Events held in city to mark Windrush Day
LECTURE AND PROGRAMME LAUNCH TAKING PLACE
EDUCATIONAL and commemorative events are being held to mark today’s Windrush Day.
The annual celebration of the arrival of the HMT Empire Windrush, bringing 1,027 passengers and two stowaways from Jamaica to London in 1948, will include a lecture and an afternoon tea.
Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage will present the 2022 Annual Windrush Lecture by Professor Augustine “Gus” John.
Prof John, an activist who has carried out work in education policy, the role of schooling and education in promoting social justice, will explore The Road to Independence.
The talk will address what it means for African and African Caribbean countries to be independent in a constantly evolving changing political landscape.
The lecture takes place at Leicester City Hall, in Charles Street, at 6pm.
Leicester arts organisation Kainé Management was one of 35 groups to receive a share of the £500,000 Windrush Day grant from the government.
A spokesman said it plans to use its £12,000 award to run the Better Together programme, where Leicester’s Windrush generation and wider community members will have the opportunity to meet weekly to share stories.
It will be hosting an afternoon tea event at the LCB Depot in the city centre at 2pm.
Local dignitaries such as the Lord Mayor George Cole and Councillor Sue Hunter, assistant city mayor for tackling racism and disadvantage, are expected to attend.
The event will act as a launch for this year’s project.
Tickets for Prof John’s lecture cost £8 to £10.
Kainé’s longer-term programme includes establishing an East Midlands online network of Windrush members.
During Black History Month, participants will work with college students to host a commemorative exhibition.
There will be creative workshops, storytelling sessions and a series of trips – including a visit to London to see the new commemorative Windrush sculpture, set to be unveiled at Waterloo station later this month.
Co-founder of Kainé, Maxine Chambers, said of Better Together: “It’s a project we are really proud of.
“A lot of this year’s project will be similar to last year because they really enjoyed coming together each week, but with some enhancements. “This year we are going to visit the Black Cultural Archives in Brixton and we will have a showcase where members will get the chance to write their own play and perform it for friends and family.
“We are partnering with the Curve theatre to make this come to life. “Leicester is a multicultural city and it’s great to have programmes like this to honour the city’s community.
“The council has called us and offered us spaces to use for the project.
“I think it’s only right the Windrushers are honoured and are given a platform to tell their stories and meet other people.”
Better Together Project worker Tia Bodkin, 25, said: “Last year we took some of the Windrushers into schools to speak to young kids about their experience.
“Responses from children in schools were quite shocking, because a lot of the children had no idea what Windrush was.
“Better Together gave kids not belonging to ethnic minority groups a real insight into the history of their black friends.
“Little things like this help to avoid racism and the team at Kainé wants to be a part of making changes like this in the city.”
I think it’s only right the Windrushers are given a platform to tell their stories
Maxine Chambers