Dina Abbott

Dina Bhadeshia

Dina Bhadeshia was born in Nairobi, Kenya. Her father was active in the movements for Indian independence and Kenyan independence. Dina was educated at Lord Delamere Girls’ High School, where she experienced significant racism as one of the few racialized minority pupils. In her youth, she appeared in a Movietone News piece on Kenya remaining integrated after securing their independence in 1963. The newsreel was shown before movie screenings in theatres across the country.

In 1967, aged 16, Dina, her sister and parents left East Africa as refugees. Whilst her parents went straight to Britain, Dina was sent to India, where she obtained a BA in English and began a master’s degree. In 1972, halfway through her master’s degree, Dina moved to the UK and lived with her parents in east London. Her mother encouraged her to continue with her education. After a stint in retail work, Dina obtained a job in publishing as an editorial assistant. The publishing house was located in Carlton House Terrace. She also moved from her parents' home and rented a bedsit in Hammersmith. Her family faced racism during their time in east London, and in response Dina’s father – who worked for Dagenham Ford – became a strong advocate for the Labour Party and supported striking workers, whilst Dina often frequented marches.

Dina met her husband, Frank Abbott, who worked for the BBC in Alexandra Palace, whilst living in London. Nine months after meeting, Frank and Dina married. The couple moved to Nottingham when Frank obtained a job as a technician at Trent Polytechnic. Dina found it difficult to get work in the publishing industry after the move and, as a result, got a job at the Theatre Royal, where she sold tickets, and later at a telephone exchange. Her experiences of racism in these places of employment, and her union’s apathy towards her plight, catalysed Dina’s involvement in Black political movements in Nottingham.

Dina Abbott, alongside a group of South Asian and Caribbean activists, founded, wrote for and sold Samaj in’a Babylon. Her activities included supporting the Bradford 12 and writing about the Grunwick strike. She became involved in Black feminist organizing, and activists often met at Mushroom Books, an alternative bookshop in Nottingham. Influenced by the work of London-based feminist activist Erin Pizzey, who founded the UK’s first women’s refuge, Dina founded a refuge for racialized minority women, named Roshni, in Mapperley Park, Nottingham. Abbott and her colleagues would stand outside a shop called Scoop in Hyson Green, where women could discreetly approach them for support. Roshni rarely advertised their services but rather relied on word of mouth to spread information about their facilities. The refuge was divided into various units, with one kitchen dedicated to halal food and another to vegetarian food, and could accommodate children too. Roshni eventually folded and became part of the local council’s mainstream refugee services.

Abbott worked for the Civil Service after Roshni folded, which paid 80 per cent of the fees towards her second BA at the Open University (OU). Financial support for her higher education was important, given that Dina’s qualifications from India were not recognized. After finishing her second BA, Abbott decided to pursue a PhD. She undertook courses with East Midlands Trade Union Congress (TUC) and then decided she wanted to work there as a trade union tutor. As a trade union tutor, she taught a shop stewards’ course, a negotiating course and a work study. Abbott had almost 600 students during her time as a tutor. After obtaining her PhD in 1993, Abbott began teaching geography and development for the OU at the University of Nottingham. Soon after, she became a lecturer at the University of Derby and taught a course on development geography. She is now Emeritus Professor of Development Geography at the University of Derby.