In the face of racism

Avion Johnson and Conrad Mookram grew up in the same neighbourhood in the 1940s; they lived opposite each other as a matter of fact. After developing a fondness for one another which burgeoned in childhood and lingered on in teenage years the two were separated.  While Conrad’s parents were fond of the beautiful fair-skinned girl of Spanish heritage, Avion’s parents didn’t feel the same about the dark-skinned “Indian” boy (often referring to him in derogatory terms) who showed interest in their daughter.

The Johnsons were well known and respected people of St Vincent Street in San Fernando. Avion’s mother was a social worker and her father a public servant. But it was evident that the two would fall in love. Avion’s three brothers and Conrad’s three brothers were all friends, they played football, cricket and other village games together. Avion was the lone girl. The first manifestation of a crush for Conrad, she remembered distinctly: “It was my 11th birthday and for the cake-cutting I remember adamantly wanting to cut the cake with him,” she said as she looked over to Conrad. She had never revealed this to him until our interview. She paused, reached over to him and kissed him on the cheek.

Conrad too, remembered the event quite vividly. She got her “cake-cutting” wish. The mutual attraction grew until they graduated to the point of organising cinema dates by way of signals from across the road. “We would stand in our yards and make signals to each other to meet down the road. My excuses were math and netball classes,” said Avion. When the two met “it was holding hands and walking. We used to go up to what was called Burrough House, a big dancehall or go to the movies.” However, her mother would soon find out. “The phone would ring and somebody would call and say Ms Johnson, your daughter down the road with...” In 1960 Avion won a pre-nursing scholarship for Bishop Anstey College. “I couldn’t wait to get down on weekends to see him (Conrad).”

Without their parents’ knowledge, they took long walks down to the San Fernando jetty. Ms Johnson’s resentment for Conrad was compounded when he and a friend showed up bald at Avion’s school dance. What was the result of a dare turned out to be a public disgrace. “Shaving your head bald was something looked down on and when my mother heard what Conrad had done she called the press. The next day’s headline was ‘San Fernando goes Yul Bryner”. Avion got the shock of her life the weekend she returned home on completion of her one-year scholarship. Without Avion’s knowing, her mother had booked her a one-way ticket to London with the main aim of separating the lovebirds. Avion related: “My mothers words were — ‘I’m sending you away from this  boy’. I was told this on the Friday...and my trip was booked for the Monday.” Avion’s obvious response: “I cried and cried for the next six months.”

Three years elapsed before they would meet. Avion became a nurse and Conrad worked as deck hand aboard the Norweigan oil tanker SS Roban. What Avion soon found out, letters later, was that the love-struck Conrad would pursue his childhood sweetheart to England. When Avion’s brother, Tony,  (who acted thereon as mediator), migrated to England sometime later Conrad made contact. He sailed the sea for three years mailing and receiving letters at each port. Between them they’ve racked up hundreds of letters — letters that kept the love alive. They still have all of them. “She wrote epistles,” Conrad laughed, “ten-page letters. I would read the same letter 20 times to keep me going. There were no distractions, only the big sea, and I used to sit down on deck and stare at the wide open. We called each other pals and I wrote about my visit to different countries, the poverty in Latin America and I would tease her and tell her I saw somebody beautiful.”

The day arrived when they would meet. By telegram, Conrad informed Avion that he would join her. Here’s what his visit entailed. When the ship docked in Europe he asked to be paid off. He taxied from Belgium to Rotterdam, Holland then to Norway. Next, he took a ferry to New Castle, England. From there he took a train to King’s Cross Train Station in England. “When I met her there it was pure, pure magic. Out of this world. Lots of tears were shed,” said Conrad. Conrad had left home under the pretext that he was visiting Tony, his old pal. Avion described their reunion as “strange, he looked strange to me. I was accustomed to seeing whites all around me.” Conrad secured accommodation in London very quickly and it was not long after that the man who sailed thousands of miles spending close to 26,000 hours at sea to see Avion, popped the question. Without hestitating the 20-year-old said “yes” to marrying Conrad, who was three years her senior. “I wrote my mom and told her of our plans and she said ‘I don’t want to know you. Don’t be in touch!’ ” Avion recalled as she broke down in tears.

In his heart, no one could change his mind, not even the disapproval of his soon-to-be-in-laws. “Tony’s approval was important and I knew he would approve,” said Conrad. On April 8, 1961 Avion became Mrs Conrad Mookram. “I bought the fabric and the nurses helped me to sew my dress. We couldn’t get married in the Lenten season. It wasn’t allowed then and so the priest gave us the earliest date. The first of five children was born a year later. “That’s when the ‘rejection’ set in. No mother or support around but ‘Con’ and I, our relationship grew stronger.” Her first visit back home, with all the children, “was unpleasant. The more she tried to reach out I pulled back. But then every Carnival I came back and I warmed up to her. She always used to make me laugh and that started again... In her heart I think she knew what she did was wrong.”

Eleven years ago Ms Johnson passed away. On her dying bed she asked for Avion’s forgiveness for her actions. “I stalled and then said yes.” The Mookrams, owners of a car audio and radio shop in England, now have grandchildren. (Conrad was the first black man to own a shop of that nature in Britain.) Looking back on their “somewhat unpleasant” experience “we tell our children don’t reject your children’s choices. The more you try to drive a wedge between them it’s the further you’re going to be away from them,” Conrad said. “I didn’t feel inferior (by Avion’s mother’s reaction to me). If you become over-sensitive about race you become a victim. I prospered in everything I did. Avion and I had our own world. It wasn’t about what they thought anymore. Apart from love, what kept us together was her 100 per cent support in anything I did.” It was the “best thing” he ever did, Conrad said — following Avion to London.