As a new national monument is unveiled right this moment marking the anniversary of the Empire Windrush arriving in Britain, greater than 100 voices from throughout politics, religion and civil society, sport, tradition and enterprise have signed a joint letter in The Times, beginning the one-year countdown to Windrush 75 next year and urging others to play their half in making the 75th anniversary a ‘major national moment’.
Actor Lenny Henry, poet Benjamin Zephaniah, broadcaster Trevor Phillips, historian David Olusoga, London Mayor Sadiq Khan and cross-party parliamentarians together with Steve Baker MP, Diane Abbott MP and Baroness Doreen Lawrence have all joined the general public call on the federal government and all establishments to ‘step up’ and make next year’s 75th anniversary of the Windrush “as important in Britain’s calendar as Martin Luther King Day is in the United States”.
“This is not only Black History – it is British history. It should be something we all know and commemorate,” the joint letter states. “We call on the government and all UK institutions, from politics to civil society, faith, culture, business and sport, to step up and fully play their part next year.”
The arrival of the ship HMT Empire Windrush at Tilbury docks in 1948, bringing 500 passengers from the Caribbean, is a second that symbolises the beginning of post-war Commonwealth migration to Britain and the shift in direction of the multi-ethnic society of Britain right this moment. Next year, 22 June 2023 will mark its…
