London Through the Eyes of an Immigrant

Buckingham Palace is one of the most notable London destinations, primarily because it is the residence of the current monarch of the United Kingdom, since 1837. As the years go on, there are more and more people immigrating to the United Kingdom. For some immigrant fleeing their country, England can be seen as a place of safety and prosperity. In “Brick Lane,” by Monica Ali, Nazneen, an immigrant from Bangladesh, looks upon Buckingham Palace, and notices that it isn’t as grand as the Taj Mahal. The Taj Mahal is a stunning mausoleum located in India. With its marble and its large pond, It…

In Linton Kwesi Johnson's poem "Inglan is a Bitch" the poet offers readers insight into the experience faced by Caribbean immigrants in England, with the speaker in particular mentioning their experience as a packing factory worker in a town called Brackley. Brackley itself is a smaller town with a rich history, and works as a specific example of wider English treatment of Caribbean immigrants at the time.

Brackley is a market-town located in the general southeast of England, and around seventy-five miles northwest of London…

Brick Lane is a well-known street in Tower Hamlets, a densely populated neighborhood in the East End of London. Inhabited by people from all over the world, Tower Hamlets is the cultural melting pot of England. While the area received huge waves of French Huguenots, Irish farmers, and Russian Jews in earlier centuries, it is mostly occupied today by Bengalis, and is commonly referred to as “Benglatown.” The neighborhood saw a steep rise in its Bengali population in the mid-to-late twentieth century, following World War II. After traveling by boat, Bengalis…

Located in the heart of South London, Brixton Market stands as a vibrant hub of cultures, with voices of generations past and present being echoed within the market. Throughout its rich and storied history, Brixton Market has been the subject of numerous literary references within works by immigrants, whether it be in a poem such as "In-a Brixtan Markit" by James Berry, or a song such as "Electric Avenue" by Eddy Grant.

In his poem "In-a Brixton Markit", Jamaican-British poet James Berry tackles social issues such as the racial profiling of black immigrants by police officers, with…