An exhibition by photographer Jim Grover opens this week, to coincide with the 75th anniversary of the arrival of HMT Empire Windrush, which brought 492 Caribbean migrants to the UK. Windrush: A Voyage through the Generations explores what the distinctive Caribbean culture of the first arrivals means for the subsequent generations.
Deborah Klass founded the Windrush Generation Legacy Association, in Croydon, south London, in 2019, fulfilling the dying wishes of her father, Michael Harry, who arrived from Grenada in the 1950s. And half of the association’s unit in the Whitgift Shopping Centre is dedicated to the re-creation of a traditional front room and bedroom.
“In the first week we had to buy boxes and boxes of tissues because people would come in and reminisce and share their stories,” Ms Klass says. “We were full of emotion.”
The other half of the unit is community space and hosts rotating exhibitions and events. And at the opening of Colin Brown’s exhibition, Lovers Rock – a form of reggae created by the second generation, in the 1970s – Audrey Scott sang her hit, Goodbye my Love.
Jaxxon Rowe, born last month, is the youngest person to feature in Windrush: A Voyage through the Generations.
He is fourth generation and the first child of Quincy Rowe, of Jamaican heritage, and Natasha Paine.
“It’s incredibly important for me that he understands both sides of his heritage,” Quincy says.
Brixton Immortals Domino Club is collaborating with Lambeth Libraries to teach youngsters the game, typically played by “the elders”.
This was the first time Jeremiah had played. And a month later, his Jamaican-born mother, Jenief Marriot, said: “Every day, he walks around the house asking for a round of dominoes. He loves to play. He loves to win.”
Three generations of a family gathered in Margaret Grocia’s flat, in Brixton, south London, to celebrate its blessing by the Reverend Mark Williams, of St John the Divine, in nearby Kennington, which included the traditional pouring of spirit on the floor as a sign of respect for the dead.
Ms Grocia, third generation, says: “When I think about Easter in Jamaica, it’s buns and cheese and fried fish. We do that every year – and the grandchildren know that’s what we do. They’ll hopefully instil it in their children.”
Ingrid Munroe, 73, who arrived from Guyana in 1972, has taught her granddaughter to crochet, a traditional skill used by many of the early migrants to decorate their homes.
“When we were on holiday in Turkey, last year, we would sit on the balcony and do crochet together,” Carlicia, 13, says.
Ingrid has four daughters, six grandchildren and four “great-grands”.
Traditional Dutch cooking pots such as this – believed to be nearly 40 years old – are in many Jamaican homes.
“For some it’s just a pot – but for us it’s a generation-to-generation piece and we cook the best curry goat, the best oxtail, and the best stewed chicken in that pot,” Alisa Flemming, third generation, says.
Last summer, a parade organised by the West Indian Association of Service Personnel (Wasp), based in nearby Clapham, marched proudly up Brixton Road, led by a young drummer.
Every Remembrance Day and a Sunday around Windrush Day, local dignitaries, veterans, cadets and members of the armed forces from an array of Caribbean and African countries join the parade, which spans the generations.
On Remembrance Day 2021 and 2022, Azizi Peters, now 25, who came to Britain in 2020 and joined the Army, laid wreaths on behalf of the armed forces.
“I’m a Vincentian – I am from Saint Vincent and the Grenadines,” she says.
Twins and mothers Krystyna Antoine and Kerryn Ghann, 36, fourth generation, work in the National Health Service, just like so many of the first generation.
Krystyna says: “My heritage is definitely in my DNA. Here, are values I love and respect. It’s not money. It’s not things. It’s just being saturated with love, compassion – and food.”
Kerryn says: “I choose what to impart to my children. If I don’t impart my culture into my kids, they will lose it.
“I don’t want my Caribbean culture to fizz out and I don’t want my girlies to question their Jamaican and their Ghanaian roots.”
Elaine Roberts, whose parents arrived from Jamaica at the beginning of the 1960s, is part of a team that provides a free food package in Clapham, mostly for Caribbean elders.
“My mum taught me to cook,” Elaine says. “When we came home from school, me and my sisters had to cook food for when she came in from her work, as a cleaner in Vauxhall College. I’ve taught my children and grandchildren how to cook Jamaican food.
“It’s been 14 years I’ve been here, every Thursday without fail. It’s good what we are doing here, helping people.”
Brightly coloured nail varnish is now appearing around the domino tables of south London.
Founded in 2021, Diamonds, the only all-women team in the country, drew 30 members from five clubs
Aged from their 20s to their 60s, they wear baby-pink polo shirts with their nicknames on the backs.
And in April, after beating an all-men Wasp team, in Clapham, they danced proudly with their trophy to Rihanna’s hit Diamonds.
In December 2019, Jayanne Davis (above left), then aged 19, oversaw the traditional pouring of the “last tot” for her mother, Diane, as part of a traditional Jamaican funeral.
Three years before, Diane had poured the last tot on to the coffin of her mother, Floris, who had arrived from Jamaica in the mid-50s to become an NHS nurse.
In 2018, Diane had told Grover: “It’s about keeping your roots and culture. Everything I have been taught I pass on to my children – so, hopefully, when it’s my time, I will get that send off, because that’s what I’d want.”
Merah-Louise Smith, 110, is one of, if not the, oldest, woman of Caribbean heritage in the UK. She arrived from Jamaica in 1963, following the death of her husband, in 1959.
Ms Smith has three children, six grandchildren, 11 great-grandchildren and three great-great-grandchildren and will shortly receive the freedom of the borough in Croydon.
“I still am a Jamaican,” she says. “Of course I feel Jamaican.”
Windrush: A Voyage through the Generations is in Clapham Library from 1 June to 30 September. A book accompanies the exhibition.
