A Home from Home: From Immigrant Boy to English Man - George Alagiah

George Alagiah was born in Sri Lanka and grew up in Ghana. His family came to Britain in the 60s. This is his story, going to school in Portsmouth (where his friends were all white and teased him in the shower room for not having a summer tan) and gradually discovering his immigrant identity. 'It crept up on me - this feeling that I wanted to be Sri Lankan again. Or, at least, allow Sri Lanka to be a part of me again. This is not about citizenship. I am British. This is not about allegiance. I am loyal to Queen and country. This is about a feeling. How do you account for what I can only call an umbilical connection with a place you have left over forty years ago?' And this feeling is also something Alagiah examines more widely, looking at how immigrant experiences have differed in Britain in the post-war years, how multiculturalism has led to ghettos and failure, and how we should celebrate our immigrants both through their civilising values and economic necessity. Alagiah's A HOME FROM HOME can be read as the moving sequel to A PASSAGE TO AFRICA or as a stand-alone autobiography of the immigrant experience.