Our vital role in remembering history - !st generation born in the UK of the Windrush Generation 

As a member of an exclusive 'club' - 1st generation born in the UK of people from the West Indies who came to the UK in the 1950's and 1960's  - I AM A VITAL LINK TO HISTORY.  
Yes, that's right!  A vital link to British and to  Jamaican History!  Wow! The reason for my being so bold as to judge myself as 'vital' is that I knew, during the book's conception and development, that I (and my co-authors) had a critical role to play in capturing and sharing the experiences and life stories of my parent's generation before it was lost to the annals of time.   In another generation (my children's time), the stories of what would then be their grandparents' lives,  may well be lost.  Perhaps by then they would also be a step too far removed, as 2nd generation born in the UK to be in a position to capture the stories.  It is possible too that they could feel, dare I say it "too British" to care to the extent that many of my generation do.   Most of us (as they have shared with me in chats) are really connected to Jamaica and feel that we are, to varying degrees, 'Jamaican"; or at least 'not just British'.    In any case I decided that it was up to me to step up and to take action and to contribute to writing an account of people's motivation and experiences of life in the UK.  

In actual fact I was not only driven but somewhat 'called' to do this!    

Why British History and not local History I hear you ask?  Well, it is true that Walsall is a small, some may say unremarkable, town in the West Midlands in the UK and so I can, to some extent,  see why some folks would, at first glance,   consider the stories from such a place to be of 'local' relevance and interest only and so a far cry from being  "British" history.  However, walk with me for a minute longer.  Isn't all history 'local' to some extent?  The Battle of Hastings for example?   That's a specific place and event isn't it?  Ok, I know that impact, outcome and being far reaching plays a huge part in making any history 'British', but I believe that the stories told in this book are 'representative' of an era and a group of people who are having far reaching impact and bringing new perspectives to the UK, which are impacting on UK society as a whole.     The migrants described here and in this our first book,  capture a time, experience and impact on UK culture, economy, music, and social context, and more, that we have seen/continue to see  repeated in towns and cities up and down the UK.  

So for me, the  people and events from a specific era, area and  experience can shape, impact, inspire and inform the national experience and sense of itself and plays a huge part in  'how we have done things and continue to do things in the UK.

I find that we eagerly accept the experiences of people from large cities like London, Manchester, Birmingham and others, and pull them into our British hearts as 'ours' but we can all too often ignore the importance and impact of events of national importance that are focused on the smaller towns of the UK.   

I want to change that.
​

To book us to speak or to do a talk on our books - please get in touch !