00:00The Glassbox Theatre in Medway hosted an important event as part of Black History Month,
00:07specifically about a generation that's often forgotten.
00:13Medway Culture Club hosted a film screening of the documentary Barrel Children,
00:20the family's windrush left behind,
00:23exploring a generation of children separated from their parents
00:28who had to migrate to the UK for better job opportunities.
00:33Members of the windrush generation have shared their voices here at the Glassbox Theatre in Medway
00:41about a period of time they believe needs to be discussed more.
00:46My dad prompted me to make this film and all of those themes I feel should be discussed more widely,
00:54both nationally, internationally, but also within our communities.
00:57We don't have these discussions as much as I think we should and there are very good reasons for that.
01:02As Darnell said, trauma, survival, self-preservation, but nonetheless it's important to have these discussions.
01:09The term Barrel Children came about as the parents sent supplies to them through barrels containing essentials and other products.
01:20We have many people in Medway who resonate with the windrush generation either as descendants or first-hand.
01:27And so we had someone on stage who resides in Medway and shared her story of migration, identity and belonging as a Medway resident,
01:36but also as someone who migrated here as a child and has raised her family here.
01:41So I think it's important for us to recognise the contributions of the windrush generation,
01:46but also pass down those oral histories to future generations living here in Medway.
01:52This event has encouraged these children, now turned adults, to speak about these challenging memories.
01:59I think for me, probably the trauma was the social divide because different class.
02:08My father was working class and my parents different class.
02:13And for me, I only knew my mum's parents only because I really sent my grandmother because my dad, my granddad was a politician.
02:26Nadine White is now working on a second instalment to this series,
02:32focusing on the effects of separation during this time period, ensuring this conversation is far from over.
02:42Henry Luck for KMTV in Medway.
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