Foreword…

‘This is Glasgow’ may sound like a bold statement. A statement laying claim to a definitive, singular narrative of our city. Yet while boldness it seeks, singularity it spurns.

A boldness to embrace our heritage and reclaim the gift of migration from the politics of blame.

A boldness to retrace our footsteps: Glencoe, Garnethill, Galashiels. Then further. Krakow, Kampala, Kashmir. As the map turns ever torn and tea stained, our sense of journey runs ever richer.

A boldness that wears humility and pride as two straps of a rucksack. Humility to acknowledge the pain that we have caused. Pride to know that we each have a story to share. Humility that recognises our propensity to err. Pride that resolutely refuses to stagger in shame or denial.

‘This is Glasgow’ is a collection of images and stories in search of that boldness. It emerges from Stepping into Diversity, a project using oral history interviews and heritage walks to explore and celebrate the legacy of migration to Glasgow.

And in its midst rings a call to remember. A call to look again, stride again. A call to create tomorrow’s welcome from Glasgow past and present.

This is Glasgow. A bold statement undefined.