West Indian Interventions at the BBC

“West Indian interventions at the BBC” examines the Corporation’s sponsorship of and collaborations with Trinidadian singer Edric Connor, Trinidadian talent agent Pearl Connor, and British Guianese actor and singer Cy Grant. Edric Connor used the BBC’s mandate to educate and uplift viewer and listeners to promote Caribbean culture, history and artists. Pearl Connor channelled the Corporation’s demand for colonial talent into the business of professionalizing and directing West Indian performers in London. She created opportunities for her clients by helping expand their niche and persuading producers to cast black actors in a wider range of roles. Cy Grant had the voice, looks, and charm to secure a long-running presence on the Tonight program. Their success highlights a moment when the BBC was open to a progressive vision of the nation’s future. Ultimately, however, the cultural priorities of these artists diverged from the Corporation, a fact that was strikingly apparent by the 1960s. Only then did the disillusionment so characteristic of later generations of ‘black British’ artists become pronounced.