This year marked the 73rd year since the arrival of the Empire Windrush ship which arrived at Tilbury dock on 22nd Jun 1948 . Although there have been celebrations throughout the decades commemorating this event it was not until 2018 in the wake of the horrendous Windrush scandal that is has become a national celebration. There are mixed feelings surrounding the timing of this especially when while we celebrate there are people still fighting to return to the place they called home for decades before the governments Hostile environment campaign changed their worlds forever.
In this issue we will look at the Windrush story and reflect upon the stories of the people who came to the United Kingdom from 1948.
If you or anyone you know has been affected by the UK Home Office Hostile Environment Policy visit
Black Cultural Archives Windrush Surgeries
UK Government's Windrush Compensation Scheme
|
|
|
Be Inspired
Words that can change your world
|
|
|
|
Diversity is not a characteristic of life; it is a condition necessary for life... like air and water
Barry Lopez
|
|
Words, Rhythm, Harmony
Poetry new & old
|
|
|
|
Come What May We're Here 2 Stay (After Windrush)
By Khadijah Ibrahim
Come What May We crossed in honour to defend the mother country, with cocoa, rum and sugar in we skin, and the milk and honey England never bring.
We kept on moving, the elder heads marching in exodus against race, immigration and deportation laws.
Free thinkers composed slogans for pickets: Come what may we’re here to stay - Without us there is no Britain! Live and let live!
My grandad said we endured this pain too long. Was it God we were waiting for? – his words like the hooping of a sermon into song.
Amazing how sweet the sound of his dark-skin pride of better must come.
The decades of cold under we feet, our children’s children barn hyah, we as equal as de next. “So give us our money… so we can pay the rent” –
Old chants routed across time. Even Churchill recalled how we swelled the pot of Capital, how the West Indies made the Empire rich and strong.
In the aftermath of Hitler’s bombs, in a post-war boom of more jobs than workers, we crossed the ocean loaded with skills, recrafted and rebuilt dreams.
In a strange land, we made the grass grow green again. But man to man is so unjust and still tangle we blood in slave-trade wind. In treating man less than fly, to tell the reason why it’s so, into history we must go…
|
|
Spotlight on ...Connie Mark
|
|
|
|
|
Lance Corporal Constance Winifred Mark McDonald MBE, BEM otherwise known as Connie Mark is best known for her charitable, community and educational projects. She was a founding member and president of the Mary Seacole Memorial Association and served during World War II as a Medical Secretary. Connie was promoted twice during her time with the Army, but never received the associated pay increase. After being denied the British Empire Medal, once the war had ended, Connie began her work to gain recognition for black service personnel. Finally, in 1992, she was awarded the British Empire Medal for her ‘meritorious service during the war’ and her MBE came two years later.
Connie Mark grew up in Jamaica in the period between the two great wars. Her story is one of pride, patriotism, duty to the Empire and love for the ‘mother country.’ When war was declared in 1939 Jamaican men signed up in their droves all ready to fight and die for the mother country. Paid less and denied full recognition, inequality was rife within the British army. There was no hero’s welcome, but yet still the myth of the mother country held sway for many in the Caribbean islands. Connie talks of leaving her home in Jamaica to come to the United Kingdom and help fill the gaps in labour left behind after the war, of her disappointment initial dull the environment was and the racial inequality she faced. The myth of the mother country had been dispelled, and now she was to navigate this world without losing her dignity and self-confidence.
Listen a very illustrative account of this world of contradictions experienced by Connie in her own words:
Debt left unpaid
For Queen and Country
No Black, No Irish, No, Dogs, No Children
No room at the Inn
The Price of War
Taken from the Black Cultural Archives Bloomsburg Philanthropies Exhibition entitled 'Journey to the Mother Country' curated by Terrie Fiawoo.
|
|
|
60 Seconds with...Janet Nicholas
|
|
|
|
In this section you will read the stories of UCL's staff and students. You will get a little insight into their experiences as well finding out some random and interesting facts about them.
This months story comes from Janet Nicholas who is a member of the Developmental Neurosciences Department Professional Services team.
|
|
|
|
Tell us about yourself?
I was born in the United kingdom to parents from Jamaica who arrived her in the 1960s, at the invitation of the British government, to claim the promise of a better life. As the eldest of 3 children it was my job to pave the way for my siblings. Being in a Caribbean household we lived a life of being both British and Jamaican. Back then in order to get ahead people would live with relatives so initially we lived with my fathers sister until they could afford to buy a house. It really was a close knit community, we all relied on each other to get by.
I learnt for a young age to adapt to the people I surrounded myself with whether it was people from he black community or the English community. At the time I didn't even realise I was doing it but looking back I realise I became almost like a chameleon changing my personal to suit the environment. in the house around close family and friends we were Jamaican and outside we became British.
What did you do in the home to maintain your cultural link to Jamaica?
Mainly the food we ate kept the , the music we listened to us linked to Jamaica and gathering with close friends and family who told stories of back home. we also would always attend the Notting Hill carnival when we were young.
What are your top tips for enjoying life in London?
London has some beautiful outdoor spaces, try visit a different place each week. People are flying into London to see all the sights so be a tourist yourself so you get to know your country.
If you could change one thing to make the world a better place, what would it be?
People be more accepting of other cultures and see that it would only enrich your life understanding other cultures. Rather than thinking your way is the only way. Also don't judge others because you don't know their circumstances. I am always mindful as a learning institution of education we have so many people here at UCL visiting studying and working who are not from here, we have our families and friends so be mindful that people do not have these comforts so it is important be there for each other.
|
|
Food Lovers
Recipes from the sun-kissed lands
|
|
|
|
|
Janet's Jamaican Banana Cake
Janet has decided at long last that she doesn't want to go the grave with her.
Ingredients
- 5oz Caster Sugar
- 2oz Butter or Margarine
- 1 Ripe banana
- 1 egg
- 4oz flour
- 1/2 tsp mixed spice
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp of Jamaican rum optional.
Method
- Set your oven to Gas 4/Electric 180c. Grease a loaf tin and add floor to cover the time and shake off excess.
- In a food mixer add sugar, butter or margarine, banana and egg and blend for a few minutes. Does not need to be completely smooth.
- In a separate bowl weigh out the self-raising flour and add the mixed spice. You do not really need the cinnamon and nutmeg as the mixed spice already has this, but I do anyway.
- Add the floor mix to wet ingredients and blend.
- Scrape mixture into the prepared baking time and baking in oven for approximately 35-45 minutes or until you can sink a knife into the cake and it comes out clean.
- Let the cake cool for 30 minutes before turning out of the tin and leave for a further period until cold (if you can resist).
ENJOY!
|
|
"Did you know?"
Interesting Facts
|
|
|
|
|
The British Nationality Act 1948 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom on British nationality law which defined British nationality and created the status of "Citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies" (CUKC) as the national citizenship of the United Kingdom and its colonies conferring the status of British citizen on all Commonwealth subjects and recognising their right to work and settle in the UK
Between 1948 and 1970 nearly half a million people left their homes in the Caribbean to live in Britain. These people are referred to as the Windrush generation after the first ship, Empire Windrush, that set sail for the UK in response to this act of parliament. In fact several ships and planes left from all over the British commonwealth. |
|
Anti-racism Resources
Learn to not be silent, learn to be anti-racist
|
|
|
|
In this section you will find thought-provoking videos, podcasts and commentary unpacking the notion of race, the impact of racism and how to become anti-racist.
|
|
"Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success "
Henry Ford
|
|
|
“To bring about change you must not be afraid to take the first step. we will fail if we fail try.”
Rosa Parks
|
|
|
TO BE AN ALLY IS TO...
Take on the struggle as your own.
Transfer the benefits of your privilege to those who lack it.
Amplify voices of the oppressed before your own.
Acknowledge that even though you feel pain, the conversation is not about you.
Stand up, even when you feel scared.
Own your mistakes and de-center yourself.
Understand that your education is up to you and no one else.
|
|
|
THE DOS
- Do be open to listening
- Do be aware of your implicit biases
- Do your research to learn more about the history of the struggle in which you are participating
- Do the inner work to figure out a way to acknowledge how you participate in oppressive systems
- Do the outer work and figure out how to change the oppressive systems
- Do use your privilege to amplify (digitally and in-person) historically suppressed voices
- Do learn how to listen and accept criticism with grace, even if it’s uncomfortable
- Do the work every day to learn how to be a better ally
|
|
THE DON’TS
- Do not expect to be taught or shown. Take it upon yourself to use the tools around you to learn and answer your questions
- Do not participate for the gold medal in the “Oppression Olympics” (you don’t need to compare how your struggle is “just as bad as” a marginalized person’s)
- Do not behave as though you know best
- Do not take credit for the labor of those who are marginalized and did the work before you stepped into the picture
- Do not assume that every member of an underinvested community feels oppressed
|
|
|
“Small is the number of people who see with their eyes and think with their minds.”
Albert Einstein
|
|
|
|
What white people can do to move race conversations forward | Caprice Hollins | TEDxSeattle
In this 2020 TEDxSeattle talk, Dr. Caprice Hollins explains why we often fail to have productive conversations about race, race relations, and racism in this country. Her talk sheds light on why People of Color and White people take different approaches to these conversations and what White people can do to move race conversations forward.
|
|
Keep Exploring
Read , Watch, Listen
|
|
|
|
Windrush: The Irresistible Rise of Multi-Racial Britain
Trevor Phillips, Mike Phillips
Broadcaster Trevor Phillips and his novelist brother Mike retell the very human story of Britain's first West Indian immigrants and their descendants from the first wave of immigration in 1948 to the present day.
|
|
|
|
|
The Unwanted: The Secret Windrush Files
Theresa May’s hostile environment was a full 70 years in the making, argues this damning, devastating documentary--Guardian
David reveals how today’s scandal is rooted in the secrets of the past. The first Windrush generation were Commonwealth citizens - many of them ex-servicemen - coming to rebuild war-torn Britain. Yet even before arriving, they were viewed by the government with hostility. Civil servants and MPs warned of dire consequences if what they called a ‘coloured element’ was introduced into the UK. PM Clement Attlee even suggested diverting the Windrush passengers to east Africa - to pick peanuts.
|
|
|
|
Windrush - Documentary (1998) - Episode 1 "Arrival"
30 May 1998
Windrush is a four-part series of a television documentary originally broadcast on BBC2 in 1998 to mark the 50th anniversary of the arrival in Britain of the MV Empire Windrush, the ship that brought the first significant wave of post-war West Indian immigrants. The series was produced and directed by David Upshal.
Watch the other 3 episodes
|
|
|
Windrush Stories
Windrush Stories is a collection of full-length interviews from members of 'the Windrush Generation'. People who became known as the Windrush Generation began arriving in the UK from the Caribbean nations in the 1940s.
|
|
|
|
LORD KITCHENER
London Is the Place for Me
|
|
|
Fri, 2 July 2021
18:00 – 19:30
|
|
|
|
Tue, 31 August 2021
18:30 – 20:30
Online event
|
|
|
Wed 16 Jun – Sat 10 Jul
Almeida Theatre
Almeida St, London N1 1TA
|
|
|
Sounds of the ‘rush
Black Cultural Archives
Online excerpts from the Windrush oral history collections
|
|
|
This month's issue was compiled by
Terrie Fiawoo from ICH Population, Policy & Practice Research & Teaching Department
|
|
|
NEXT ISSUE: EDI Circular
ISSUE DATE: 30th July 2021
CONTRIBUTE: If you would like to contribute to this issue please use this link
|
|
|
|
|
|
