a moment, between roughly 1945 and 1965, when the BBC was open to the Connors' progressive vision of a British culture 6f the future. Only when the cultural priorities of the Connors and the Corporation diverged in the 1960s did the disillusionment so characteristic of later generations of 'black British' artists become pronounced.
authors.affiliation: Boston College. amanda.bidnall@gmail.com
authors.forename: Amanda M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Bidnall
mesh_terms: D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D018864:Cultural Diversity; D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants / Q000523:psychology*; D004641:Emigration and Immigration; D049673:History, 20th Century; D011845:Radio / Q000266:history*; D014300:Trinidad and Tobago / Q000208:ethnology; D006113:United Kingdom; D014900:West Indies / Q000208:ethnology