The Windrush generation helped rebuild it, and 2 Tone gave it a sound of its own.
Coming To Coventry
After the war, a British government campaign brought skilled workers from the Caribbean to help rebuild the country, and Coventry, badly damaged in the Blitz, needed rebuilding more than most. Between 1948 and 1971 many of them made their homes here.
The community organised early. Coventry Archives holds a record of the life of Jean Jackson, a founder member of the Coventry West Indian Association, and Maureen Cottle's display Coming to Coventry, built from her archive of photographs and biographies, tells the stories of the people who came.
2 Tone
In 1977 the Specials formed in Coventry, with Terry Hall and Neville Staple on vocals and Lynval Golding on guitar. Their keyboard player Jerry Dammers said anti-racism was built into the band from the start, with the aim of bringing Black and white people together.
In 1979 Dammers started 2 Tone Records from Albany Road in Earlsdon, and the label led a ska revival that mixed Jamaican ska with punk. In 1981 the Specials' Ghost Town went to number one.
Pauline Black
Pauline Black studied science at Lanchester Polytechnic, now Coventry University, and trained as a radiographer in the city. In 1979 she became a founding member and lead singer of the Selecter, another 2 Tone band formed in Coventry. She was made an OBE in 2022 for services to entertainment.
Black Coventry Today
Coventry's Caribbean and African communities are part of the city's story, and historians are now writing up its story, from community organising after 1945 to the present. Black-owned food spots, barbers, salons and brands are part of everyday life across the city.
Shop Black-owned businesses in Coventry on CashBlack.
Photo Credits
The 2 Tone Trail plaque at 51 Albany Road, the birthplace of 2 Tone. Photo: 360Libre, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons The Selecter on stage in 2016. Photo: Egghead06, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons The 2 Tone music museum on Marlborough Road, Coventry. Photo: A J Paxton, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons