With a foreward by Dame Floella Benjamin and drawing on material from the Black Cultural Archives, this book brings together stories from ten writers to commemorate the experiences of the Windrush Generation and their contributions to rebuilding Britain after the 2nd World War. There are reminiscences of the pain of family separation, of children left temporarily in the care of grandparents in the home Caribbean country, of lone journeys responding to British Government adverts inviting its citizens from Caribbean colonies to work in the newly formed NHS and other public services. The stories tell of the joy of family reunion, too, and the beginnings of self-help organisations to combat racism, setting the stage for civic actions such as the Bristol Bus Boycott which led to the first Race Relations Act. The stories use a mixture of formats: first person accounts, letters, extracts from diaries and interwoven with these are short 'Fact Files' which give historical background and biographies of notable individuals and their achievements. A final 'Fact File' explains the scandal of
the government's treatment of some of their children: its wrongful denial of British nationality, use of deportation and exclusion from services and benefits. The text is enhanced by a wealth of photographs, evocative and inspiring in their portrait of
of this pioneering generation. In all. a fascinating new resource for exploring and celebrating Black British history of the post-war period.