LONDON (Reuters) – Britain will hold a series of events, processions and exhibitions on Thursday to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the arrival of the first Caribbean migrants, paying tribute to the cultural contribution of the so-called “Windrush generation”.
On 22 June 1948, the Empire Windrush ship arrived at Tilbury Docks in Essex, east of London, bringing the first of hundreds of thousands of people who came to Britain between 1948 and 1971 to help rebuild the country after World War Two.
The celebrations will begin at those same docks, with a steel band, dancing and street food, before events later in the day across the country, including a procession in Brixton, the south London area where many of the migrants made their home.
“The UK is an immeasurably better place, a more vibrant and more diverse and more exciting place because of those pioneering people from the Windrush generation,” Foreign Minister James Cleverly told LBC Radio on Thursday.
Many of the events will also acknowledge the prejudices the Windrush arrivals and their descendents have had to overcome.
Those who came on Windrush, a German-built ship which the British captured as a prize of war and renamed after an English river, spent their first nights in London sleeping deep underground in a shelter beneath Clapham South underground station.
They then found jobs in the National Health Service or on public transport systems, but many were victims of racism, with discrimination continuing to the present day in some parts of life.
In 2018, Britain apologised for its “appalling” handling of the Windrush generation, after a tightening of immigration policy meant thousands were denied basic rights despite having lived in Britain for decades, and dozens were wrongly deported.
Event organisers said the 75th anniversary was seen as a moment to reflect on that wrongdoing, as well as to celebrate the migrants’ contribution to British society.
King Charles has commissioned 10 portraits of 10 members of the Windrush generation as part of the celebrations. These will go on display at Buckingham Palace later this year.
“It is, I believe, crucially important that we should truly see and hear these pioneers who stepped off the Empire Windrush at Tilbury in June 1948,” he said.
There will also be a service at Southwark Cathedral in London to honour the arrivals, while London’s Victoria and Albert Museum is hosting displays, talks and events to commemorate the anniversary.
