The Windrush Generation helped shape modern Britain - it's time the Government recognized this

20/09/2024
by Dr Les Johnson, Founder & Chairman. Also published in The Voice 

The founder and Chairman of the newly founded National Windrush Museum comments on a recent visit from Home Office Minister.

On June 22nd, 2022, Dr Les Johnson presented and explained the idea of the National Windrush Museum in The Voice’s Windrush Special Edition. A series of focus groups and a feasibility study had been conducted, after which, Dr Johnson provided the initial funding to initiate its development.

Last year National Windrush Museum hosted its inaugural international Windrush conference at Battersea Power Station and obtained an award through Mindsets and Missions funding from the Museums Association. This enabled a critical phase of research. During Windrush 75, National Windrush Museum signed a Memorandum of Understanding at the House of Lords with Royal Museums Greenwich (RMG) and started a historical collaboration.

In June of this year, the museum’s summer season was launched in collaboration with RMG and Greenwich University, featuring the Windrush Lectures series at the Queen’s House and its second international Conference..

Last week, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State Seema Malhotra, a minister from the Home Office visited the National Windrush Museum at its premises at RMG. The following is a statement from Dr Les Johnson Founder and Chairman of the National Windrush Museum.

Statement from National Windrush Museum Chairman

The National Windrush Museum is more than a repository of memory; it is a testament to the ongoing dialogue between past and present, where the legacies of the Windrush Generation intersect with the narratives of a nation in flux. We are not simply curators of history; we are custodians of a living archive that challenges us to reconsider the contours of British identity, asking: Who belongs? And on what terms?

The arrival and settlement of the Windrush Generation pioneers after World War II was not merely a migration—it was a seismic shift in the cultural and social landscape of Britain. These individuals did not enter into a fixed and unchanging British identity; rather, they helped to create it. They were not passive recipients of history but active agents, shaping and reshaping the very fabric of this nation. In this sense, our museum is not a monument to the past, but a lens through which we can examine the complexities of belonging, identity, and citizenship.

At the heart of the NWM lies a paradox: we honour the contributions of the Windrush Generation while simultaneously grappling with the injustices they have endured.

The Government Windrush Scandal is not simply a shameful bureaucratic failure, but a profound misrecognition—a failure to acknowledge the full humanity and dignity of those who helped build Britain in the post-war period, many of whom fought in World War II.

We must ask ourselves: What does it mean for a nation to fail its citizens, and how do we move towards redress and reconciliation?

The project of developing a National Windrush Museum, therefore, is not just about preservation—it is about accountability. It is a call to action, urging us to confront the unresolved questions of justice and reparation. The stories to be housed within its walls are not relics of the past; they are ongoing, urgent, and demand our attention. To engage with them is to engage with the broader question of how a society reconciles with its colonial past and envisions a future for Britain of genuine inclusion.

So, as we welcome the Home Office to our new museum, we do so with an expectation that this moment, at this important time, signals more than symbolic recognition.

It must be the beginning of a renewed commitment to addressing the wrongs of the past, particularly the consistent failures and unmet promises of compensation for the Government Windrush Scandal and restitution for the Windrush Generation.

Justice, in the context of the new government, cannot remain an abstract ideal—it must materialize in concrete actions that honour the lives and legacies of those who have been wronged.

The Windrush Generation’s story is not a marginal one; it is central to the understanding of Britain’s modern identity. The fire that we stand strong behind, is a mandate that rejects racism in our nation. The purpose of this museum is to serve as a reminder that the history of this country is, in fact, the history of migration, resistance, innovation, and transformation.

It challenges us to think critically and envision a Britain that thrives on pluralism, grounded in justice, equity, and opportunity for all. Righting the wrongs of the past is not just an obligation—it is the foundation for a future where every voice matters, and every life is valued.

Now is the time for our country to build that future—a future where our diversity is our greatest strength, and where the Windrush Generation and their descendants have a genuine place in the story of British history.

Dr Les Johnson

Founder and ChairmanNational Windrush Museum