Windrush exhibition opens at Chatham Dockyard

A Time to Remember aims to educate people in Kent about the impact that Caribbean migrants have had in the UK.   Oliver Leader de Saxe reports.

Transcript

00:00So without any further ado, I want to declare, declare the exhibition officially open.

00:11The legacy of the Windrush generation still alive here in Kent.

00:16Around half a million people emigrated from the Caribbean in the 20 years after the Second

00:22World War, building new lives here in the county and beyond.

00:27Now a new exhibition at the historic Chatham Dockyard seeks to celebrate that first generation,

00:3440 years on from the beginnings of the Medway African and Caribbean Association.

00:40I know a lot of the local people are very proud of the exhibition because it tells the

00:45history of their struggles and what they've been through and what they've achieved.

00:50And especially a lot of the younger people in Medway, they get to see that there's a

00:55foundation like MACA here that they can turn to and learn and come along and join and be

01:02a part of.

01:03So yes, it's very, very important for us to honour the local people and let them have

01:11their own exhibition, let them have something.

01:13The first thing you notice when you walk into this exhibition are these.

01:17The shackles that used to chain slaves on a Florida plantation in the 1600s.

01:23This exhibition isn't just about Windrush, it's the entirety of black history, the good,

01:29the bad and the ugly.

01:31Over my shoulder you can see a section on African civilisation, of the cultures that

01:37existed before British slave galleys arrived on the African coast.

01:42And over here are the living rooms, the kitchens, the places that people used to live when they

01:47came here from 1948 to 1971 to help Britain rebuild.

01:53And this exhibition hopes to educate people here in Medway about the importance of recognising

01:58that legacy and that past.

02:01Our story doesn't necessarily begin and end in slavery and oppression.

02:05We do face oppression every single day of our lives, but there is so much more about

02:10our story that will help to create better understanding.

02:14So we were and are kings, queens, inventors, politicians, teachers, doctors, nurses.

02:23So many different things and I think it's important for people to learn more about that

02:28so that we can start to address some of the imbalances and perceptions that people might

02:33have about African and Caribbean communities.

02:36The exhibit is open for the next two weeks, but the message is clear.

02:42Medway's black history isn't going anywhere.

02:45Oliver Leader de Sacks for KMTV in Chatham.