Bukky Okunade, Labour councillor for Tilbury, on Jan. 13.Rob Stothard / The WorldPost
Nor do Tilbury’s white residents have a monopoly on the physical “Somewhere” of this town that the nebulous “Anywheres” might fail to understand. Bukky Okunade, a 52-year-old Nigerian-British woman who serves as a Labour councilor for Tilbury, knew about the cruise terminal here long before she saw it with her own eyes. She remembers seeing grainy photos of the Empire Windrush landing during celebrations of Black History Month when she was living in London. “Tilbury mattered to me because it was part of my heritage, even though I’d never been there — this was where black people came to Britain and went on to different places in this country, and when we thought about that history we’d always talk about Tilbury,” she told me. “When I finally moved to this part of the world in 2002 and I saw the docks, it felt symbolic and emotional.”
Okunade is one of the few black councilors in Thurrock’s history. She has represented Tilbury since 2006 and, at almost every election she has contested, a white ethno-supremacist group — usually the British National Party — has run candidates against her. She has seen them all off, although in 2008 an election for the other seat in her ward resulted in a BNP victory, and Okunade was forced to spend two uncomfortable years working alongside a fascist. “This is a small town, close-knitted, where everyone knows each other,” she said. “Yes, there have been issues. Yes, I face hostility sometimes on the doorstep. And yes, there are myths that need to be burst. But I think that bursting is happening. I’ve been here, in office, for more than 10 years, and I’ve seen a lot of changes.” Her lips crept into a smile. “And look,” she concluded, “I’m still here.”
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