Claudette

Claudette 

“Dalston was the frontline in the 1980’s and what I mean by that is that it was the place you went to. It was where you found out what was going on. The frontline was a community together. You will get people who are senior to me who say we owned Dalston. Black people ran the place, and we had Johnsons Café where everyone who was black went to. Grants the shoe shop and if you could buy from Grants, you had some money. And Panache the clothes shop, Centreprise the café and bookshop and of course there was The Four Aces. I am going way back now to Dalston in the 1970’s and 80’s. It was so different then compared to what it is now. I was quite a party girl back in the day and I visited Newton’s club often to dance and listen to music. My boyfriend Gary is 67 and has been around longer than me so he went there in his time too.”

“My mum Isolyn was a nurse from Jamaica and even though she was good my stepdad abused us sexually and I don’t think any of my sisters ever got over it. We grew up in Stoke Newington, which is on the borders of Dalston. My mum knew about the abuse but kept it quiet. I was the younger sister, so I did not know what was really going on, but my older sisters did. One of my sisters conceived from him and had an abortion at an early age. It was all hushed and swept underneath the carpet as things often were back then. Later, my mum did tell me to report him, but she died, and I felt it was too painful.” 

“Because of the abuse I left home at an early age and ended up with an older man. At the time I thought it was a better place for me and it turned out to be the worst. My education went out of the window because of all of it. You never really recover from it. I got pregnant at a young age with the older guy, and he ended up being violent and abusive, so I became a single parent.”  

“I have addictions and some mental health issues. I don’t hold back, and I am open and honest. I have a good heart. I am responsible and brought up my two girls on my own. I have my little council flat in Hackney where I have lived since 1986. Everyone around here and in Dalston knows me. I am a free spirit and resilient, so people seem to warm to me. People always assume that people with addictions are just bad people who live on the streets and are down and out. But that’s not the case and addiction is in most households in some form. Plus, I sometimes get bored of it, and I do something else.” 

”It’s a choice. Do you love you or do you love your addiction. Of course, it’s moreish thing but you must decide how far you are going to let it drag you down. I have been in deep with crack, heroin and methadone and it’s led me into prison. But I have always tried to rein it in. You must recognise that you were not born into this addiction. It’s a man-made substance and if it’s killing you, it’s time to try and leave it alone. You must try and retain some ambition and remember there is better in life. Addiction is an illness whilst the dealers and big men who run the drugs live like kings. I got out of prison on remand as I didn’t do anything wrong, but addiction can get you mixing with the wrong people. I ended up only doing five months as the case was thrown out of court and I was innocent. My cat had diabetes, and I lost her which was devastating. That’s her ashes in that cat urn in my living room. I take tablets for my mental health now. I call them the mad woman tablets. But they ease things for me now. I have a small part -time job and I try to stay positive.”