On 21 October, the Caribbean nation of Barbados took the first step towards becoming a republic when the joint houses of Parliament chose Dame Sandra Mason as the country’s first president, to replace Queen Elizabeth II as head of state. Ms Mason, a trained lawyer and former magistrate, has been the Governor-General of Barbados since … Continue reading “Barbados Elects its First President”
The 70th anniversary of the arrival of the Empire Windrush in the UK, and the current scandal about the treatment of the children of the Windrush Generation, give an opportunity to look at the experiences of Commonwealth immigrants to the U.K. This is a nice simple explanation of the Windrush generation from the BBC children’s … Continue reading “Teaching About Windrush”
A new BBC film tells the true story of one man’s experience of being told that after 50 years he no longer had the right to live in the UK. They are known as the Windrush Generation: people who were born in British colonies who were invited to come and help Britain rebuild after WWII. … Continue reading “The Human Face of the Windrush Scandal”
Last year, the Immigration Museum in Paris held an excellent exhibition on the influence of migration from former colonies on the musical culture of the UK and France after decolonisation in the 1960s. Paris-London Musical Migrations fits perfectly with the themes of Shine Bright 1e File 7 Caribbean Vibes and Shine Bright LLCE File 8 From … Continue reading “Musical Migrations”
Millie Small’s global hit song “My Boy Lollipop” was one of most visible manifestations of the influence of Caribbean migrants’ music on the British music scene. The Jamaican singer has died at the age of 73. Small started her music career in Jamaica, before Island Records founder Chris Blackwell became her manager and took her … Continue reading “Our Girl Lollipop”
Jean Rhys (1890-1979) lived and wrote about her extraordinary life in the West Indies, London and Paris before producing her masterpiece, Wide Sargasso Sea, a prequel to Jane Eyre, telling the story of Bertha Mason, the Creole wife Mr Rochester married for her fortune, and who in Jane Eyre is portrayed as the madwoman in … Continue reading “Celebrating Author Jean Rhys”
There were various celebrations and exhibitions planned to mark the 70th anniversary of the beginning of West Indian mass immigration to the U.K., with the arrival of the Empire Windrush at Tilbury Docks in London on 22 June 1948. Instead, a scandal has grown up about the treatment of the “Windrush Generation” that led to the … Continue reading “What About Windrush?”
