Musicians on the Windrush

 Via the National Archives site.

26-year-old Aldwyn Roberts from Trinidad was onboard and listed his occupation as ‘Artist’. He was a calypso singer and is better known by his stage name, ‘Lord Kitchener’. During the journey, he wrote the song ‘London is the Place for Me’, which he performed on the ship’s arrival to Tilbury.

Mona Baptiste was similarly from Trinidad and was 21 when she travelled on the ship. Although her occupation was listed as ‘Clerk’ in the passenger list, she was a blues singer and went on to have a successful career in the music and broadcasting industries.

All aboard the Windrush line

 

A lot of coverage of this story this week, not all of it positive. 

Londoners have become very familiar with the names of the underground lines, including the new Elizabeth Line (originally Cross Rail) and the Jubilee line (with their Royal choice of names). Now Sadiq Khan has outlined new names for the overground lines to aid discussions about particular routes - Londoners and visitors will quickly adapt to their new names, but there have been some predictable moans about the nature of the names... from the usual suspects.

In Year 7, we study the story of the Windrush generation, through the use of the book 'Windrush Child' from the late Benjamin Zephaniah.

This BBC News page explains what the names of each of the lines means.

Image source: Transport for London

The Windrush Line will run through several areas associated with the Windrush migrants (in London at least).

Free Windrush Resources

Visit the Windrush Foundation website for a whole range of free resources for educational use. These are going to be rolled out over the next year.

A free event will take place to launch these.

SUNDAY 21 JANUARY 2024, 7pm to 9pm

This free online event launches a year-long rollout that will offer opportunities to schools in Britain, and elsewhere, first-hand knowledge of the late Sam King’s seminal work. The suite of seven resources will show Windrush as just one, among many other chapters, of British post-WWII history. The resources include more than 500 pages of materials, and feature stories also of the lived experiences of Windrush passengers. Further research and publications will follow.


Members of the Windrush Generation are those who arrived on June 22, 1948, at Tilbury Docks, on the Empire Windrush, but excludes passengers who arrived after June 1948 on other ships or by BOAC (BA). 

The Empire Windrush made only one return journey to the West Indies in 1948.

Windrush Foundation’s seminal education resources will help educators to teach the facts about Windrush and will explain its true meaning. Numerous distortions of the late Sam King’s idea have been publicised over the years and it is hoped that this suite of resources will debunk those falsehoods and conflations.

Get your Eventbrite tickets from this link. I have downloaded the free eBooks.

Thanks to Arthur Torrington for the information.

Migration Nation

This is part of a KS3 History series published by Oxford and written by Aaron Wilkes.

I bought it for the section on the 'Windrush'.

This chapter is excellent. I also have another book in the series. They are well written and nicely designed.

As always, the historical perspective and some of the ideas and resources are well worth blending with the geographical enquiry and topics which are the reason why we use the late Benjamin Zephaniah's book as a focus with Year 7 students. 

As blogged a few days ago, there was quite a lot of sadness when students heard of the passing of Benjamin.

Windrush food stories

We are now underway on the 3rd read through of Benjamin Zephaniah's 'Windrush Child'. This year marks the 75th anniversary of the Empire Windrush's arrival at Tilbury Docks in London.

I noticed these meals in my local Tesco earlier in the week and wondered about their origins.

I was interested in whether this was cultural appropriation of the flavours of the Caribbean with the Windrush marketing. We have previously discussed the story of Jamie Oliver's Jollof Rice, as featured in Dipo Faloyin's 'Africa is not a Country'.

They were actually created by Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones for Black History Month. They are a tribute to the Windrush Generation.

They feature some traditional Caribbean flavours.

There is a very personal story here too.

Anyone tried the meals?

Mapping Windrush

A new resource from the National Archives.

This is perfect for our unit on 'Windrush Child'.

We’re excited to launch our new resource, Mapping Caribbean Migration to Britain.

This resource traces passenger journey’s on three post-war ships, the Ormonde, Almanzora, and Empire Windrush, through a series of interactive maps.

Discover more: https://t.co/qSogHFuT4N#BHM

— The National Archives (@UkNatArchives) October 20, 2023

The iconic Empire Windrush passenger list acts as a gateway into the personal migration stories of those on board. It is an invaluable record as it provides a wealth of information about the passengers, such as their names, ages, occupations, onward addresses, and their last country of residence. Although not the first ship to carry migrants from the Caribbean, the Empire Windrush is symbolic of the wider story of post-war migration to Britain.

The ship visited numerous ports on its route to Tilbury docks in 1948. The first port that passengers embarked at was Port of Spain (Trinidad), followed by Kingston (Jamaica), Tampico (Mexico), Havana (Cuba), and Bermuda, before crossing the Atlantic to reach Tilbury Docks. Passengers disembarked at Tilbury on 22 June 1948. There were 1,027 passengers onboard the ship, all with their own personal story.

There was a diverse range of people onboard the Empire Windrush. Although the passengers were mostly male, there were also women and children onboard. They ranged in age from just six weeks old to 80, and travelled in different capacities. Some passengers travelled with their families, some alone.

Passengers also travelled to Britain for a variety of reasons. Some migrated to Britain to seek new opportunities and economic stability, others were joining family and friends. The extraction of resources from the Caribbean by the British contributed to the poor economic situation in the Caribbean, which influenced post-war migration to Britain too.

Over 800 people gave their last country of residence as somewhere in the Caribbean. A common misconception is that all passengers were migrating from Jamaica. However, people migrated from numerous islands in the Caribbean including Trinidad, St Lucia, Grenada and Barbados, as well as Jamaica.

The British government initially encouraged migration from its colonies and Commonwealth countries to boost the workforce after the Second World War. In 1948 it passed the British Nationality Act, which created the status of ‘Citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies’. This new legislation around citizenship aided post-war migration to Britain, as it gave people from British colonies the right to live and work in Britain.

 

Alford Gardner's Windrush story

 

We shared the story of Alford earlier in the week in our Windrush75 discussions with Year 7. Later that day, he appeared as one of the subjects of the BBC portraits of Windrush, and will be on display in the National Portrait Gallery later in the year.

We are delighted to announce that portraits of the Windrush Generation commissioned by His Majesty King Charles III will go on display in the Gallery from October. pic.twitter.com/UwcoCx7QyT

— National Portrait Gallery (@NPGLondon) June 22, 2023

 The book that Alford and his son wrote about his life is also published now and available to buy.

Windrush Day 2023

We will be revisiting the work we did earlier in the academic year today with those groups who have a Year 7 lesson.

Windrush Day marks the day that the original migrants disembarked from the ship and changed the history of Britain.

Local newspapers have been sharing many stories of migrants for some days, and local news has also had some good coverage, which is pleasing to see.

I have a growing library of books on this and related topics, including the book by Floella Benjamin.

There have also been some recent interesting new additions:

- The Royal Mint has launched some new coins, desgined by Valda Johnson. 

- The Royal Mail has also got in on the action with some lovely stamps.

There are 8 stamps featuring related scenes and I have ordered a set, along with postcards.

Further stories of the callous government decisions affecting the Windrush Generation are emerging.

Where are the Jamaicans in England and Wales?

Following our work on 'Windrush Child', the new Census 2021 maps from ONS may help answer that question: 

Leonard Parkinson of the Maroons

 

The last half term has seen the second running through with Year 7 of our reading of 'Windrush Child' by Benjamin Zephaniah.

The British Library has a piece which explores a little more about the history of the area around Maroon Town.

Slavery made a huge impact on much of the world, and continues to do so through the legacy of colonialism and the campaign for proper reparations. Many landowners in the UK 

Maroon Town is an important place in the book. It is where the main character in the book was born and where the spirit of 'Nanny of the Maroons' who is featured on a Jamaican banknote. I came across this image of Leonard Parkinson, who was one of the Maroon freedom fighters. 

The main character in the book is called Leonard (we don't find out his surname), but it would be interesting to know whether he was named after this person.

Source: http://www.slaveryimages.org/s/slaveryimages/item/1227

If you haven't seen this UCL map before, this is also an important resource for exploring local connections with the slave trade.

It's produced by the Centre for the Study of Legacies of British Slavery.

The National Windrush Monument

This was unveiled in June at Waterloo Station.

We will be exploring more about Windrush with Year 7 after half term.

We have just had delivery of extra copies of 'Windrush Child' for the new Year 7 cohort.

Image: Sally Parkinson

Windrush Day 2022

June 22nd is Windrush Day. 

We didn't have any lessons because of the move-up morning.

We have offered a new unit this year on the Ben Zephaniah book 'Windrush Child' and will be teaching it again next year with a few tweaks by Mrs. Melville.

Windrush Day was earlier this week.

A statue was unveiled outside Hackney Town Hall. It is called Warm Shores.

It has been visited by the GA Vice President Alastair Owens:

Thomas J Price’s Warm Shores statues (part of Hackney Windrush Art Commission unveiled yesterday) in front of ⁦@hackneycouncil⁩ Town Hall are just stunning and a great conversation starter with lots of people gathering round. You must go see! pic.twitter.com/qLFfxitve4

— Alastair Owens (@AlastairHackney) June 23, 2022

Windrush Child

'Windrush Child' is a book by Benjamin Zephaniah which follows the story of Leonard. His father was one of the passengers of 'Empire Windrush' and when he is 10, Leonard joins his father along with his mother, travelling on the 'Arosa Star' to start a 'better life' in the UK.

The book follows Leonard's life, the ups and downs of life in Manchester, school, racism, attacks on his family, but also the kindness of neighbours, a work mate and ultimately finding love.

The book ends with events mirroring the Windrush Scandal - which is still ongoing. I have blogged about the book previously, and my plans to create this unit as part of a range of work around decolonising the curriculum and adding a colonialism lens to topics such as food and globalisation.

For the first teaching of the unit, I was able to get a bargain price on a book for each Year 7 student from Bookpoint.

I put together a 28 page booklet to help guide the reading, along with support from my colleague who teaches both Geography and English. This was printed as a booklet, with an image of a landing card from the Goldsmith's project on the back.

Along with some context and details on the author, there were also spaces for students to jot down key events in each of the chapters along with a factfile on Leonard - the main character.

As the unit has gone through, I have amended the booklet and changed a few of the questions and emphases - there is plenty of reading and further references at the back of the booklet as well.

The recent DfE guidance on political impartiality has added an interesting dimension to the teaching of this unit, as there is inevitably mention of the Home Office destroying landing cards which would have proved citizenship, deporting people without good cause, and the famous vans suggesting to migrants that they should leave - except the Windrush migrants had lived here and paid taxes and paid into pensions, raised families, worked for the NHS and were then treated terribly.

A few extra activities also worked particularly well - my colleague Helen Melville had great success with students writing 'Chapter 33' - what happened next, with some really creative outcomes. I am also preparing to create a new display on the work that we completed based on the book which will offer opportunities for interactivity with those who see it.

In response to requests, here is Version 1 of the booklet that I created. There will be some amendments made to this before I teach it again, with some clarity over some of the tasks. 

Thanks to students for their feedback on the module. It will certainly be repeated next year.

Windrush Child - Student Workbook from GeoBlogs

I'd welcome feedback from those who see this post, or who use the booklet.

'Windrush Child' continued...

Year 7 are continuing to explore the book...

I posted on Twitter recently about a new unit which I am developing based on the Benjamin Zephaniah book 'Windrush Child'.

This has been going quite well, and there are likely to be a number of posts as I work through it for the first time. I've already started to add a few more elements to it and notice some clarifications that are needed for the original booklet that I created, for the 2nd edition in the next academic year.

As always, as soon as a new unit is started, stories begin to emerge which are related to it. It's amazing how often that happens.

Several weeks ago, the continued issues of the Windrush Generation to get proper compensation for their plight was on the front page of one national newspaper.

Barbados also declared itself a republic.

Princes Charles was there and as part of his speech he referred to the legacy of slavery in the Caribbean (which includes Jamaica):

"From the darkest days of our past, and the appalling atrocity of slavery, which forever stains our histories, the people of this island forged their path with extraordinary fortitude.

"Emancipation, self-government and independence were your way-points. Freedom, justice and self-determination have been your guides."

We also explored the importance of the lion to students, as the main character is told by his grandma that "lions always roar".

We referenced the imagery of the lion.

Rastfarianism is a religion which developed in Jamaica, and there is a character in the book called Brother Book who has the characteristic dreadlocks, which are also sported by Benjamin himself. Here's Bob Marley.

"Iron Lion Zion"

Present day musical legacy in Barbados is being maintained by Rihanna: who was declared as a National Hero as it became a republic.

Finally, here are some Windrush stories which I also referred to:

'Windrush Child' - a Q and A with the author

This video appeared just before Christmas, and I have used it with my Year 7 groups. The page it's hosted on includes an extract from the book and a range of other detail on this book.

'Windrush Child' - additional video resource

This film is part of the Geraldine Connor Foundation's Windrush Learning Resource, rebranded for 2020.

The Diverse Book Award 2021

The DiverseBook Award 2021 goes to BenjaminZephaniah for Windrush Child.

We are using this book with our Year 7 groups this term and they will all be receiving a copy.

Congratulations to Ben on the award.

Standing Firm

I'm looking forward to this film produced by BT Sport. It's presented by Benjamin Zephaniah and tells the story of how the footballers of the Windrush Generation made their impact on the football league.

Premieres in late September.

Presented by Professor Benjamin Zephaniah, Standing Firm, the latest BT Sport film, will celebrate the legacy of the Windrush generation and examine the impact they, their descendants and continued Caribbean migration to the UK, had on English football.