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https://theconversation.com/how-the-windrush-generation-changed-stories-of-britain-forever-ten-recommended-reads-206729>
"The 800 West Indians who walked down the gangway at Tilbury to make new lives
in England in June 1948 had been encouraged to think of the country as their
motherland. The literary contribution of the Windrush generation is just one
example of how Caribbean-British people enriched the nation, but it offers an
important opportunity to witness the transformative moment when empire came
home, changing stories of Britain forever.
With their colonial education, these British subjects were already familiar
with Big Ben and Buckingham Palace, and could likely have recited poems by
Wordsworth, Shelley or Keats. Many were returning servicemen whose valiant
contribution to the war effort had given them a strong affiliation with Britain
as a land of freedom fighters. They were keen to contribute to the progressive
reconstruction of their post-war homeland.
When
Pathé News handed the microphone to Lord Kitchener, the suave young
Trinidadian calypsonian, his homecoming serenade,
London is the Place for Me,
began a post-war tradition of Caribbean-British voices confidently bringing a
new style and substance to expressions of belonging and nationality.
Given what we now know about the ongoing hostility towards the legal and
personal claims of West Indians on Britishness, it is perhaps no surprise that
the stories told around what became known as the “Windrush generation” were
conflicted from the start."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
