Keeping stories alive: Windrush 75
June 22nd 2023 marked the 75th anniversary of the HMT Empire Windrush arriving in Britain. And as useful as anniversaries are, we don’t want to rely on them only to talk about things that are important. Rather we’d like to keep the stories alive after the day of commemoration for a moment of reflection of why these people are important regardless of the day.
Empire Windrush, brought over a thousand Caribbean people who had been invited by the government to help rebuild the country post-war. This was by filling in job vacancies such as nurses, ancillary workers, cooks, bus drivers and factory labourers.
The commemoration of Windrush day is often tinged with sadness and anger at the treatment of Caribbean people in this country. From the racism they experience at the hands of their neighbours, teachers and law enforcement, such as the events of the 1958 Notting Hill race riots, to the Windrush Scandal in which hundreds of Commonwealth citizens had been wrongly detained, deported and denied legal rights.
Incredibly, throughout it all they still managed to carve out their own spaces to experience and create joy. Using their homes for blues parties when they were denied entry and creating their own black creative spaces for theatre, music and more.
One of the many innovative Caribbean people who we’d like to recognise is Edric Connor, from Trinidad and Tobago. He was the first black actor to perform at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre and also trained with the BBC. He and his wife Pearl set up the first Black Agency representing black actors, dancers, writers and musicians. The Edric Connor Agency supported a multitude of actors such as Carmen Munroe from British Guiana who was one of the founders of Black British Theatre Company Talawa.
Another example is the production turn TV play ‘You in Your Small Corner’, by playwright Barry Reckord hailing from Jamaica. The show, featuring his brother Lloyd Reckord in the protagonist role, followed the life of a young middle class Jamaican man living in Brixton and in an interracial relationship. It was a fresh perspective of Britain's culture scene from the eyes of a Caribbean person, which wasn’t always seen on screen let alone one of a different socio-economic status.
As a company founded by and filled with women of Caribbean heritage it feels empowering to look back at the creative pioneers who had spirits of joy and resilience. We hope that the story of the Windrush generation, their experiences in Britain alongside their positive impact on this country is never lost and lives on throughout their descendants and works of art.
