June 22, 2019 - 2302 views
A local organisation promoting multi-cultural understanding, cooperation and intergation has just marked a very special event for Windrush Day.
The Centre for Cultural Engagement in Colwyn Bay has hosted the first of two days of commemoration and celebration marking the day the ship HMT Empire Windrush landed at Tilbury Docks in East London, bringing with it the first immigrants from the Caribbean.
The ship's name led the British public to refer to the immigrants as the 'Windrush Generation', and the large scale wave of Caribbean immigrants that entered the country during the following years.
Earlier today the centre on Greenfield Road welcomed guest speakers and local people. Celebrations continue tomorrow (Sunday) between 11am and 3pm.
The event's guest of honour today was James Thakoordin, a successful author. Jim works to support community organisations and is a living member of the Windrush Generation.
Jim was born in Demerara, Guyana and worked with his parents as a child labourer on Lord Booker sugar plantation before arriving in London age seventeen without any qualifications.
He is well known and respected for his work on anti-racism, equality and diversity; challenging and working with institutions and bodies to promote fairness, justice, and equality of access to opportunities.
Today's special event concluded with dinner at the Clockhouse in Colwyn Bay.
While the Windrush Generation and their descendants are today honored for their immense contributions to British society, the first Afro-Caribbean immigrants were met with extreme intolerance from large parts of the white population.
Having initially been encouraged to settle and take up employment to revive the labour market, many early immigrants were denied access to private employment and accommodation on account of their skin.
