'Windrush started modern Britain'

The impact of the passengers arriving at Tilbury Docks 75 years ago today was transformative — culture, food, humour, the very infrastructure of society was changed forever, says Marcus Ryder

- Marcus Ryder

CELEBRATING the Windrush is my love letter to my fellow black people across the UK, but to my fellow black Londoners in particular. I was born and raised in London. In 2007 my career took me to Scotland, followed by China and then Malaysia, before I eventually returned to London in late 2021. In all my time away the thing I missed the most was my black British community. London is home to the majority of black people living in the UK — from Brixton to Peckham, and from Ian Wright to Malorie Blackman, I believe we are a large part of what makes this one of the greatest cities in the world.

Today is the 75th anniversary of the day 1,027 passengers disembarked the HMT Empire Windrush at Tilbury Docks, over 500 of them from the Caribbean, the majority being Jamaican.

The importance of the Windrush was recognised at the time with the event being captured on film and newspapers reporting on it. The Evening Standard even went as far as chartering a plane to photograph the ship as it approached Britain. The picture was on the front page the next day with the headline: “Welcome Home! Evening Standard plane greets 400 sons of Empire.”

The anniversary and the name ‘Windrush’ hold a special place in the hearts and minds of black Britons and I am glad it is getting the recognition it deserves. Although there has been an African presence in Britain for more than 1,000 years the Windrush is seen as a turning point. It is viewed by many as the start of mass immigration from the then Empire, and the birth of modern British multiculturalism.

For me, though, in many ways it is still hugely misunderstood and goes to the heart of how we think of our history. Because the Windrush does not just mark the black presence in the UK, it marks the start of modern Britain.