The Kru and The Black Community

‘The Kru and the Black Community’ is the first chapter in the section, ‘The Kru Community in Liverpool’, and discusses and compares the Kru migrants who came to Liverpool from Liberia with those who travelled from Freetown. The chapter highlights the dramatic difference between the natures of the two Kru communities and foregrounds the influence of work on determining residential patterns.

Community and Social Organisation

‘Community and Social Organisation’ is the last chapter in ‘The Kru Community in Freetown’, and provides an understanding of the social and economic history of the Kru in Freetown, and the respective internal and external factors that shaped it. The chapter focuses on community organisation amongst the Kru, rather than political organisation, which was shaped largely by forces outside the Kru’s social control.

Labour Conditions

‘Labour Conditions’ defines the working conditions experienced by the Kru, and describes the subsequent strikes, campaigns and petitions that followed as a resulted of poor treatment. The chapter highlights the dangers that a mercantile profession carried for the Kru, including risk of accident or death, lack of compensation, abuse, and poor living conditions.

Nature of Work

‘Nature of Work’ describes the job roles available to West African migrant workers and provides an understanding of the risk of accident or death involved in these positions, as well as the supervision and wages that accompanied it. The chapter also presents the advantages of using the Kru by foregrounding their unique skill and expertise.

Conclusion

The Kru communities of Freetown and Liverpool emerged in response to, and as a consequence of, British maritime interests. Kru were actively encouraged to leave their Liberian homeland and migrate to Freetown, where they came to constitute an important part of its maritime trade. The Kru formed a significant nucleus of Freetown’s seafarers, as well as the majority of ships’ labourers or ‘Krooboys’ that were recruited to work the West African coast. The occupational niche that the Kru eventually came to occupy in Britain’s colonial trade with West Africa had important social repercussions. The Kru were labelled as unusually competent maritime workers by shipowners and colonial administrators, and the Kru encouraged this label for obvious expedient reasons. The gradual build-up of the Kru’s dominance in shipping during the nineteenth century and until the Second World War contrasts sharply with their position in the post-war period. The breaking down of their occupational niche due to circumstances beyond their control had direct social consequences on the nature of their community. Whilst many Kru clubs and societies depended on seafaring for their very existence, the demise of shipping undermined such societies’ ability to survive in the face of increasing unemployment and poverty....

Work Palaver

‘Work Palaver’ is the last chapter in the ‘Sailors and Workers’ section and explores the various disputes between the Kru and their employers during the pre-Second World War period. The chapter discusses the need and significance of strike action in order to improve wages and working conditions, and describes the frequent disputes present among specifically Kru labour.

‘Alien’ Seamen in Liverpool

‘‘Alien’ Seamen in Liverpool’ describes the experience of Kru seafarers in UK ports, and compares the Liverpool seafaring experience against that of Freetown. The chapter presents the varying expectations of African seamen against those of white seamen, accompanied with a comparison of wage and treatment. Frost foregrounds the looming concern over the employment of foreign seamen in Liverpool, and describes how the decreased social conditions and high unemployment rates after the First World War contributed to the colonial black seamen’s sense of blame and position as a scapegoat.

Early Work and Recruitment

‘Early Work and Recruitment’ is the first chapter in the section titled ‘Sailors and Workers’ and explores the Kru’s earliest experience as workers on European ships. Included in this chapter is a discussion on the slave trade era and the Kru’s role within it, and an assessment of the value of the Kru in the mercantile industry and the ways in which they were recruited.

Introduction

This book is an attempt to unearth a forgotten history. It tells the story of a group of West Africans – the Kru – who as ship’s labourers and seafarers contributed much to British colonial trade with West Africa. Their story represents a significant part of Britain’s early ethnic history since their presence there dates back to at least the nineteenth century. In addition, the Kru presence in the post-war period is of equal significance, representing as it does a continuity in migration between the pre- and post-war period. Few other ethnic groups in Britain can claim this. Of greater significance is the fact that a Kru presence can still be identified today in cities such as Liverpool, once a thriving port of international significance, and historically important with reference to trading links with West Africa. Indeed it was trade between Liverpool and West Africa that brought these African migrants to the shores of Britain in the nineteenth century and led to their eventual settlement....

Identity

‘Identity’ is the concluding chapter in ‘The Kru Community in Liverpool’ as well as the book itself. It explores ethnic identity and migrant cultures, and defines the persistence of strong cultural and ethnic allegiances as a reaction to the way that immigrants are received by their host communities. This final chapter ultimately questions why certain groups maintain this strong ethnic allegiance, and assesses the extent to which the cultivation of ethnic ties is a decision made by the migrants themselves.