David was born in 1934 in Bulawayo, Rhodesia in one of the first townships built after the British took over the country. He remembers listening to his grandfather bitterly recounting how he lost part of his arm fighting against white colonial rule. He recalls the casual racism in his youth by a playmate who thought blackness could be washed away and the more sinister attitude in adulthood that prohibited certain career paths because of the colour bar. He arrived in England in 1967 under a trade union scholarship scheme and had a variety of careers which started with music and ended in social work with nearly 30 years of service at Hull City Council.

This interview was recorded as part of the ‘African Stories – Contemporary Voices’ project. You can read a full transcript of this interview over on the African Stories website by clicking here.