Lizzie Jackson
“When jackass smell caan, im gallop”
Translation:
“When a horse smells corn, it gallops”Explanation:
Motivation creates excitement.
Place of Origin: Cedar Valley, Jamaica
Arrival: 1960s
A story of resilience, generosity, and community spirit
Remembered through her daughter Sharon’s reflections, Lizzy Jackson was a determined, entrepreneurial force at the heart of her community.
Arriving from Jamaica and raising her family in Walsall, she balanced hard factory work with bold ventures, from organising coach trips and live entertainment to fostering children and bringing people together. Despite facing racism and hardship, she built a life rooted in resilience, generosity, and community spirit, leaving a lasting impact on those around her.
Listen to Lizzie's Oral Stories
Coach Trips
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My mum was like, you give her something to do, she's set to the task, and then go higher. And I think that's something, the drive that's come in her children as well. So when they got to Eastbourne Street, that's when everything started to kick off for my mum. So not only was she working, dad was working, they were paying bills, but the greatest thing was she was thinking of how to do coach trips. So my mum liaised with the people who worked within the area, and gave them her idea. She did one coach trip and people were saying, yeah man, I got a ticket, but they copied it. So there was more people. My mum liaised with the butcher and then said, I'm going to do these tickets. I want it to look official. So, every ticket had the butcher's stamp on it, at the back. So it just shows my mum had that creativeness. And so obviously from just the Blackpool trip, she then decided, oh, I can do another stage better. I'm going to go and do not only the trips to the seaside, but I'm also going to do dancers and then have artists who are well known to sing, so my mum became like a manager. She started signing up these artists to come onto these coach trips, or they would drive to the place and they would perform. And, some of the coach trips included domino sessions. They had that time to travel around Great Britain. So she was the key to Walsall being on the map. So it's not just the trips. She would be liaising with their managers and signing contracts. And I'm thinking, when I saw some of the contracts, I was like, this is what my mum was doing. She even had a title, Revival Entertainment. And if somebody said, this has got nothing to do with Mrs Jackson, the phone number at the bottom is the house.
My mum would liaise with Mr Lou and then they would have domino competitions at the um, cultural centre and then the Afro-Caribbean in Walsall, my mum put that on the map, because she would then have the coach trips to from Nottingham, Leeds, Derby, all the far places, they would all have a coach trip on the same evening coming to Walsall Afro-Caribbean. My mum was a money person, but she's not going to let you know what's in the purse. If she wasn't making any money, I don't think she would have done it again. And not only that, it spearheaded other people to do coach trips. So, she was a trailblazer when it came to coach trips. But, you can't outdo my mum. If you're going to have one singer, my mum's getting three of the best. And all these people, you know, they would send her all their CDs, their albums, and say, you know, when you're doing one of your parties, can you just, yeah. Sharon, go get the food. Put pan the coach, no? What? Go on, man. What? So we were the ones who were putting everything on the coach, then taking it off. We were seen and not heard. We wouldn't have understood the magnitude of it.
Family and Socialising
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Just to say, that my mum managed to bring over three of the other children to England, and the other two, obviously she couldn't get hold of them, or one of them ended up having children. And the same Mr. Jackson adopted all of them, as his own. You know, there's one daughter he had with my mum, but every one of us, he adopted us. And you know, I believe that Mr. Jackson was a godsend for my mom. Very quiet. He's a man of very few words. He loved my mom. I believe he was a godsend for my mom because everything that she did, he supported her. Because he could have easily said, and we all go with them, the people there. Do you get what I mean? But he's just sitting there watching my mum. My mum used to have house parties. When we moved from Goscote to number 14, I'll just say number 14. Mum used to have house parties, when everybody used to come to the house parties. We were seen and not heard. We were on the stairs. looking to see who'd come. And in the same, obviously, you'd have the front room, you'd have the living room, and then you'd have the kitchen, and then you had the conservatory. So all that was packed with people. They're playing music, they're drinking, they're laughing, and next minute now, the pastor is here doing prayer meeting. Yeah.
The thing is, back in the day, I don't think there was a rule set, because you'd have everybody. And it was, we're not in Jamaica anymore, we need each other. And I believe it was a place where people networked because there weren't that much clubs. And if there were, it was a white club. It wasn't for black or they were doing the scar. You know, my mum used to go out with her sister. my mum dressed up in the mud clothes and then she had a little handbag and it was a black bag and it's got a picture of the Beatles. Now my mum don't know nobody. She and her sister went to this thing down at the town hall or somewhere in Walsall. And we're standing in the queue, you know, you have to walk past everybody and you get to the back of the queue. So, they've walked past everybody to the back of the queue and, they're giving them dirty looks. And like, they look like they want to fight them. And so my mum said laughter, may I hand you, may I tell you, you know, run, run for your life. And we never know say the handbag they want teeth. (Translation: And we didn’t realise that it was the handbag they wanted to steal..) Because that bag is a proper collector's item!
Windrush Summary
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Just to say, that my mum managed to bring over thraThe things that they had to go through, and endure. They had to endure a cultural change. The food, the weather, the people, the accents. The work ethics, they're not working outside. You can't be just selling yam and banana, you know. You're going to have to wait for the post. What is the post? And for some of those who couldn't write, it was hard, even worse if you can't read. So, they were resilient in every shape and form. You know, they've tried to bring, at that time what they knew, and was used to into a cold climate, cold reception. For me, Windrush should never die. There should be no room for it dying. Erm, not just for the Windrush people, but also for the Commonwealth. It's important that people get an understanding of what is Windrush, instead of dismissing it.ee of the other children to England, and the other two, obviously she couldn't get hold of them, or one of them ended up having children. And the same Mr. Jackson adopted all of them, as his own. You know, there's one daughter he had with my mum, but every one of us, he adopted us. And you know, I believe that Mr. Jackson was a godsend for my mom. Very quiet. He's a man of very few words. He loved my mom. I believe he was a godsend for my mom because everything that she did, he supported her. Because he could have easily said, and we all go with them, the people there. Do you get what I mean? But he's just sitting there watching my mum. My mum used to have house parties. When we moved from Goscote to number 14, I'll just say number 14. Mum used to have house parties, when everybody used to come to the house parties. We were seen and not heard. We were on the stairs. looking to see who'd come. And in the same, obviously, you'd have the front room, you'd have the living room, and then you'd have the kitchen, and then you had the conservatory. So all that was packed with people. They're playing music, they're drinking, they're laughing, and next minute now, the pastor is here doing prayer meeting. Yeah.
The thing is, back in the day, I don't think there was a rule set, because you'd have everybody. And it was, we're not in Jamaica anymore, we need each other. And I believe it was a place where people networked because there weren't that much clubs. And if there were, it was a white club. It wasn't for black or they were doing the scar. You know, my mum used to go out with her sister. my mum dressed up in the mud clothes and then she had a little handbag and it was a black bag and it's got a picture of the Beatles. Now my mum don't know nobody. She and her sister went to this thing down at the town hall or somewhere in Walsall. And we're standing in the queue, you know, you have to walk past everybody and you get to the back of the queue. So, they've walked past everybody to the back of the queue and, they're giving them dirty looks. And like, they look like they want to fight them. And so my mum said laughter, may I hand you, may I tell you, you know, run, run for your life. And we never know say the handbag they want teeth. (Translation: And we didn’t realise that it was the handbag they wanted to steal..) Because that bag is a proper collector's item!