Walk Good

The Windrush Story
The Windrush Story

Story: Jenson Grant, Photos: Camille Daughma

As a filmmaker and digital artist, I had always been interested in looking into the past, especially when I see a gap.

A few years ago, I was in the local studies part of Sheffield Libraries with a group of school children. We were surprised there was very little information about the arrival of African-Caribbean migrants to Sheffield after the War.

So in 2006, with some fellow artists, we conceived Burngreave Oral History Project. With support from Arts Council England, Sheffield City Council and the “Off the Shelf” Festival, we started to record Caribbean migrants’ stories and create a performance that celebrated their history.

Myself, writer Dee Reynolds, Nycha Creations and Khula Arts worked with a bunch of enthusiastic children at SADACCA Study Support scheme to create a night of live performance. The event was a great success!

2008 is the 60th anniversary of the Windrush's arrival and the ship itself has an interesting story. Built in Germany as the ‘Monte Rosa’, she was captured from the Nazis in 1945. Renamed ‘Empire Windrush’, she brought the first Caribbean migrants to British shores in June 1948.

A scene
A scene

Although Caribbean migrants didn't all come over on the Windrush, her arrival was symbolic. It marked the start of a truly ‘multicultural’ Britain. When my parents arrived, they faced many obstacles. However, today's generation has come a long way. We have diversified into teachers, politicians, business owners and even filmmakers! We have become an integral part of this city's culture.

Stories about our past connect us to experiences that describe who we are. That's why, on 26th October 2008, at 6.30pm at SADACCA, we are at it again. Walk Good is a live arts event to celebrate the mark that people from the Caribbean have made on Sheffield. It will be a night of dance, drama, poetry and food – because we all need the gaps in our stories filled! Everyone is welcome.

Lamar's poem

Black I may be
but now I can see
that there should be
a simple decree
that I should be free

The crime I see
should never be
And I should be free
just like a bumble bee

But now I hear a cry
of that of a fly
it's the racial abuse
that there's no excuse.

Live arts event at SADACCA to celebrate the mark that people from the Caribbean have made on Sheffield
6:30pm to 8:30pm Sunday 26 October 2008

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The content on this page was added to the website by Ivor Wallace on 2008-09-26 18:06:32.
The content of the page was last modified by Lisa Swift on 2008-10-17 15:54:30.

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