Winford Fagan in Handsworth, Birmingham, 1970

http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2015/sep/11/winford-fagan-handsworth-photograp-vanley-burke

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I was riding my bike around Handsworth Park in Birmingham. Our parents couldn’t afford to buy us bicycles, so I built mine. You’d get bits and bobs here and there, buy an inner tube with your pocket money – the main thing to find was the frame. It took me about a month to find all the parts and build it.

I had that flag on my bike for as long as I had the bike. A union jack was something you would have then, not just for bunting. People asked me, “Why not a Jamaican flag?” but I didn’t know about Jamaica. I was born here. My parents came here 50 or 60 years ago; I was one of the first generations.

At the time, there was a lot of racial hatred and gang violence. I remember being chased by skinheads, most of them a lot older than me, but some my age. It happened mainly at weekends; it wasn’t so bad during the week, because we went to school, then went home and stayed in. At the weekend we had more time to ourselves, and you’d run into gangs who went out to attack black people. There were certain hours of the night when you couldn’t be on the road in case you were beaten up or stabbed. It was frightening. It wasn’t just skinheads who gave us abuse: it was English people in general. They saw us being in their country as an invasion.

I never thought I’d make it to my 50s. I’m 53 now. I’ve lost a lot of friends. I buried my son – he was 24 and died from a gunshot wound; I buried my brother – he died of cancer; I buried my mum’s sister, who had arthritis and dementia. So we just give thanks that we are alive and have breath in our bodies.

I know the photographer, Vanley Burke, well. He’s been taking pictures of us in Handsworth for many years, and his parents are good friends with mine. But I didn’t see the photo until about 15 years ago. A friend spotted it in a book, Vanley Burke: A Retrospective. I went into Birmingham city centre and bought it – it was weird to open the book and see my face. I realised it was famous when people kept saying, “I’ve seen the picture!” My friends mention it a lot, especially the flares. Those are original – you can’t get them any more. My wife used the photo as the cover for my 40th birthday invitation.

It’s on show in Birmingham now; Vanley invited me to the opening of his exhibition. There’s also a picture of me at my son’s funeral. When I look at this picture, it reminds me of how happy I was as a child. I think it has become so memorable because of the flag: we were black British, and to see a black person with the flag in that way is surprising. I have mixed feelings about it – I don’t think you’d see a young lad doing that today. They’d rather carry the flag of their parents’ nation, or a favourite rapper or something. I didn’t know any better. We just accept where we are as our home.

• Interview by Erica Buist.

At Home with Vanley Burke runs at the Ikon Gallery, Birmingham, until 27 September 2015.