WHILE THIS year celebrations will be mostly digital due to social distancing measures, there is still plenty going on to mark the annual Windrush Day on 22 June.

Here is a list of some of the events taking place around the country and details on how you can get involved.

Storytelling

What: Walsall Creative Factory Windrush Virtual Open Mic. A virtual live Windrush themed concert including poetry and drama.
When: 19 June, 7pm
How to get involved: Stream live on Facebook here

What: The 2019 epic theatre adaptation of Andrea Levy’s Orange Prize-winning novel Small Island.
Directed by National Theatre Director Rufus Norris and adapted by Helen Edmundson (Coram Boy, War and Peace), Small Island embarks on a journey from Jamaica to Britain, through the Second World War to 1948 – the year the HMT Empire Windrush docked at Tilbury. The play traces the tangled history of Jamaica and the UK through three intricately connected stories.
When: 18 June
How to watch: The production will be streamed via the National Theatre’s YouTube page

What: Generations Dreaming presented by the Geraldine Connor Foundation (Leeds) will take the format of an online learning resource and evening of literature and music based on the themes of Windrush and passing on stories and culture to the next generation.
When: 22 June, 7pm
How to get involved: This event will take place live via Zoom but a recording will be made available afterwards. To book your place, click here

What: Through a Different Lens (Berkshire) – a Caribbean Stories poetry workshop, as part of their Windrush poetry competition.
When: 25 June, 7pm
How to get involved: For more information and to book, click here

What: Alive & Kicking (Leeds & Bradford) host online readings from writer Trish Cooke about the historical experience of West Indians travelling from the Caribbean to Britain. 
When: 22 June
How to get involved: For more information and to register for your place, click here

What: Windrush Waves organised by the Black Cultural Archives and Poetic Unity. This live poetry event will celebrate heroes of the Windrush generation.
When: 22 June, 7pm
How to get involved: You can watch live via the Black Cultural Archives Instagram @bcaheritage

Other events…

Hackney Council’s Windrush Generations Festival https://www.lovehackney.uk/windrush-generations-festival

Online resources and activities shared by Reading Museum  including the launch of their online exhibition ‘The Enigma of Arrival’ on Windrush Day and community radio broadcasting on Gold Dust Radio on 21st & 22nd June  https://www.readingmuseum.org.uk/resources/windrush-day-22-june

Poetry workshop to be broadcast from the MV Balmoral on Windrush Day along with premiere of new animated video (one of our grant funded projects) http://www.myfuturemychoice.co.uk/assets/file/Pioneers%20of%20the%20Windrush%20celebration%20project%20press%20release.pdf

Blackburne House,  online screening of their Daughters of the Windrush film which we funded the creation of last year https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/daughters-of-the-windrush-film-tickets-109612084696

In collaboration with London Goldsmiths University, Layers of London are launching a map showing details of the 1027 Windrush passengers and where they went in Britain https://twitter.com/LayersofLondon/status/1273207489618759681 with a launch event scheduled for Wednesday 24th https://www.history.ac.uk/events/online-layers-london-webinar-documenting-windrush-arrivals

Kirklees Council (Huddersfield) have uploaded a Windrush Day online pack: https://kirkleestogether.co.uk/2020/06/16/windrush-day-2020/

CAHN (Manchester) – Windrush Day online event, Saturday 27th June, featuring Dame Elizabeth Anionwu https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/windrush-day-2020-tickets-108575355812?aff=ebdssbonlinesearch

Runnymede Trust – webinar in commemoration of Windrush Day (22nd June) There Then, Here Now: BME people and the NHS, featuring Yvonne Coghill & Helen Hayes MP https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/there-then-here-now-bme-people-and-the-nhs-tickets-108850707396?aff=ebdssbonlinesearch

You can also watch

A World Is Turning (1948)

A lost chapter in black British film: extraordinary rushes from a documentary showcasing talented members of the black community including legendary jazz singer Adelaide Hall rehearsing and performing at London’s Nightingale Club. Six tantalising reels of rushes are all that remain of this unfinished film, a forgotten attempt to highlight the contribution of black men and women to post war British society which coincided with the arrival of the Empire Windrush.

We The Ragamuffin (1992)

Julian Henriques’  musical showcases the style, vernacular and vibrancy of British Caribbean Dancehall culture. Shot on location on the North Peckham Estate the cast of local artists glide between realism and whimsy, using improvised dialogue and musical performance in this prelude to Henriques’ ragga musical Babymother (1998), available to rent on BFI Player.

Ballet Black (1986)

Stephen Dwoskin’s Arts Council-funded documentary brings together members of the Ballet Negres dance company, founded in London in 1946, an innovative all-black dance troupe founded by Jamaican dancer Berto Pasuka and active in Europe from 1946 to 1952. Exploring the company through archive film and photographs, as well as a reunion of the original members after 35 years, it climaxes with a vibrant performance of Pasuka’s They Came by young black dancers.

You In Your Small Corner (1962)

The late Lloyd Reckord stars as a gifted student confronting the race and class divide in 1960s Brixton. This rediscovered ITV Play of the Week offers a rare non-white perspective on Brixton’s cultural and ethnic mix. Initially written for the stage by Jamaican-born dramatist Barry Reckord, You in Your Small Corner is  bold and frank in its depiction of interracial relationships and the complexities of class and racial prejudice in. 1960s south London life evoked largely through studio-based scenes of a Jamaican social club and white, working-class households.

Nice (1984)

An example of early Channel 4’s commitment to diverse voices, this film was written by Farrukh Dhondy and performed by the late Norman Beaton, star of international hit TV show Desmond’s. Beaton plays the role of an inexperienced, well-mannered, comedic migrant to perfection. A genuine artistic advocate for the Windrush generation, he was an exceptional acting talent who draws you in to the narrative of the naïve “nice” West Indian and his descent into postcolonial cynicism

The Rise and Fall of Nellie Brown (1964)

An entertaining musical fantasy full of Christmas cheer stars Millie Small, on the back of her worldwide pop smash My Boy Lollipop, as a young Jamaican woman who flees her humdrum Liverpool lodgings in search of her glamorous London cousin. Broadcast live on 28 December 1964, this rare TV musical is one of few to have survived from the 1960s. A tale of Afro-Caribbean immigration, the show is unusual for its time in that it doesn’t labour the issues around racial tensions in Britain, but simply celebrates Christmas and family.

Jemima + Johnny (1966)

The friendship of a young white boy and a black girl as he welcomes her to the local neighbourhood reaches out across the generations in this uplifting mid-60s short, directed by South African-born actor and anti-Apartheid activist Lionel Ngakane. Jemima + Johnny offered a refreshingly optimistic take on black/white relations in a post-riots Notting Hill, winning its director an award at the 1966 Venice Film Festival, the first black British film to be so honoured.

Learning

What: Serendipity (Leicester) presents the Windrush Day Lecture. The inaugural Windrush Day Lecture (Where Are We Now?) will be delivered by Professor Stephen Small. There will also be a screening of the short documentary film A Very Brit(ish) Voice, commissioned by Serendipity for Archiving The Past, Reflecting The Future in 2019.
When: 22 June, 6pm
How to get involved: Originally scheduled to take place at City Hall, Leicester, this is now an online event. Tickets are £5 and can be booked here

What: National Maritime Museum (Greenwich) – working in partnership with the Caribbean Social Forum and University of Greenwich to develop online resources, talks and events involving different generations to explore Windrush and what it means to people today.
When: 22 June, various times
How to get involved: To find out more about the individual events and to book your place to attend the online activities, click here

What: Windrush Foundation’s Zoom event will feature presentations, poetry, readings, music, Q&A and a review of key events that affected the Caribbean community over the years, as well as a look to the future.
When: 22 June
How to get involved: To register for free and tune in, click here

Discussion

What: State of Trust (South West England) – Live panel featuring artists from State of Trust’s Remembering Windrush project hosted by journalist and broadcaster Terry Baddoo.
When: 22 June, 7pm
How to get involved: For more information and to book, click here

What: Brighton Museum & Art Gallery’s Windrush Day online event will feature a talk from Patrick Vernon and panel discussion with Dr. Bert Williams MBE and Shirley Williams.
When: 22 June, 7.30pm
How to get involved: To find out more, click here 

What: The Windrush Defenders digital forum is joining forces with the West Indian Sports and Social Club, Louise DaCocodia Education Trust and Arawak Walton Housing Association to bridge insights from community testimony, research and legal analysis.
Inspired by the testimony of the Windrush Generation, the aim of the digital forum is to amplify and coordinate the “Burning Work” of key community figures tackling racial disparities in community cohesion, criminal justice, education, health and work.
When: 22 June, 9.30am
How to get involved: To take part in the digital forum, register for free here