#windrush generation

Afro-Caribbean Migration and the Windrush Generation: A Garveyite Perspective

The Windrush Generation, the wave of Afro-Caribbean migrants who arrived in Britain between 1948 and the early 1970s, represents one of the most significant movements of Black people in the 20th century. These migrants came with hopes of economic opportunity, stability, and full participation in British society—only to be met with racism, systemic exclusion, and second-class citizenship. From a Garveyite perspective, this migration was not a success story of integration but a continuation of colonial exploitation, where Black labour was welcomed, but Black people were never truly accepted.

Marcus Garvey warned Black people that seeking equality in white-dominated societies was a trap—one that would always position them as outsiders, no matter how much they contributed. The true path to liberation, according to Garveyism, was not integration but self-determination, economic independence, and repatriation to Africa. Through this lens, the Windrush Generation’s struggles with racism, economic marginalization, and political betrayal were predictable outcomes of a system designed to exploit, not uplift, Black people.

1. The Colonial Roots of the Windrush Migration

The British Empire spent centuries enslaving, exploiting, and underdeveloping the Caribbean, extracting wealth while keeping Black people in a state of economic dependency. After World War II, Britain faced a labour shortage and turned to its former colonies for cheap labour.

A. The Illusion of British Citizenship

Caribbean people were legally British subjects, yet this citizenship was conditional on their usefulness to the empire.

Britain actively recruited Caribbean workers to rebuild its economy, presenting the idea that they were coming to a “motherland” that welcomed them.

This was a lie—they were only seen as labourers, not equals.

Example: The arrival of the HMT Empire Windrush in 1948 was symbolic of how Black people were invited to contribute to Britain’s economy but denied full participation in its society.

Key Takeaway: The British Empire never intended to treat Caribbean migrants as equals—it only needed their labour, not their presence.

2. Betrayal and Racism: The Windrush Experience in Britain

Upon arrival, Afro-Caribbean migrants were met with hostility, racism, and segregation, contradicting the British promise of inclusion.

A. Employment and Economic Exploitation

Windrush migrants were given low-paying, undesirable jobs in public transport, the NHS, and manufacturing.

White workers resented their presence, despite their essential contributions.

Discrimination in hiring and promotions kept many in poverty, despite their skills and qualifications.

Example: Many Black professionals, such as teachers and nurses, had their qualifications dismissed and were forced into menial labour.

B. Housing Discrimination and Social Rejection

Black migrants were refused housing by landlords with “No Blacks, No Irish, No Dogs” signs.

Many were forced into overcrowded, poorly maintained accommodations in segregated areas.

The government did nothing to address racial inequality, leaving Black people in economic and social isolation.

Example: Notting Hill Riots (1958)—White mobs attacked Black communities, proving that Britain’s “inclusion” was a lie.

Key Takeaway: Black people were brought in to serve Britain, not to be part of it. Their contributions were necessary, but their presence was unwanted.

3. The Windrush Scandal: The Final Betrayal

Decades after their arrival, the British government launched the Windrush Scandal (2018), deporting and stripping the rights of the very people who built modern Britain.

A. How Britain Used and Discarded the Windrush Generation

In the 2010s, the UK government began deporting Afro-Caribbean elders, claiming they were illegal immigrants.

Many lost jobs, homes, and access to healthcare due to racist immigration policies.

The same people who were invited to rebuild Britain were now being exiled from it.

Example: Elderly Windrush migrants who had lived in Britain for 50+ years were suddenly detained and deported, despite being legal residents.

Key Takeaway: This was proof that Black people would never be considered truly British, no matter how much they contributed.

4. The Garveyite Perspective: Afro-Caribbeans Must Prioritize Self-Determination Over Integration

Marcus Garvey predicted this long ago—integration into white nations is not liberation, but subjugation.

A. The Failure of Seeking Acceptance in White Societies

Windrush migrants spent decades building Britain, only to be discarded when they were no longer needed.

Assimilation into a white nation will never lead to true equality—Black people will always be second-class citizens.

Relying on white governments to recognize Black contributions is a mistake.

Example: Garvey warned that Black people must never beg white nations for rights but must build their own institutions instead.

B. The Need for Economic Independence and Pan-Africanism

Caribbean nations remain economically dependent on Britain, just as Windrush migrants remained dependent on a racist state.

The solution is Pan-African economic self-sufficiency—building Black-owned businesses, schools, and governments free from European control.

Caribbean people must stop seeing Britain as a future and look toward Africa, the Caribbean, and Black nations for their destiny.

Example: Garvey’s UNIA movement aimed to create a Black nation built by Black people, not dependent on white acceptance.

Key Takeaway: Afro-Caribbean people must stop seeking approval from Britain and instead build economic and political power for themselves.

5. The Future: Reparations, Repatriation, and Black Sovereignty

The Windrush Generation’s story is not just one of migration—it is a warning about the dangers of Black dependence on white systems.

Britain owes reparations for the exploitation, racism, and betrayal of Afro-Caribbean migrants.

Afro-Caribbean youth must shift their focus away from Britain and toward Black economic and cultural independence.

Repatriation to Africa, economic investment in the Caribbean, and Pan-African unity must replace the outdated belief that integration into European society is the path to freedom.

Example: Marcus Garvey’s dream was a self-sufficient Black world, where no Black person had to beg a white government for survival.

Happy Windrush Day to all British Trinidadians!

Much like the Caribbean region on a whole, the Windrush Generation- that is, Caribbean people who migrated to the United Kingdom between 1945 and 1970- was a diverse melting-pot of people. These migrants and their descendants are honoured annually on the day that the HMT Empire Windrush arrived on British shores- 22nd June 1948. Trinidad and Tobago was one of the biggest contributors to the talents, skills, and ethnic diversity that was part and parcel of the Windrush Generation. In fact, famous Trinidadian calypsonian Lord Kitchener's song "London is the Place for Me" (as heard above) was a rallying cry for Britain's thousands of Caribbean migrants. These are the most famous among them:

Aldwyn Roberts "Lord Kitchener"

The eternal king of Calypso himself had been born with a lifelong stammer, but if anything, this had encouraged him to develop the singing and instrumental skills passed down by his father. “Kitch” was born into an Afro-Trinidadian family and had moved from Arima to Port-of-Spain in his youth, where he gained a loyal following from his singing in calypso tents. He was distinct from other performers via his willingness to critique current events in Trinidad, such as the takeover of Chaguaramas by American troops, as well as his own suave and witty charm, best exemplified by his skill in concocting double entendres. He arrived in London in 1948, serenading a BBC reporter with an impromptu performance of “London is the Place for Me.” Although Lord Kitchener had established a successful life for himself in London- by singing in pubs and nightclubs. getting his songs recorded, helping kickstart the Notting Hill Carnival, and even opening his own club- he maintained a strong transnational connection to his homeland and returned in 1962. His homecoming in Trinidad was punctuated by him winning the Carnival Road March Title ten times between 1963 to 1976 (not counting his first win in 1946). Some of his other popular songs include “Doctor Kitch” (1964), “The Birth of Ghana” (1957)- which was very popular in West Africa, and the Soca tune “Sugar Bum Bum” (1977).

Sir Vidiadhar Surajprasad "V.S." Naipaul

Born in Chaguanas to an Indo-Trinidadian journalist and his wife, V.S. Naipaul received a government scholarship that allowed him to study English Literature at Oxford University in Britain. His time in England was difficult due to dwindling funds, a shortage of jobs, and his own spiralling mental health. However, the wit and precision inherent in his writing- some of his most well-known works being Miguel Street (1959) and A House for Mr. Biswas (1961)- soon elevated him to fame. His writings engaged with the complexities of multicultural and post-colonial societies, both informed from his own experiences living in British-ruled Trinidad and his travels across India and Africa. Naipaul is most well-known for winning the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2001. He also worked as a presenter for the ground-breaking BBC programme Caribbean Voices, which brought the stories of Windrush migrants to the British public. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1990.

Samuel "Sam" Selvon

Sam Selvon grew up amidst the cane fields and sun-baked soils of San Fernando, hailing from a family of mixed East Indian and Scottish ancestry. A few years spent as a sub-editor for the Trinidad Guardian awakened such a keen passion for writing within Selvon that he juggled umpteenth pseudonyms for himself. Having some of his works broadcast by the BBC inspired him to migrate to London in 1950, bearing a manuscript of his first novel A Brighter Sun (1952). But his more feted works were to come later- The Lonely Londoners (1956) and Ways of Sunlight (1957)- as the disenchantment of Windrush life, replete with poverty, isolation, and racism, made itself known to him; yet in true Caribbean fashion, Sam battled these challenges with good humour and determination. Aside from his novels, his work has been featured in the London Magazine, New Statesman, and The Nation, and he also helped Black British filmmaker Horace Ové produce the 1976 movie Pressure.

Althea McNish

Born into a family of Port-of-Spain creatives, with a dress designer mother and a writer father of African-American Merikin descent, Althea was encouraged to get involved in the local art community- vibrant and brimming with excitement from being on the cusp of independence- from a young age. She was junior member of the Trinidad Arts Society, was mentored by local artists Sybil Atteck and Mahmoud Pharouk Alladin, and had even headed an exhibition of her own paintings as a mere sixteen year-old. She migrated up to London in 1951 aged 27, intending to use a recently-awarded scholarship to study architecture. However, during her studies at the London School of Printing and Graphic Arts and the Royal College of Art, her interests shifted to printed textiles. Indeed, her approach to fabrics design had a “painterly” air to them (Jansen, 2022)- like bright streams of oil dashed against a canvas, and swirled together to capture the tropical landscape that she had grown up in. Her designs were commissioned by numerous contemporary textile, wallpaper, and furniture manufacturers, including Ascher Ltd, Heal’s, Liberty, Sanderson-Rigg, Balenciaga, Schiaperalli and- most famously- Dior. McNish was also specially requested to design prints for Queen Elizabeth II’s 1966 Royal Tour of the Caribbean.

Mona Baptiste

Mona, like Lord Kitchener, had actually arrived on the HMT Empire Windrush itself! She grew up in the St. Clair district of Port-of-Spain, into a family of mixed African, Indian, Scottish, and Venezuelan descent, and sought to achieve a singing career abroad. Her singing talents landed her in gigs at upper-crust restaurants, jazz bands, cabarets, radio performances, and steel bands. She even took to the silver screen, featuring in Tanz in Der Sonne (1954), Symphonie in Gold (1956), and Girls for the Mambo-Bar (1959). Baptiste’s most famous song was a cover of African-American jazz singer Nat Cole’s “Calypso Blues,” and she also performed in German, Spanish, and French as she travelled across Western Europe in a blaze of success. Marrying an Irishman and settling down in Dublin did not impede this starlet’s career one bit, as she continued to perform in Europe and New York till her death.

Bert Achong

Born in Port-of-Spain to a Chinese-Trinidadian family, Achong won the Jerningham Gold Medal and the Colonial Scholarship to study medicine at University College Dublin, then continued onto England in 1955 to further his research at Fitzrovia's Middlesex Hospital and Lambeth Hospital. At Middlesex Hospital, he co-discovered the Epstein-Barr Virus- the first identified human virus that can cause cancer- alongside Micheal Anthony Epstein and Yvonne Barr, which was lauded as “one of the 20th century’s most significant scientific discoveries” (The New York Times, 2024). While Epstein was later knighted for this discovery, and Barr was praised as an overlooked feminist icon in science, Achong was barely attributed to this discovery at all. He also discovered the “foamy virus” in 1971, the first retrovirus to affect humankind. His final job before his retirement and death was as a senior lecturer in pathology at the University of Bristol, a high-ranking Russell Group institution.

Leighton Rhett Radford "Darcus" Howe

Born in Moruga to an Afro-Trinidadian family, Darcus was an absolute trailblazer for racial justice in post-Windrush Britain. Having arrived in England in 1961 as a law student on a scholarship, Howe was one of the Mangrove Nine, an octet of Afro-Caribbean activists arrested for protesting against extreme policing methods targeting the Mangrove, a Trinidadian-owned restaurant in London that served as a hub for British Caribbean creatives and thinkers. He later joined the British Black Panther Movement and edited the groundbreaking Race Today magazine, which united both Black and Asian Britons under a common goal of dismantling white privilege in British society. His journalism, marked by his eviscerating commentary towards Britain’s oppression of Black people, featured in The Voice, The New Statesman, and Channel 4 (most famously his Black on Black television programme). Howe was also a chairman for the Notting Hill Carnival, a celebration of British Caribbean culture held every year since 1966.

Jacqueline "Jacqui" Chan

A Chinese-Trinidadian dancer and actress hailing from Port-of-Spain, teenage Jacqui frequented the prestigious halls of the Elmhurst Dance School and the Royal Academy of Dancing before she joined in on the glitz and glamour of the West End. Her grace and expressiveness on stage granted her opportunities to star in much-feted tv shows and films of the midcentury such as The World of Suzie Wong (1960), Cleopatra (1963) and Dixon of Dock Green (1955-1974). She is still as energetic as she was in her prime, appearing most recently in Sherlock (2010-2017) and Cruella (2021). Chan was portrayed by actress Alice Hewkin in the period drama The Crown (2016-2023), featured in an unusually graphic sex scene for the series’ standards involving an encounter with Lord Snowdon, Princess Margret’s husband. This prejudiced representation of such a talented, non-white actress sparked conversations about the fetishisation of Asian women in media.

Sir Trevor Lawson McDonald

The cultured, melodious voice of Sir Trevor McDonald is best associated with his presence on ITN (Independent Television News), ITV, and BBC Radio; indeed, he is instantly recognisable by Britons everywhere. Born into a poor Dougla (half-African, half-East Indian) family in the southern coastal village of Moruga and dreaming of a career in broadcasting, a young McDonald learned how to painstakingly mimic the affected timbre of radio newscasters on BBC. He honed his craft for Radio Trinidad and Trinidad TV before being hired by BBC itself, moving to England in 1969 for his role with the World Service and Caribbean broadcasts. Later switching to ITN as a newsreader and reporter, McDonald fought against being boxed into “stereotypical” newscaster roles on account of his race (eg. being limited to covering stories on Brixton), and became a Northern Ireland correspondent. His later work at ITV involved memorable interviews with Nelson Mandela and Saddam Hussein, and he hosted the channel’s flagship programme Tonight with Trevor McDonald (1999–2007). He was bestowed with a lifetime BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Art) fellowship in his last years.

References:

Angelo Bissessarsingh's Virtual Museum of Trinidad and Tobago (2024), Mona Baptiste - Trinidad Born Singer and Actress (1928-1993), Facebook. Available at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/191766699268/posts/10162295401214269/

Author Unknown (date unknown). "Darcus Howe," Darcus Howe Legacy, Available at: https://darcushowe.org/darcus-howe/.

Author Unknown (date unknown). "Mona Baptiste: The Windrush passenger who settled in Ireland," Epic: The Irish Immigration Museum, Available at: https://epicchq.com/story/mona-baptiste-the-windrush-passenger-who-settled-in-ireland/

Brock, L.G, et al. (1997). "Obituaries: Bert Geoffrey Achong," The British Medical Journal. 1997; 314: 150.

Bunce, R. and Field, P. (2017). "Darcus Howe Obituary," The Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/apr/03/darcus-howe-obituary

Clarke, H. (2018). "Jacqui Chan on that sex scene from The Crown, being a Chinese actress in the 1960s and why she’s still in demand," South China Morning Post, 10th October. Available at: https://www.scmp.com/culture/film-tv/article/2167691/jacqui-chan-sex-scene-crown-being-chinese-actress-1960s-and-why-shes

Farndale, N. (2001). Gongs and Bongs, The Telegraph, 11th June. Available at: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/4724041/Gongs-and-bongs.html

French, P. (2008). The World is What it Is: The Authorised Biography of V.S. Naipaul. Alfred A. Knopf: New York, NY.

Jansen, C. (2022). Remembering Althea McNish, A Forgotten Revolutionary Of British Design, British Vogue, 5th April. Available at: https://www.vogue.co.uk/arts-and-lifestyle/article/althea-mcnish-textile-designer

Mason, P. (2000). Obituary: Lord Kitchener, The Guardian, 12th February. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/news/2000/feb/12/guardianobituaries

The New York Times (2024). "Overlooked No More: Yvonne Barr, Who Helped Discover a Cancer-Causing Virus," The New York Times, 21st March, Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/21/obituaries/yvonne-barr-overlooked.html

Niherst (date unknown). Bert Achong: Caribbean Icons in STI Vol 1, NIHERST Caribbean Icons. Available at: https://niherst.gov.tt/icons/icon/bert-achong-ci1/

Ramchand, K. (2018). Obituary: V.S. Naipaul, The Guardian, 12th August. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/aug/12/vs-naipaul-obituary

Taylor, J. (1994). Play it Again Sam: Remembering Samuel Selvon, Caribbean Beat. Available at: https://www.caribbean-beat.com/issue-11/play-it-again-sam-remembering-sam-selvon

Windrush scandal still a stain on society, Floella Benjamin tells Lords event | Windrush scandal | The Guardian https://share.google/WujGUUhxU7JsAySk9