“If you try and you fail, that’s OK. But if you don’t try, then there’s always ‘what if?’”
Dorothy Johnson was born an only child in the Parish of St Thomas, Jamaica in 1953. She was four years old when she came to live in the UK.
Her mother came first, then her grandfather and then Dorothy herself came with her grandmother.
“I was dressed in summer clothes, little white dress, ankle socks, little white shoes… the braids around the wrists were pretty and on the lapels of this jacket… maybe it was a member of the cabin crew… him wrapping me up in this jacket and carrying me into a building… I can remember thinking as we were coming down, how pretty it was, around Christmas time as I came here on 27th December.”
“We didn’t go straight to Newport, we flew into Birmingham. We came to Wales in 1959…”
“A slower way of life, but there were still issues even then, coming to Wales. I was about six – in Pill there were more Black faces… it was a comfort zone to see another one like me!… Even as a child I could feel the vibe was different
to what it was living in the city…”
“I started off life as an industrial chemist, I used to work for British Steel in the labs, analysing steel. After I left school, I applied to BS on Corporation Road… I got the job…”
“When people ask I count myself as a Black, British, Jamaican, Welsh woman! For me, it’s not about any one place, this is where I live… I’ve lived here since I was a child, I’ve been in the Civil Service, I’ve been in lots of organisations and that. Never ever forget where you come from and where your roots are.”
“Os rwyt ti’n trio ac yn methu, mae hynny’n iawn. Ond os nad wyt ti’n trio, fe wnei di feddwl ‘beth petai?’ am byth.”
Ganed Dorothy Johnson yn unig blentyn ym Mhlwyf St Thomas, Jamaica yn 1953. Roedd hi’n bedair mlwydd oed pan ddaeth i fyw i’r Deyrnas Unedig. Ei mam oedd y cyntaf i ddod yma, yna ei thad-cu ac yna daeth Dorothy ei hun gyda’i mam-gu.
“Roeddwn i’n gwisgo dillad haf, ffrog fach wen, sanau byrion, esgidiau bach gwyn... roedd y plethi o gwmpas yr arddyrnau’n ddel, ac ar goler y siaced... efallai mai aelod o griw’r caban wnaeth... fy lapio yn y siaced ’ma a fy nghario i mewn i adeilad... rwy’n cofio meddwl wrth ddod i lawr, mor brydferth oedd y lle, roedd hi’n adeg Nadolig pan ddois i yma, ar y 27ain o Ragfyr.”
“Aethon ni ddim yn syth i Gasnewydd, fe wnaethon ni hedfan i Birmingham. Fe ddaethon ni i Gymru yn 1959...”
“Ffordd arafach o fyw, ond roedd ’na broblemau hyd yn oed yr adeg hynny, wrth ddod i Gymru. Roeddwn i’n tua chwech oed – yn Pill roedd ’na fwy o wynebau Duon... roedd rhyw gysur mewn gweld pobl eraill fel fi!... Hyd yn oed fel plentyn, gallwn deimlo fod y naws yma’n wahanol i’r ffordd o fyw yn y ddinas...”
“Fe ddechreuais i fy ngyrfa fel cemegydd diwydiannol, roeddwn i’n arfer gweithio i British Steel yn y labordai, yn dadansoddi dur. Wedi imi orffen Yn yr ysgol, fe wnes i gais i BS ar Corporation Road... fe ges i’r swydd...”
“Pan mae pobl yn holi, rwy’n cyfrif fy hunan yn fenyw Ddu, Brydeinig, Jamaicaidd, Gymreig! I mi, nid yw’n golygu perthyn i unrhyw le unigol, dyma ble dwi’n byw... rwy’n byw yma ers fy mhlentyndod, rwyf wedi bod yn y Gwasanaeth Sifil, wedi bod mewn llawer o sefydliadau ac ati. Paid fyth ag anghofio o ble rwyt ti’n dod a ble mae dy wreiddiau di.”