Medway honors Windrush Day with music and community

KentOnline / KMTV

The Medway African and Caribbean Association, along with a Medway Council, held events to remember the generation who came to Britain to rebuild after World War 2.

Transcript

00:00Windrush Day was celebrated on the 22nd of June.

00:03It commemorates everyone from the Windrush generation who came over to Britain just after

00:07World War II.

00:08There was a ship called the Windrush that people came over on, but it's also important

00:12to recognise that there have been many people from Africa and the Caribbean that have been

00:17here for decades and centuries, way before the Windrush arrival.

00:24I feel a great sense of pride, particularly when I'm second generation Windrush, my parents

00:28came over in the early 50s.

00:33Like many of that generation, they answered the call.

00:36Founded around the late 80s, MACA started as a small community of people supporting each

00:40other until they found a temporary home in the Sunlight Centre where they stand today.

00:45When I first came to Medway many, many years ago, there was not such a big African-Caribbean

00:53community, but it has built up from people who have come from all different areas in England.

01:03Celebrating Windrush for us in MACA, it recognises what, not just us, but our parents and our parents'

01:10who have been here, the contributions that they have made to Medway.

01:15Here in Medway, we've got a fantastic organisation in the Medway African and Caribbean Association,

01:19known as MACA, and they are great champions for that community and particularly Dr. Carol Stewart

01:24does a phenomenal job working hard, working with partners like ourselves, the police and

01:29leaders, to really raise the profile, raise the voices and make sure those individuals

01:34are heard.

01:35MACA, also known as the Medway African and Caribbean Association, raised a flag this morning,

01:40right outside of the Medway Council Building.

01:42And here at the Community Hub this afternoon, a special talk is happening to commemorate those

01:47from the Windrush generation and the impact that they've had on Britain.

01:51What we're doing is we're chronicling and we're telling the history and stories of some of the

01:58families of the Windrush that came into England back in the 1950s and 60s. We're concentrating

02:05on many, many family members, but my family's involved in that as jazz musicians and klebsonians.

02:12We need to remember the history and we need to remember the journey. Many of them were

02:19told stories of picking money from trees and money off the ground and all these kinds of

02:23things and it was very exciting for them. So it's important for us to pass these stories

02:29on and for our children and children's children.

02:31As MACA continues to grow in numbers and as time passes all too quickly, the importance of

02:36remembering the past and the rich history of our nation shines through on days like this.

02:42Kai Wei for Kame TV in Chatham.

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