Kent and the South East reflects on 75 years of Windrush legacy

KMTV reporter Naomi took a look back into her own history to hear her family's stories.

Transcript

00:00 Over 70 years on, in the heart of Kent, compassion and commitment unfolds as many charities join hands

00:07 to celebrate and uplift the spirit of Black History Month.

00:10 Many come together to remember their homes, cultures and where they originated from.

00:16 Lots of things happening so we started to say like nearly 40 years ago out in the front room

00:22 like many black organisations who are people that came over during the Windrush era and before

00:29 to kind of like have a space where they can connect with other people from their community

00:36 to break down isolation, places of worship because often we couldn't get places of worship

00:43 you know people from the same religion so we've been sort of going so nearly nearly 40 years.

00:49 My name is Amy Greenaway and I'm an intern for KMTV. Today's a really special day. I'm actually

00:56 going to find out more about my family's history. My family are part of the Windrush generation

01:02 originally from the Caribbean islands of Montserrat, St Kitts and Nevis and Trinidad. Back home the

01:09 islands are lush, green and incredibly hot and as October celebrates Black History Month I want to

01:16 explore more about my family's generations and why this month is so important to so many and the best

01:23 place to start is by visiting someone who came to the UK all those years ago, my Nan. I was sent to

01:32 England, sent. In those days you had families who would tell you you've got to go to Barbados or

01:39 you've got to go to Jamaica. It took 17 days from my country to come to England but what happened

01:47 in the boat was called called SS Montserrat. It was an Italian boat I think. I think so, I think so.

01:57 However, coming on the boat you saw the Caribbean waters coming into the Atlantic Ocean and

02:06 whoa and it was winter time and the last port of call we had was Barcelona.

02:13 Barcelona, Biscay, the Bay of Biscay. It was like in hell. Coming back here and visiting my Nan has

02:23 been such an amazing experience learning that my Granddad got pneumonia and was hospitalised for

02:30 weeks to my Nan wanted to move to the US not actually coming here. It's incredible what you

02:35 learn when you actually take a step back into history. After World War II the UK government

02:40 needed support from many Caribbean islands to help rebuild the country. This meant many families left

02:47 their home in search for a better life here in the UK. Although me and Dad both grew up here,

02:54 I wanted to know just how different his experience was to mine. I came over by boat with my Mum

03:06 and I can still remember on the ship when we stopped, I think we stopped in Portugal,

03:12 the smell of coffee on deck. I can remember that to this day. People did look at you a bit strange

03:19 as you walked down the road. Some people would cross over to the other side. You would get some

03:24 racist comments. Yeah I can remember in the playground that some people would run up and

03:32 they'd pull your arm up and they'd try and rub your skin to see if they could rub the colour

03:37 off your skin and some would ask questions like do you still eat people? You know and

03:44 how come your hair is so curly? You know those sort of questions. For my family moving to the UK

03:51 was a benefit in a lot of different ways but it certainly came with its challenges. However there

03:57 still remains a hope for future generations, the hope that more people will learn about our history.

04:03 Naomi Greenaway for KMTV.

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