Emeli Sandé

-Millions of our grandparents were caught up in conflicts that shaped the 20th century.

"We'd finally been released.

I was only about 7 stone by this time.

I thought we were all gonna die."

Oh, God!

Yeah, it gets you, doesn't it?

-It does.

-It does.

It really does.

Now four international stars retrace their family footsteps across the globe.

-Grandad was sitting with a gun with instructions to shoot.

That must have been very difficult for my grandad.

That's going against every fatherly instinct.

-They uncover their grandparents' extraordinary stories.

-Your grandmother was here in one of the most historic moments of the 20th century.

-Oh, my goodness, I never knew that.

-So, my grandfather's job was to keep an eye on Edward, the abdicated king.

-Yes, he's MI5 and MI6.

-You can categorically say that my grandfather was a spy?

-He absolutely was a spy.

-What was she doing in a castle?

[ Laughs ] Why -- Why are we at a castle?

-I mean, that's mind-blowing.

That's her voice.

-They discover how their grandparents' experiences of war changed their own lives.

-We are memories passed down, experiences passed down.

Those traumas, those joys of his life live in me somewhere.

-That's what you pass onto your grandchildren, that surviving spirit.

God, it's really got me.

♪♪ O0 C1 This program was made possible, in part, by MyHeritage.

And by contributions to your PBS station from viewers like you.

Thank you.

♪♪ -I'm Emeli Sandé, a singer-songwriter.

I've performed all over the world.

-And the winner is Emeli Sandé!

-Whoo!

[ Cheers and applause ] Thank you.

Wow.

My parents met as students in Sunderland in the 1980s, after my father came here to study from Zambia, and I was born not long after.

As a family, we had many special moments here in the Lake District, with my grandparents on my mum's side, Bob and Betty.

♪♪ It's so lovely to be back in the lakes where I spent most summers with my grandparents.

It was a wonderful place as kids for me and my sister.

It was always quite exciting.

♪♪ My grandparents' lives were transformed by the Second World War.

Bob spent years fighting in the deserts of North Africa with the Royal Army Ordnance Corps.

And my gran, Betty, served in the Women's Army on the homefront.

My grandparents didn't often speak about their war experience, so I'm really curious as to the bigger picture and just what they went through as human beings.

♪♪ ♪♪ Bob and Betty fell in love during World War II, and they married here, at St. Mary's Catholic church.

♪♪ I love this picture of my grandparents.

It shows their love in their youth, and they just seem so close, so affectionate.

During the war, they met in a pub in Shrewsbury.

Grandad was a little bit too shy to ask my grandma out, so he asked one of his friends to ask on his behalf, and the rest is history, I suppose.

[ Chuckles ] As a child, I was also quite shy, but my grandparents' love and encouragement set me on the path to become a musician.

I was about 8 or 9.

I remember being quite nervous, more than I would be at a show, to sing in front of my grandad.

My mum had said "Amazing Grace" was one of his favorite hymns, so I sang it to him.

Every time I hear "Amazing Grace," or when I sing it, it takes me back to that moment.

Shall I give it a go?

♪ Amazing grace ♪ ♪ How sweet the sound ♪ ♪ That saved a wretch ♪ ♪ Like me ♪ ♪ I once was lost ♪ ♪ But now am found ♪ ♪ Was blind ♪ ♪ But now I see ♪ My grandad, he was very kind, very warm, and he'd always just have all these really traditional old-school jokes that were, um, yeah, really funny.

Like, if it was ever 10 to 10:00, he'd say it's cowboy time and like, de-dun, de-dun, de-dun, all of that.

We had hours of fun playing cards together as a family, and I cherish this home movie of my younger sister, Lucy, with me and mum, filmed not long before my grandparents passed away.

[ Indistinct conversations ] My grandma's hearing wasn't great when she got older, and my grandad's sight wasn't great.

They'd always make jokes of like, "We can never hear each other.

She never knows what's going on," but I just love that life was always something that, you know, they'd take on and whatever difficulty was thrown at them, they would -- they could find the light side and make humor of it.

♪♪ The English side of my family is just one half of my story.

My grandfather on my dad's side, Saka Sandé, lived in Zambia, then known as Northern Rhodesia, when World War II broke out.

A colony of the British Empire, the country was racially segregated, and Africans were treated as second-class citizens.

You don't hear about the history of Africa.

We're taught history from the West's perspective, and I'd love to go inward and actually learn from the Zambian perspective.

Many stories are easily removed from history, and I'd like to play a part in making sure that that isn't the case.

I know Saka spent much of his life working in Rhodesia's copper mines, which produced hundreds of thousands of tons of metal needed for bullets, bombs, and boats.

Saka died before I was born.

[ Doorbell rings ] I only wish I'd got to meet him.

-Hello.

-Hi!

Hello!

-To find out about both sets of my grandparents, my parents, Diane and Joel, have come to see me.

Come in, come in.

-Okay.

This is granddad's certificate of service from the Army.

-Wow.

I've never seen this.

-Yeah.

-"Christian name, Ronald."

He didn't really like being called... -No, no, he didn't like "Ronald."

[ Both laugh ] So he called himself Bob... -Oh, okay.

-...instead, yeah.

-"He's loyal to his superiors and considerate of his subordinates and will be an asset to any employee."

-Remarkable.

-What a review, yeah.

And his Army trade was storeman.

-Granddad, he was in charge of the -- the armory.

That was where all the weapons and bullets were, and obviously important.

-It looks like he spent a fair bit of time in Egypt, from 1939 to 1943.

-They spent a long time in the desert.

-So, four years over there.

-Granddad did say there was quite a lot of hairy moments.

-Wow.

-And he told us a story once that he had to dive under an Army vehicle because there was a Stuka attack, like a bomb attack.

-Wow.

[ Chuckles ] ♪♪ Bob thankfully survived the desert war and fell in love with my grandmother.

In 1945, they were among the millions who took to the streets to celebrate the end of World War II.

But my grandparents' war wasn't over.

Bob and Betty were sent to Kenya in the middle of an uprising against British colonial rule in the early 1950s.

My aunts, Jo, Carol, and Denise, and my uncle Chris, grew up during the fighting.

They're so blond.

-Yeah, I know.

-Very cute.

-At that time, the Kenyan group, the Mau Mau, were trying to reclaim the country, so there was a lot of friction between the British and the Mau Mau.

-What about the idea that if they were captured?

-So, grandma was told that if there was an attack on the Army compound, they had to shoot the children and then shoot themselves.

Yeah.

-[ Exhales sharply ] -Hard to imagine, isn't it, really?

-Yeah.

Wow.

That must have been terrible.

While Bob and Betty were tasked with upholding the British Empire, my grandfather, Saka, was caught up in the violence to overthrow it as the independence movement swept across Africa.

[ Indistinct shouting ] -That's a picture of your granddad, Saka.

-Very smart.

I like his cravat.

-Yeah.

-He has nice eyes.

-Yes.

That was taken in Rhodesia.

-Okay.

-This was under British rule.

Rhodesia, at the forefront in trying to produce as much copper as possible.

My dad spent most of the time basically in the area where the copper was being melted.

-Right.

-There was a lot of light and heat.

-Mm.

-You know, eventually his eyesight failed him.

-He had partial sight when you were growing up.

-He couldn't really see properly, yeah.

But he was very, very caring, hardworking.

Always wanting the best out of everybody.

♪♪ -I've always had these very opposite, in a way, cultures coming together.

As much as it's a story I want to learn about my grandparents, it's a story I want to learn about myself.

It's in my DNA, it's a part of who I am.

It is very exciting.

♪♪ Before I explore my family history in Africa, I've come to the Imperial War Museum, to find out more about my grandfather Bob's war.

♪♪ I'm meeting Professor Niall Barr, an expert on the desert wars of Egypt.

-This is a map of the British Empire, as it existed in 1939.

It's vast, and this war in Egypt was about Britain defending its interests and possessions in the Middle East and Africa.

-I notice on this map materials coming from the center of Africa.

I'm guessing Africa was giving Britain an advantage over their enemies, essentially.

-Yes, particularly the supply line, the route through the Suez Canal.

-The Great Suez Canal.

How many million tons of raw material are handled here, no one could ever guess.

-In 1940, Italy's fascist dictator, Mussolini, invaded Egypt to seize the Suez Canal and cut off oil and food supplies that were keeping Britain in the war.

The arrival of thousands of Nazi troops and tanks a year later placed my grandfather's life in grave danger.

In my grandfather's certificate of service, his occupation is noted down as "storeman."

Do you have any idea of what the work was like?

-Being a storeman sounds like a humble job, but it's absolutely critical.

All the supplies have to be driven... -Yeah.

-...to the front line.

Without those supplies, the fighting forces wouldn't be able to fight at all.

-Wow.

Okay.

-And we have here some photographs of one of the base depots that your grandfather, Bob, worked in.

-Okay.

You always think about the front line, but there's so much going on behind the scenes.

-Yeah.

♪♪ -My grandfather helped transport thousands of tons of shells and ammunition miles across the desert.

-Here comes a Jerry plane.

Duck!

[ Fighter plane roars overhead ] [ Bombs whistling ] -My mum was telling me a story about, one time my grandfather was attacked by bombers and had to hide under the truck.

-It's actually -- it's a very dangerous job.

You know, if you're driving a truck filled with ammunition... -Yeah.

-...and that truck suffers a direct hit, then it's all over.

-Yeah, must have always been on the back of his mind... -Absolutely.

-...any moment that could happen.

So scary.

It's strange, because my most recent memory of my grandparents were, they were in their 80s.

So to imagine him as a young man, in the desert, going through such physical endurance, he must have been very brave.

My grandfather was in a very dangerous position, and it makes me very proud of how brave he must have been.

He was such a calm man.

I think that composure must have helped him a lot.

But also, looking at that map made me feel, you know, it's a mix of emotions -- anger at how Africa has been treated throughout recent history, but then, this pride for my grandfather.

-These are the latest pictures received from Egypt.

Artillery has been shelling continuously.

-After three long years in the desert, my grandfather would soon be thrown into one of the deadliest battles of World War II -- El Alamein.

[ Artillery fire, explosions ] ♪♪ In 1942, my grandfather, Bob, was fighting for his life in the battle of El Alamein, in Egypt.

♪♪ I've come to Kent to meet one of the last survivors, who fought alongside my grandfather in a battle that would change the course of World War II.

Jeff Haward served as a machine gunner, with the Middlesex Regiment.

If you don't mind me asking, how old are you?

-102.

-Wow.

[ Both laugh ] You have so many medals.

Could you tell me what they're all for?

-If you insist.

-[ Laughs ] -First one is an award for bravery, or so they said.

Next one is the African Star.

-My granddad... -Yeah.

-...also was serving in North Africa.

-Ah.

-When you were in the desert, what were the conditions like?

-Blinking hot.

[ Both laugh ] All we ate was corned beef.

Water was severely rationed.

-How much water did you have a day?

-2 pints.

'Cause there wasn't many what they called water holes, so we were restricted.

-Washing, as well, or just for drinking?

-Oh, we didn't wash. -Okay.

-Oh, didn't worry about washing.

-Yeah.

Was it very dusty?

-Dusty?

-Yeah.

-Oh, yeah.

Dusty and flies.

Mosquitos and... -Okay.

-...all other creepy crawlies.

Most of us had fly nets, which you'd put over your head and shoulders, and you had to take your dinner underneath and eat it under this fly net.

[ Explosions, men shouting ] -Avoiding the swarms of flies was the least of Jeff's worries.

He and my grandfather faced constant attack from German Stuka bombers.

[ Bomb explodes ] [ Bomber roaring overhead ] When you heard the noise of the Stuka, was that frightening?

-You'd know, it wasn't the siren that you had to look out for, it's the bomb they had with it.

-Yeah.

[ Both laugh ] Anyone who says they weren't frightened was either stupid or a liar.

-Yeah.

-All you did was...your pants.

[ Both laugh ] Excuse me.

-[ Laughs ] -So, I was in a machine-gun battalion, and it took two to fire this machine gun -- one to fire it, and one to direct the ammunition through.

We were both firing this machine gun, and, uh... all of a sudden, uh, I heard this smack, and he just gave a gasp, and he was dead.

♪♪ -The fighting at El Alamein raged for five months, and over 7,000 Allied troops were killed.

It's overwhelming to envision my grandfather in so much danger, so far from home.

♪♪ When you were in the desert... -Yeah.

-...what did you miss most about England?

-Miss about England?

-Yeah.

-The girls.

-[ Laughs ] My granddad didn't really speak about the war, so, um, it's very special to be able to speak to you.

Thank you for sharing your stories.

-Ah, you're welcome.

Having this experience to speak to Jeffrey, it definitely made me wish that I'd asked my granddad more questions.

For such a long time I've used my imagination as to what it was like for my granddad, so to actually hear in-depth, detailed account, yeah, a great privilege and, you know, something I'll definitely treasure, that interaction and meeting Jeffrey, you know, for the rest of my life.

I'm proud that my grandfather helped in the victory of El Alamein in November 1942.

Within six months, the Allies had pushed Nazi and Italian forces out of the whole of North Africa.

Young troops like my grandfather celebrated with a well-earned wash and a kickabout.

Back home, Prime Minister Winston Churchill marked Britain's first major victory of the war with a famous speech.

-We have victory.

Now, this is not the end.

No, this is not even the beginning of the end.

But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.

[ Cheers and applause ] [ Bell tolling ] -Church bells rang out for the first time since 1940... [ Bells tolling ] ...and were broadcast live across Britain and its Empire.

[ Bells tolling ] Among those listening was 20-year-old Elizabeth Williamson, my gran -- Betty.

I know Betty volunteered to join the Women's Army in 1942 but very little else.

♪♪ I've come to a former Army barracks in Oswestry, Shropshire.

-Hundreds of the first girl conscripts arrive with volunteers.

They're in the Army now.

♪♪ -"Elizabeth Williamson.

Service trade -- orderly."

As millions of men were sent overseas to fight, over 250,000 women signed up to the ATS.

♪♪ -Women are rallying to the flag.

The ATS, heh, look pretty good.

-They worked in munitions, helped operate anti-aircraft guns, and kept the Army fed and watered.

-Come on, girls, it's urgent.

-Such essential work, really.

Incredible.

"State your chief spare time interests -- Reading, love books."

I do remember that of her, actually.

She was always reading a romance novel.

She stayed true to herself.

Quite romantic.

♪♪ ♪♪ My gran's dreams came true when my grandfather, Bob, came home from Egypt in 1943.

I've come to the pub in Shrewsbury where they first set eyes on each other.

I have a picture of my grandma and granddad, outside this very pub, standing right outside this very window.

My granddad got his pipe, looking very cool.

You know, they both look very proud that this is the place that they met.

It must have been a very special place to them.

I'm meeting June Roth, whose mother, I'm told, worked side by side with my gran.

-We've got a little bit of a connected history.

-Okay.

-Your grandma and my mum, both in the ATS.

-Oh, cool.

-I've got my mum's permanent pass from her ATS days, and your gran would probably have had one, too.

-Oh, wow, I've never seen one of these.

-If they were out and the military police asked them, they had to produce that, so that would have been in the top pocket.

-Right.

"Welsh Border Group ATS" -- which was the same as my grandma.

-Yeah.

My mum, Doreen, was in the cookhouse.

She was a cook.

-Okay, yeah.

-What did your granny do?

-My grandma, she was an orderly, so she was cleaning and serving one of the officers.

So they would have known each other.

They must have known each other.

Isn't that amazing?

-Oh, it's lovely to think about.

-I've also brought the cookbook that she would have been issued with.

-Okay.

-This is amazing.

I mean, the sheer scale of things.

-Wow.

And they had to learn all of this?

-They had to learn all of this.

There's a beef stew there.

Now, I can remember her cooking that.

-"Cooked and diced beef, 18 pounds.

Carrots, 12 pounds.

Potatoes, 40 pounds."

-They used to call peeling the potatoes "spud bashing."

-Oh, portion sizes are huge.

-They'd have been cooking for hundreds.

-Really?

-Absolutely hundreds, yeah.

-They don't get the celebration they deserve, I think, a lot of the women that were here.

-No.

-Makes me want to learn to cook a bit better.

[ Both laugh ] -As cooks, they had to see that the men are properly fed, and in these days... -Feeding the troops was grueling work.

-As orderlies, they've got to see that the food is served as quickly and as hot as possible.

-But there was clearly a great sense of camaraderie, amongst the ATS girls.

-Mum loved her time in the ATS.

She always talked about it.

They "pulled together," was the phrase she would use -- "We all pulled together, and we all --" -Oh, that's good.

-And, of course, she would never have met my dad.

-Oh, that's lovely.

-I've got wedding photos.

-Oh, brilliant.

Very glamorous.

That's a really beautiful picture.

-Did your granny meet your grandad because of the war?

-Yes, yeah, they met in this pub.

-Oh!

Oh, how wonderful.

-Yeah.

Imagine them as 20-year-olds... -Yes.

-...courting one another.

That's really beautiful.

-Yes.

-And then staying together for the rest of their lives.

-Yes.

-That's really lovely.

I'd imagine that living each day like it's your last would be quite frightening but also quite romantic and thrilling, in some ways.

♪♪ My grandparents survived World War II and married just months after it ended.

♪♪ Millions of troops were returning home to enjoy the hard-earned peace.

But my grandparents' war wasn't over.

Bob signed up for 12 more years of Army service, a decision which threw my grandparents into a controversial new war.

-Kenya is the battlefield of a conflict that cannot end until the Mau Mau is dissolved forever.

♪♪ -I've come to Kenya in East Africa.

In 1953, my grandfather, Bob Wood, was posted here with the British Army.

My grandmother, Betty, and their young children came with him, and my uncle, Chris, was born here.

It's a country I've never visited before.

It's really beautiful.

A lot more green than I imagined.

A lot of the landscape reminds me of England, which is something I didn't expect.

Since Victorian times, white British settlers had seized thousands of square miles of Kenya's farmlands, developing lucrative tea and coffee plantations.

This forced many Kenyans from their homes and deprived them of their livelihoods.

When my grandparents arrived, Kenya was engulfed by insurrection.

Britain's response was extreme.

-All who carry the mark of the Mau Mau must be hunted out so that peace may come to this troubled colony.

-Members of Kenya's largest tribe, the Kikuyu, formed a secret militia called the Mau Mau, and fought to get their land back from the colonialists.

♪♪ But Britain refused to give them up.

♪♪ The Second World War had left Britain with crippling debt, many of its cities in ruins.

To the British, Kenya was a precious source of income.

♪♪ I've come to Lari County, scene of some of the bloodiest violence, to meet two of the last surviving members of the Mau Mau -- 87-year-old Joel Ikea and his wife, Wambui.

What was the fight about?

What were they fighting for?

Do you remember the oath that you took to join the Mau Maus?

When court battles to reclaim their land failed, the Mau Mau took up arms.

♪♪ 32 white settlers and 1,800 Kenyans, who were viewed as British collaborators, were killed.

-Where next will the Mau Mau strike?

The British Army's reaction was brutal.

An estimated 80,000 men, women, and children were placed in detention camps, often without trial.

Many were subjected to forced labor, starvation, and in some cases, torture.

Wambui's father was one of those imprisoned.

Um, so from that story, it sounds like your dad was -- Did he die in prison, and then, you never got to see him after that?

Over 11,000 Mau Mau were killed.

A thousand executed for treason.

♪♪ How did you keep the spirits up?

It's so upsetting to hear Joel and Wambui's story.

I had no idea Kenyans suffered such injustice.

How they were treated is -- yeah, it's atrocious, it's really terrible.

Wambui lost her father -- can't even imagine that pain.

Ordinary people on both sides are being drawn into the politics of Empire, and it's really unfair.

I don't think anyone would have really chosen to be in that situation, to have their family at risk.

I've always been proud to be both British and African.

But I now feel deeply angered by how the British Empire treated Kenyans and how it also placed my grandparents' lives in danger.

During the Mau Mau uprising, my family would have been their enemies.

♪♪ Bob and Betty and their young children were living on an Army base in the heart of Mau Mau territory.

♪♪ This photo, taken nearby, shows the war literally on their doorstep.

My Aunt Jo, who was just a young girl at the time, has written me a letter.

"Dear Emeli, as a child, I had no idea what the struggle was about or why we were there.

Children lived through whatever is normal at the time of their growing.

Only with hindsight do we realize what was actually going on.

I've many good, happy memories.

Some bad ones, though.

The Army sent a wagon to take us to school in the camp, with a canvas cover, which dropped at the back so we couldn't see out.

However, one day, the soldier forgot to lower the canvas.

As we travelled through the camp, we saw a pile of bodies with red dots on their foreheads.

Even though we were young children, we were horrified.

The camp was also a prison, and these people were captive Mau Mau fighters."

I mean, this must have been horrific.

It is really difficult to think about, really, um, and shocking, because I had no idea.

♪♪ "Another time, I was woken up by an awful noise, to find out that we were being attacked.

Grandad was sitting with a gun trained on us, with instructions to shoot his family if the Mau Mau got into the compound."

♪♪ He was pointing the gun at his children at the time?

Wow.

They'd been trained to shoot their own family and told that that was the better option than being captured.

♪♪ That must have been very difficult for my granddad.

That's going against every fatherly instinct.

Yeah, it's, um... quite incredible to read this.

I mean, that's terrifying, really.

Can't imagine having children and worrying about their lives every day.

♪♪ If my granddad was pointing a gun at them, that means that they were very close to dying.

My mum would have never been born, I would've never been born.

It's amazing, these instances in life can be touch-or-go to your existence.

My grandfather, thankfully, left Kenya in 1956, with the war still raging.

Bob had completed his service and returned home.

He rarely spoke about what he experienced here.

At the same time, my grandfather on my dad's side, Saka Sandé, became embroiled in another struggle for independence -- against the apartheid regime in Zambia, then known as Northern Rhodesia.

♪♪ I'm in Zambia, Southeast Africa, a place very close to my heart.

♪♪ My father, Joel, was born here, and my grandfather, Saka Sandé, was caught up in the country's post-war fight for independence.

♪♪ When I come here, I feel like a part of me is home.

Even though I haven't grown up here, it definitely feels, um, like I'm returning.

Lights up my spirit when I'm here.

♪♪ To find out about my grandfather Saka's life, I'm heading to Luanshya, in Zambia's Copperbelt.

♪♪ By the end of World War II, nearly 70% of British copper came from this region, most of it used for weapons.

When my grandfather started working here, at the Rowan Antelope mine, in the early '50s, Africa's Copperbelt was helping to prop up Britain's failing economy.

-The famous Copperbelt of Northern Rhodesia is one of the world's biggest production centers of that important metal, relying on both African and European labor.

I'm heading to the miners' living quarters to meet Dr. Sishuwa Sishuwa, a Zambian expert on race relations.

-If you look at this picture... -Okay.

-...what do you see?

-Yeah, there's a mix of, uh, white and Black workers.

It looks harmonious, it looks like they're together.

-So, the picture is a bit misleading.

The reality was vastly different.

Everything was segregated -- housing, shopping, communal areas.

The situation was, in effect, similar to what was happening in South Africa -- apartheid.

-It really is quite shocking.

I've only really heard that word, 'apartheid,' in association with South Africa.

So, there was an apartheid in Zambia, as well?

-There was, on the Copperbelt.

-I mean, it's just unbelievable, really.

-If you look at this map, this is a map of the mine at the time.

So this is where white mine workers lived.

You can see the index.

-Cinema, playing fields, swimming baths, golf club, and a hospital, wow.

Looks very well-structured and planned there.

-That's right.

White mine workers lived in posh suburbs, where African mineworkers, like your grandfather, Saka, were crammed into these more African townships.

-Yeah, it just looks like two completely contrasting worlds.

-The conditions were -- were bad.

African mineworkers lived in a house like this one -- poor, unserviced housing.

-Right.

-And then, you look at this house.

-Uh-huh, wow.

-This is the house where the European mineworkers lived.

-Okay.

That's -- it's just so unfair.

And blatantly unfair.

-European mineworkers were getting paid 10 times more than what African mineworkers were getting.

-Wow, 10 times.

-These are slavery conditions, in effect.

-Yeah.

Terrible.

I mean, it's just really saddening.

To think of my grandfather in apartheid and subject to such discrimination, yeah, it's just really upsetting.

I can imagine it angered a lot of people.

-People like your grandfather didn't just sit back to accept their condition.

There was a movement called Cha-Cha-Cha.

It was a series of relatively violent protests.

They fought against these policies, the segregation, and they demanded independence.

-So, my grandfather knew it wasn't right, what was happening to him, and he wasn't going to accept it.

♪♪ The very house my family lived in still remains standing today in the African township.

♪♪ Saka, my grandmother, and their nine children, including my dad, were all crammed into this tiny home.

To know the injustice, which many people have faced here, including my family, it fills me with anger.

I never imagined my grandfather working in a situation where he felt inferior.

It was so close to slave conditions.

Treated like a lesser human, purely based on your skin color, is really upsetting.

You know, often, we hear stories of people of color immigrating to Europe and the discrimination that they faced there, but to feel it in your own homeland, um, it's quite disgusting.

♪♪ I've never suffered such extreme, state-sponsored racism, like my family did, but I do now know it feels to face prejudice.

♪♪ Growing up, I was the only mixed-race child in my class.

When I was about 4, there was a girl on my street.

She said to me, "Well, you must be adopted, 'cause how can you have a Black dad and a white mum?"

And for a 4-year-old to hear that, you instantly feel different, unsure of who you are, what your identity is.

You feel weird, all of a sudden, when I'd never really thought about that before.

And, um, I remember there was a girl in my school, I think we were playing tag or something, and I caught her, and she said, "Oh, my mum said I shouldn't let Black people touch me."

There's so many stories of growing up in school where that was the case.

♪♪ By the early 1960s, the days of segregation were numbered on the Copperbelt.

Large rallies took place across the region.

I can imagine my grandfather cheering in the crowds.

♪♪ Under pressure, Britain's hold on its colony crumbled, and in 1964, Northern Rhodesia was granted independence and renamed Zambia.

It was one of more than 20 colonies Britain gave up as the winds of change swept across the Empire.

♪♪ To find out how independence changed my family's life, I'm heading to see my grandma, who now lives in a remote village.

[ Thunder rumbles ] Despite the weather, my gran has thrown a special welcome for me.

[ Singing in Bemba ] ♪♪ 70 of my extended family live here, and it's been years since I've seen them.

[ Singing continues ] ♪♪ Sadly, I don't speak Bemba, my grandma's language, but we connect through our shared love of music.

[ Singing continues ] ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Whoo!

[ Applause ] My grandma Emeli, who I'm named after, is 85 years old.

So, we've just visited Luanshya, and we went to the township.

What are your memories from living there?

Did you ever worry about granddad, the conditions in the mine, that it would damage his health?

When Zambia gained its independence, was there a big celebration?

How did you celebrate being free?

Yeah.

[ Laughs ] This journey has obviously been about my grandparents but, in a sense, I really think it's been such a personal journey for myself.

I've learnt so many things that I hadn't known before.

Both sets of my grandparents were involved in violent struggles in Africa, one tasked with upholding the British Empire, the other trying to overthrow it.

To really understand who came before me and how I came about has really instilled a sense of pride and strength within me and has given me more a sense of belonging.

[ Singing in Bemba ] ♪♪ I now understand how colonialism divided us.

The racism it generated still exists today, but as my family has shown, there is a way to move forward, together.

[ Singing continues ] ♪♪ ♪♪ available on Amazon Prime Video.

♪♪