It’s been 75 years since the HMT Empire Windrush ship brought over 800 Caribbean immigrants to Britain.
Promised a better life, prosperity and employment, they responded to the call Britain made after WWII left the country with a labour shortage.
In good faith, they came bearing gifts: stories, art, literature, music, politics, culture, recipes, sport, and their work ethic, all of which have made valuable contributions to what this country is today.
If you don’t know much about the Windrush generation, here are some of the best documentaries, books and podcasts for you to engage with…
Windrush: Portraits Of A Generation
This BBC documentary features the stories, experiences, and contributions of Windrush sitters when they arrived in Britain in 1948, many of whom are in their 90s, as a result of a project the King commissioned.
Charles asked 10 artists to create 10 portraits of pioneering members of the Windrush generation for an exhibition at The Queen’s Gallery in Buckingham Palace from 10 November 2023 to 14 April 2024, called Windrush: Portraits Of A Pioneering Generation.
The film shows the creative process behind how the portraits were made and the reflections of the artists who painted them.
Available on June 22 at 7:45pm on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer.
Mother Country: Real Stories Of The Windrush Children, edited by Charlie Brinkhurst-Cuff
Britain was ‘The Mother Country’ for many Caribbeans who were encouraged to migrate to Britain.
Featuring real life stories from leading figures and those of their children and grandchildren, including politician David Lammy, actor Lenny Henry and singer Corinne Bailey Rae, Mother Country: Real Stories Of The Windrush Children, edited by Charlie Brinkhurst-Cuff, is an exploration of the realities of building a new life eight thousand miles away from their home.
(Headline, £10.99)
Windrush Stories by Prison Radio Association
Recorded during lockdown, Windrush Stories is a podcast produced and presented by DJ Flight, a DJ, broadcaster and radio producer, for Prison Radio Association and Windrush Day 2020.
For three seasons, the podcast has interviewed members of the Windrush generation and their descendants who have shared their experience of living in the UK, including the first black woman elected to parliament Diane Abbott, comedian Angie Le Mar and poet Benjamin Zephaniah.
Available wherever you get your podcasts.
Small Axe by Steve McQueen
“If you are the big tree, we are the small axe” – that’s the Jamaican proverb from which this five-part British anthology film series, Small Axe, gets its name.
The episodes are “love letters to black resilience and triumph in London’s West Indian community” created and directed by filmmaker Steve McQueen.
“I needed to understand myself, where I came from,” McQueen told The New York Times.
Each film – meticulous in its depiction – proves to be a counter history that celebrates the life and times of Caribbean people living in London between the 1960s and 1980s, when many of the Windrush generation were still migrating to Britain and joining the workforce.
Available on BBC iPlayer.
We Sang Across The Sea: The Empire Windrush And Me by Benjamin Zephaniah
This picture book – written by Benjamin Zephaniah as a lyrical rhyming poem and illustrated by Onyinye Iwu – is a real-life account of the experiences of Trinidadian musician, Mona Baptiste.
In pursuit of her dream to become a singer and make a better life for herself, she left her family and boarded the Empire Windrush. When Baptiste arrives in Britain, she starts singing in clubs, on the radio and television, and across Europe.
Scholastic, £6.99.
My Dad Mr Brixton by Claudette Parry Laws
When Claudette Parry Laws’ father Courtney Laws died in 1996, she felt it was necessary to document his four decades of service to the south London borough of Brixton, where he was as a leading figure in the black community and subsequently became a pioneer of the Windrush generation.
“Courtney Laws was the Godfather of Brixton, he was an important leader in Brixton and the whole of the UK,” said Ansel Wong, chairman of the Black Cultural Archives and Founder of the Black Liberation Front.
Available wherever you get your podcasts.
Sitting In Limbo
The Windrush scandal broke in 2018. Due to changes made to immigration law, some members of the Windrush generation were deemed ‘illegal immigrants’, lost their jobs, denied access to NHS healthcare and even threatened with deportation.
This 2020 factual television drama focuses on the shocking true story of Anthony Bryan, a victim who found himself at the centre of the Windrush scandal.
After deciding to visit his elderly mother in Jamaica, he visits the passport office to fill out the relevant paperwork to find that there is no record of him as a British citizen – despite having lived in the country since 1965. The onus is on him to prove his British citizenship to the Immigration Office.
Available on iPlayer.
