British African-Caribbean people

British African-Caribbean peopleorBritish Afro-Caribbean peopleare anethnic groupin theUnited Kingdom.They are British citizens whose recent ancestors originate from theCaribbean, and further trace much of their ancestry to West and Central Africa or they are nationals of theCaribbeanwho reside in the UK. There are some self-identified Afro-Caribbean people who are multi-racial. The most common and traditional use of the term African-Caribbean community is in reference to groups of residents continuing aspects ofCaribbeanculture, customs and traditions in the UK.
The earliest generations ofAfro-Caribbean peopleto migrate to Britain trace their ancestry to a wide range ofAfro Caribbeanethnic groups.Afro-Caribbean peopledescend from disparate groups ofAfrican peopleswho were brought, sold and taken fromWest Africaasslavesto thecolonial Caribbean.In addition, British African Caribbeans may have ancestry from variousindigenous Caribbeantribes, and from settlers ofEuropeanandAsian ethnic groups.According to the National Library of Medicine, the average African Caribbean person has on average 20% European Admixture.
Arriving in small numbers to reside in port cities in England and Wales since the mid-18th century, the most significant wave of migration came afterWorld War II, coinciding with thedecolonisationera and the dissolution of the British Empire. The governments of the United Kingdom, France, and the Netherlands promoted immigration to address domestic labor shortages.Known as theWindrush generation, they had arrived ascitizens of United Kingdom and Colonies(CUKCs) in the 1950s and 1960s owing to birth in the formerBritish coloniesof theCaribbean. Although those who settled in the UK prior to 1973 were granted eitherright of abodeorindefinite leave to remainby theImmigration Act 1971, a series of governmental policies had caused some to be erroneously labelled as unlawfully residing in the UK in the 2000s and 2010s, which subsequently became known as theWindrush scandal.The population has a diverse background, with origins inJamaica,Trinidad and Tobago,The Bahamas,Saint Kitts and Nevis,Barbados,Grenada,Antigua and Barbuda,Saint Lucia,Dominica,Montserrat,British Virgin Islands,Turks and Caicos Islands,Cayman Islands,Anguilla,Saint Vincent and the Grenadines,Guyana, andBelize.
In the 21st century, Afro-Caribbean communities are present throughout the United Kingdom's major cities, and the surviving members of this generation, sometimes called the Windrush Britons, and their descendants, constitute the multi-ethnic cultural group residing in the country. As there is no specificUK censuscategory which comprehensively covers the community, population numbers remain somewhat ambiguous. 'Black Caribbean' (under a 'Black British' heading), and 'Mixed: White and Black Caribbean' (under a 'Mixed' heading) denote full or partial descent, and recorded 594,825 and 426,715 persons, respectively, at the2011 United Kingdom census. 'White: White Caribbean', 'Mixed: Caribbean Asian' and 'Mixed: White Caribbean' are census categories which were also utilised.In this regard, and illustrating complexities within African Caribbean peoplehood, there are notable examples of those with a parent or grandparent of African-Caribbean ancestry identifying with, or being perceived as,white people in the United Kingdom.
A glossary published in theJournal of Epidemiology and Community Healthwith the intention of stimulating debate about the development of better and more internationally applicable terms to describe ethnicity and race, suggests a definition of Afro-Caribbean/African Caribbean as, "A person of African ancestral origins whose family settled in the Caribbean before emigrating and who self identifies, or is identified, as Afro-Caribbean (in terms of racial classifications, this population approximates to the group known as Negroid or similar terms)".A survey of the use of terms to describe people of African descent in medical research notes that: "The term African Caribbean/Afro-Caribbean when used in Europe and North America usually refers to people with African ancestral origins who migrated via the Caribbean islands". It suggests that use of the term in the UK is inconsistent, with some researchers using it to describe people of Black and of Caribbean descent, whereas others use it to refer to those of either West African or Caribbean background.Furthermore, asimmigration to the United Kingdomfrom Africa increased in the late 20th century, the term has sometimes been used to include British residents solely of African origin or as a term to define allBlack Britishresidents, though the phrase African and Caribbean has more often been used to cover such a broader grouping.
TheBritish Sociological Association's guidelines on ethnicity and race state that "African-Caribbean has replaced the term Afro-Caribbean to refer to Caribbean peoples and those of Caribbean origin who are of African descent.  There is now a view that the term should not be hyphenated and that indeed, the differences between such groups mean the people of African and Caribbean origins should be referred to separately".The GuardianandObserverstyle guide prescribes the use of "African-Caribbean" for use in the two newspapers, specifically noting "not Afro-Caribbean".
SociologistPeter J. Aspinallargues that the term "Black" has been reclaimed by people of African and Caribbean origin in the UK, noting that in a 1992 health survey, 17 per cent of 722 African–Caribbeans surveyed, including 36 percent of those aged 16 to 29, described themselves as "Black British". This, he suggests, "appears to be a pragmatic and spontaneous (rather than politically led) response to the wish to describe an allegiance to a 'British' identity and the diminishing importance of ties with a homeland in the Caribbean".
There isn't one particular 'ethnic group' census category used by theOffice for National Statistics, within theUK census, which comprehensively describes or encompasses persons who are a part of, or identified with, the African-Caribbean community in the United Kingdom.
'Black Caribbean' is the category which recorded the highest population figures (associated with African Caribbean heritage) at the2011and2021United Kingdom censuses. 'Black Caribbean' is under a 'Black or Black British' heading in the census. 'Mixed: White and Black Caribbean' also had a significant recorded population within the country, denoting unquantified partial African Caribbean descent, as well as 'White' ancestry. This ethnic group category was listed under a 'Mixed' heading in the census.
Other 'Mixed' subcategories which identify some form of Caribbean descent are 'Mixed: Caribbean Asian' and 'Mixed: White Caribbean'.'White Other: White Caribbean', a write-in ethnic group under theWhite Othercensus subcategory, may also denote partial or distant African Caribbean heritage.Outside of censuses, there are notable examples of people with African Caribbean ancestry (often via a grandparent or great-grandparent) who are perceived as, or identified with, beingwhite people in the United Kingdom.
In the2021 Census of England and Wales, 623,115 people classified themselves as 'Black Caribbean", amounting to 1 per cent of the total population.
In the2011 Census of England and Wales, 594,825 individuals specified their ethnicity as "Caribbean" under the "Black/African/Caribbean/Black British" heading, and 426,715 as "White and Black Caribbean" under the "Mixed/multiple ethnic group" heading.In Scotland, 3,430 people classified themselves as "Caribbean, Caribbean Scottish or Caribbean British" and 730 as "Other Caribbean or Black" under the broader "Caribbean or Black" heading.In Northern Ireland, 372 people specified their ethnicity as "Caribbean".The published results for the "Mixed" category are not broken down into sub-categories for Scotland and Northern Ireland as they are for England and Wales.
In theUK Census of 2001, 565,876 people classified themselves in the category 'Black Caribbean', amounting to around 1 per cent of the total population.Of the "minority ethnic" population, which amounted to 7.9 per cent of the total UK population, Black Caribbean people accounted for 12.2 per cent.In addition, 14.6 per cent of the minority ethnic population (equivalent to 1.2 per cent of the total population) identified as mixed race, of whom around one third stated that they were of mixed Black Caribbean and White descent.
The Census also records respondents' countries of birth and the 2001 Census recorded 146,401 people born in Jamaica, 21,601 from Barbados, 21,283 from Trinidad and Tobago, 20,872 from Guyana, 9,783 from Grenada, 8,265 from Saint Lucia, 7,983 from Montserrat, 7,091 from Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, 6,739 from Dominica, 6,519 from Saint Kitts and Nevis, 3,891 from Antigua and Barbuda and 498 from Anguilla.
Detailed country-of-birth data from the2011 Censusis published separately for England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. In England and Wales, 160,095 residents reported their country of birth as Jamaica, 22,872 Trinidad and Tobago, 18,672 Barbados, 9,274 Grenada, 9,096 St Lucia, 7,390 St Vincent and the Grenadines, 7,270 Montserrat, 6,359 Dominica, 5,629 St Kitts and Nevis, 3,697 Antigua and Barbuda, 2,355 Cuba, 1,812 The Bahamas and 1,303 Dominican Republic. 8,301 people reported being born elsewhere in the Caribbean, bringing the total Caribbean-born population of England and Wales to 264,125. Of this number, 262,092 were resident in England and 2,033 in Wales.In Scotland, 2,054 Caribbean-born residents were recorded,and in Northern Ireland 314.Guyana is categorised as part of South America in the Census results, which show that 21,417 residents of England and Wales, 350 of Scotland and 56 of Northern Ireland were born in Guyana. Belize is categorised as part of Central America. 1,252 people born in Belize were recorded living in England and Wales, 79 in Scotland and 22 in Northern Ireland.
Based on a variety of official sources and extrapolating from figures for England alone,Ceri Peachestimated that the number of people in Britain born in the West Indies grew from 15,000 in 1951, to 172,000 in 1961 and 304,000 in 1971, and then fell slightly to 295,000 in 1981. He estimates the population of West Indian ethnicity in 1981 to be between 500,000 and 550,000.
Black Caribbeans are more likely than White Britons to have formal qualifications. In 2001, around 29% of White Britons had no qualifications, compared to 27% for Black Caribbeans. In 2011, 24% of White British had no qualifications, higher than the national average of 23%, compared to 20% for Black Caribbeans.
Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, a disproportionate number of Caribbean migrant children were (often wrongly) classified as "educationally subnormal" and placed in special schools and units.By the end of the 1980s, the chances of white school leavers finding employment were four times better than those of black pupils. In 2000–01, black pupils were three times more likely than white pupils and ten times more likely thanIndianpupils to be officially excluded from school for disciplinary reasons.
In 2004, 23.2 per cent of Black Caribbean pupils in England achieved five or moreGCSEsor equivalent at grades A* to C including English and mathematics, compared with 41.6 per cent of White British pupils and 40.9 per cent of all pupils regardless of ethnicity. In 2013, the equivalent figures were 53.3 per cent for Black Caribbean pupils, 60.5 per cent for White British pupils and 60.6 per cent overall.  Black Caribbean pupils from low income backgrounds tend to academically perform better than White British pupils from low income families.Amongst pupils eligible for free school meals (used as a measure of low family incomes), Black Caribbean pupils outperformed White British pupils by 36.9 to 27.9 per cent for boys and 47.7 to 36.8 per cent for girls in 2013. A report published by the Department for Education in 2015 notes that "Black Caribbean and Mixed White & Black Caribbean students have...shown very strong improvement, from being half as likely [as] White British students to achieve the benchmarks of educational success in the early 2000s to near parity in 2013, although stubborn gaps do remain".
Black Caribbean pupils have a higher university entry rate than White British students.
Socio-economic status is based on the type of work a person does, or what they used to do if they are retired. According to data based on the 2011 Census, 40.7% of Black Caribbeans placed in the top 3 socio-economic groups (higher/lower managerial, professional and intermediate). This ranked as the fifth highest combined percentage out of the 18 ethnicities featured.
In terms of occupational class, research by Professor Yaojun Li finds thatsecond-generationBlack Caribbean men (i.e. those born in the UK or arrived before the age of 13) are more or less on par with White British men, while Black Caribbean women had a higher occupational class than White British women from the 1970s to the 1990s. Second-generation Black Caribbean women have now surpassed White British women.Further research by Dr Richard Norrie ofCivitasnoted a growing Black middle class, with around 35.7% of Black Caribbean men in "middle class" jobs in 2020 (compared to only 7% in the 1970s/1980s). The corresponding 2020 figure for White British men is 35.8%. The report claims that this convergence is "testimony to the accomplishments of black Caribbean men, as well as the openness of British economic life".
In 2007, a study by theJoseph Rowntree Foundationfound that Black Caribbeans had one of the lowest poverty rates among the different main ethnic minority groups in Britain. Of the largest non-white ethnic minority groups, Bangladeshis (65%), Pakistanis (55%) and Black Africans (45%) had the highest poverty rates. Black Caribbeans (30%) and Indians (25%) had the lowest rates. For families where at least one adult was in paid work, Black Caribbeans and Indians again had the lowest poverty rates of 10-15%, compared to around 60% for Bangladeshis, 40% for Pakistanis and 30% for Black Africans.In 2011, a further comparison found that Black Caribbeans (with British Chinese and Indians) had lower  child and adult poverty rates than Bangladeshis, Pakistanis and Black Africans.
White Britons tend to have the highest net wealth. Estimates of Black Caribbean wealth vary, according to source. A 2020 report by theResolution Foundationfound Black Caribbeans have a median net family wealth per adult of £120,000 (higher than Chinese, Black African, Bangladeshi, Pakistani and Other White), placing them in third place out of the major ethnic groups in the UK.Civitas's study found that Black Caribbeans have an individual median wealth of £85,000 - again placing them in third place out of the major ethnic groups in the UK:
Between 1972-2020, of the largest ethnic minority groups in Britain, Black Caribbeans (and Indians) had the highest employment rates overall. For much of the 1970s, Black Caribbeans had the highest employment rates - even higher than the White ethnic group.
Between 2004-2008 and 2013-2014, Black Caribbeans earned more than their White British counterparts.In 2015, theEquality and Human Rights Commissionconducted research into ethnic minority pay gaps between 1993-2014. The report found that UK born Black Caribbean men had closed much of the pay gap to White British males, while UK born Black Caribbean women consistently out-earned White British women.
In 2019, Black Caribbeans had a higher hourly median wage than Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Black Africans, White other and the other Asian ethnic group. Black Caribbean women continued to earn more on average than White British women.
According to the2021 United Kingdom census, the ten local authorities with the largest proportion of Black Caribbean people were largely concentrated in Greater London:Lewisham(10.61%),Croydon(9.24%),Lambeth(9.13%),Hackney(6.91%),Waltham Forest(6.32%),Brent(6.26%),Haringey(6.18%),Southwark(5.90%),Enfield(5.15%) andBirmingham(3.91%). In Wales, the highest proportion was inCardiffat 0.37%.
In the 2011 Census, the greatest concentration of 'Black Caribbean' people is found in London, where 344,597 residents classified themselves as Black Caribbean, accounting for 4.2 per cent of the city's population.Other significant concentrations were (not in order)Birmingham,Manchester,Bradford,Nottingham,Coventry, Wolverhampton,Luton,Watford,Slough,Leicester,Bristol,Gloucester,Leeds,Huddersfield,Sheffield,LiverpoolandCardiff. In these cities, the community is traditionally associated with a particular area, such asBrixton,Harlesden,Stonebridge,Hackney,Lewisham,Tottenham,CroydonandPeckhamin London,West BowlingandHeatonin Bradford,Chapeltownin Leeds,St. Paulsin Bristol,Handsworth,AstonandLadywoodin Birmingham,Moss Sidein Manchester,St Ann'sin Nottingham,Pitsmoorin Sheffield andToxtethin Liverpool. According to the2011 UK CensusBirmingham was home to the largest Black Caribbean population, followed byCroydon,Lewisham,Lambeth,BrentandHackney.
Beginning from the 16th century until the early 19th century, Africans were purchased byEuropean slave tradersandshipped across the Atlanticto work as slaves in the variousEuropean colonies in the Americas. Approximately 13 million Africans came to the Americas this way, to various locations such asSaint-Domingue,New Spain,Colonial Braziland theThirteen Colonies. Historians estimated approximately two million Africans were shipped to variousBritish coloniesin the Caribbean and South America. These slaves would be givennew names, adopt European dress andChristianity, and be forced to work onplantationswhich producedcash cropsto be shipped back toEurope, completing the last leg of thetriangular trade. Conditions on these plantations were harsh, and many escaped into the countryside or showed other forms of resistance.
One impact of theAmerican War of Independencewas the differing historical development ofAfrican-Americanand African-Caribbeans. Whereas the American colonists had legalised slavery via theircolonial assemblies, slavery was never legal under Britishcommon lawand was thus prohibited in Britain.
The much laudedblack BritonIgnatius Sanchowas among the leadingBritish abolitionistsin the 18th century, and in 1783 an abolitionist movement spread throughout Britain to end slavery throughout the British Empire, with the poetWilliam Cowperwriting in 1785: "We have no slaves at home – Then why abroad? Slaves cannot breathe in England; if their lungs receive our air, that moment they are free. They touch our country, and their shackles fall. That's noble, and bespeaks a nation proud. And jealous of the blessing. Spread it then, And let it circulate through every vein."There are records of small communities in the ports ofCardiff,Liverpool,LondonandSouth Shieldsdating back to the mid-18th century. These communities were formed by freed slaves following theabolition of slavery in 1833.Typical occupations of the early migrants werefootmenorcoachmen.
Prominent African-Caribbean people in Britain during the 19th century include:
The growing Caribbean presence in theBritish militaryled to approximately 15,000 Afro-Caribbean immigrants arriving in the north-west of England around the time ofWorld War Ito work in munitions factories.
During the First World War, SergeantWilliam Robinson Clarketravelled from his native Jamaica and became Britain's first black pilot.
TheJamaicanpoet andcommunistactivist,Claude McKaycame toEnglandfollowing the First World War and became the firstBlack Britishjournalist, writing for theWorkers' Dreadnought.
BahamianDrAllan Glaisyer Minnsbecame the first black mayor in Britain when he was elected Mayor ofThetford,Norfolk, in 1904.
In February 1941, 345 West Indian workers were brought to work in and aroundLiverpool.They were generally better skilled than the localBlack Britishpopulation. There was some tension between them andWest Africanswho had settled in the area.
AfterWorld War II, many Caribbean people migrated to North America and Europe, especially to the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, and the Netherlands. As a result of the losses during the war, the British government began to encourage mass immigration from mainland Europe to fill shortages in the labour market. Citizens from the former countries of theBritish EmpireandCommonwealthalso began to seek work in the UK,though the government's preference was for European workers to fill shortages.Kenneth Lunn writes that, "By promoting employment schemes for white European workers to fill existing labour shortages and by choosing to discourage, albeit in an informal manner, black workers from the Commonwealth, a clear set of preferences were displayed".The Ministry of Labour was particularly opposed to recruiting labour from the Caribbean, arguing that "previously advertised shortages no longer existed. In labor sectors where shortages could not be denied, the ministry concentrated on demonstrating that colonial citizens would make unsuitable workers".Nonetheless, theBritish Nationality Act 1948gaveCitizenship of the UK and Coloniesto all people living in the United Kingdom and its colonies, and the right of entry and settlement in the UK.Many West Indians were attracted by better prospects in what was often referred to as the mother country.
The first ships to carry large groups of West Indian people from Jamaica to the United Kingdom were the SSOrmonde, which docked at Liverpool on 31 March 1947 with 241 passengers, and the SSAlmanzora, which arrived at Southampton on 21 December that same year, with 200 passengers.However, it was the voyage ofHMTEmpire Windrushin June the following year that was to become well-known.
Empire Windrusharrived with a group of 802 migrants at theport of Tilbury, near London, on 22 June 1948.Empire Windrushwas atroopshipen route from Australia to England via theAtlantic, docking inKingston, Jamaica, in order to pick up servicemen who were on leave.An advertisement had appeared in a Jamaican newspaper offering cheap transport on the ship for anybody who wanted to travel to the United Kingdom. Many former servicemen took this opportunity to return to Britain with the hopes of rejoining theRAF, while others decided to make the journey just to see what England was like.Unlike the previous two ships, the arrival of theWindrushreceived a great deal of media attention and was reported by newspaper reporters andnewsreelcameras.
The arrivals were temporarily housed in theClapham Southdeep shelterin southwest London, about two miles (three kilometres) away fromColdharbour LaneinBrixton. Many intended to stay in Britain for less than a few years, and some did return to the Caribbean, but the majority remained to settle permanently in Britain.The arrival of the passengers became an important landmark in the history of modern Britain, and the image of West Indians filing off the ship's gangplank has come to symbolise the beginning of modern Britishmulticulturalsociety.
The arrival of West Indian immigrants on theEmpire Windrushwas not expected or approved of by the British government.George Isaacs, theMinister of Labour and National Servicestated in Parliament that there would be no encouragement for others to follow their example. In June 1948, 11 Labour Members wrote toBritish Prime MinisterClement Attleecomplaining about excessive immigration. In the same month,Arthur Creech Jones, theSecretary of State for the Coloniesnoted in aCabinetmemorandum that the Jamaican government could not legally prevent people from departing, and the British government could not legally prevent them from landing. However, he also stated that the government was opposed to this immigration, theColonial Officeand the Jamaican government would take all possible steps to discourage it.
In June 1950, a Cabinet committee was established to find "ways which might be adopted to check the immigration into this country of coloured people from British colonial territories." In February 1951, the committee reported that no restrictions were required.
There was plenty of work in post-war Britain, and industries such asBritish Rail, theNational Health Serviceand public transport recruited almost exclusively from Jamaica and Barbados.Though African-Caribbean people were encouraged to journey to Britain through immigration campaigns created by successive British governments, many new arrivals endured prejudice, intolerance andracismfrom sectors ofwhite society.This experience marked African-Caribbean people's relations with the wider community over a long period.Early African-Caribbean immigrants found private employment and housing denied to them on the basis of race. Trade unions would often not help African-Caribbean workers and some pubs, clubs, dance halls and churches would bar black people from entering.Housing was in short supply following the wartime bombing, and the shortage led to some of the first clashes with the establishedwhite community. Clashes continued and worsened into the 1950s, and riots erupted in cities including London,BirminghamandNottingham.In 1958, attacks in the London area ofNotting Hillby white youths marred relations with West Indian residents, and the following year as a positive response by the Caribbean community an indoor carnival event organised byWest Indian GazetteeditorClaudia Jonestook place in St Pancras Town Hall, and would be a precursor to what became the annualNotting Hill Carnival.Some of the racism and intolerance was stoked by explicitlyfascistoranti-immigrationmovements includingOswald Mosley'sUnion Movement, theLeague of Empire Loyalists, theWhite Defence League, theNational Labour Partyand others. Influenced by this kind of propaganda, gangs ofTeddy Boyswould sometimes attack black people in London.Historian Winston James argues that the experience of suffering racism was a major factor in the development of a shared Caribbean identity among immigrants from a range of different island and class backgrounds. The shared experience of employment by organisations such asLondon Transportand the National Health Service also played a role in the building of a British African-Caribbean identity.
Social GeographerCeri Peachestimates that the number of people in Britain born in the West Indies grew from 15,000 in 1951 to 172,000 in 1961.In 1962, the UK enacted theCommonwealth Immigrants Act, restricting the entry of immigrants,and by 1972 only holders of work permits, or people with parents orgrandparents born in the United Kingdom, could gain entry – effectively stemming most Caribbean immigration.Despite the restrictive measures, an entire generation of Britons with African-Caribbean heritage now existed, contributing to British society in virtually every field, a generation celebrated in the "Windrush 75 1948–2023 Souvenir Edition" ofThe Voicepublished in June 2023.
The 1970s and 1980s were decades of comparative turbulence in wider British society; industrial disputes preceded a period of deeprecessionand widespreadunemploymentwhich seriously affected the economically less prosperous African-Caribbean community. During the decades of the 1970s and 1980s, unemployment among the children of Caribbean migrants ran at three to four times that of white school leavers.By 1982 the number of all people out of work in Britain had risen above three million for the first time since the 1930s.Societal racism, discrimination,poverty, powerlessness and oppressive policing sparked a series of riots in areas with substantial African-Caribbean populations.These "uprisings" (as they were described by some in the community) took place inSt Paulsin 1980,Brixton,ToxtethandMoss Sidein 1981, St Pauls again in 1982,Notting Hill Gatein 1982, Toxteth in 1982, andHandsworth,BrixtonandTottenhamin 1985.
The riots had a profoundly unsettling effect on local residents, and led the thenHome SecretaryWilliam Whitelawto commission theScarman reportto address the root causes of the disturbances. The report identified both "racial discrimination" and a "racial disadvantage" in Britain, concluding that urgent action was needed to prevent these issues becoming an "endemic, ineradicable disease threatening the very survival of our society".The era saw an increase in attacks on black people by white people. TheJoint Campaign Against Racismcommittee reported that there had been more than 20,000 attacks on non-white Britons includingBritons of Asian originduring 1985.
The police response to the 1993 murder of black teenagerStephen Lawrenceled to outcry and calls to investigate police conduct. The ensuing government inquiry, the Macpherson Report, concluded that there wasinstitutional racismin London'sMetropolitan Police Service.
In 2009, 1.2% of British children under 16 were Black Caribbean and 1.1% were mixed white and black Caribbean. Among those children who were living with at least one Caribbean parent, only one in five was living with two Caribbean parents.
In 2015Catherine Ross, who came to the UK fromSaint Kittsas a child, founded the SKN (Skills, Knowledge and Networks) Heritage Museum, which becameMuseumand: The National Caribbean Heritage Museum, a "museum without walls" based in Nottingham.
From November 2017British newspapers reported that theHome Officehad threatened Commonwealth immigrants who arrived before 1973 with deportation if they could not prove their right to remain in the UK. In April 2018, Prime MinisterTheresa Mayapologised to leaders of Caribbean countries about the way immigrants had been treated,promising compensation to those affected.In what has become known as the "Windrush scandal", Home SecretaryAmber Ruddinitially denied the existence of, and later denied being aware of aggressive departmental deportation targets, but eventually resigned on 29 April 2018 after news outlets published documents indicating that she knew of the targets.Prior to Rudd's resignation,Sajid Javid, her successor as Home Secretary, had expressed sympathy for the victims of the scandal, telling theSunday Telegraphthat "I thought, 'That could be my mum ... my dad ... my uncle ... it could be me.'"Landing cards relating to earlier passenger arrivals in the United Kingdom had been destroyed in October 2010.A public inquiry ordered by theHouse of Commons, titled theWindrush Lessons Learned Review, was published in March 2020.
Genome-wide research ofAfro-Caribbean peoplehave shown that the grouping, on average, have 77.4% African, 15.9% European, and 6.7% Asian DNA. This 2010 study represented African Caribbeans living within theCaribbean.Within the United Kingdom, men and women of African Caribbean origin or ancestry were also found to have around 13 percent of their DNA from sources other thanAfrica. In the research, only volunteers who had all four grandparents of Afro-Caribbean origin were sampled.Researchers have been able to attribute this partly to historic European males' sexual exploitation of enslaved African women.
There are a number of African-Caribbean academics who are especially prominent in the arts and humanities. ProfessorPaul Gilroy, ofAfro-GuyaneseandEnglishheritage, is one of Britain's leading academics, having taughtsociologyatHarvardas well asGoldsmiths Collegeand theLondon School of Economics.The Jamaican-born cultural theorist ProfessorStuart Hallhas also been a highly influential Britishintellectualsince the 1960s.Dr.Robert Beckfordhas presented several national television and radio documentaries exploring African-Caribbean history, culture and religion.
Other prominent academics include Guyanese born ProfessorGus John, who has been active in education, schooling and political radicalism in Britain's inner cities such as Manchester, Birmingham and London since the 1960s. He was involved in the organising the "Black people's day of action", a response to the 1981New Cross Fire. In 1989 he was appointed Director of Education in Hackney and was the first black person to hold such a position. He has also worked as an education consultant in Europe, the Caribbean and Africa. John was the co-ordinator of theBlack Parents Movementin Manchester, founded the Education for Liberation book service and helped to organise the International Book Fair of Radical Black and Third World Books in Manchester, London and Bradford. He has worked in a number of University settings, including a visiting Faculty Professor of Education at theUniversity of Strathclydein Glasgow and is currently an associate professor of the Institute of Education at theUniversity of London. Dr"William" Lez Henryworks with young people, particularly black boys. He is the founder of Black Liberation Afrikan Knowledge (BLK Friday) a platform for people to give presentations to the community. In 2005, he received an Excellence in Education Award at the Challenging The Genius: Excellent Education for Children: "Our Future is Not a dream", Conference in Chicago, USA. He is one of the founding members of the National Independent Education Coalition (NIEC). Henry previously hosted a fortnightly talk show on popular London pirate radio station Galaxy 102.5FM (formerly 99.5 FM) and who is also a former lecturer ofGoldsmiths College. Prof.Harry Goldbourneis a former member of the radical group theBlack Unity and Freedom Partywho went on to teach at theUniversity of the South Bank.
The 1970s saw the emergence of independent filmmakers such as Trinidadian-bornHorace Ové, the director ofPressure, among others.London'sTalawa Theatre Companywas founded in the 1985 by Jamaican-bornYvonne Brewster, their first production being based onC. L. R. James's historical account of theHaitian Revolution,The Black Jacobins.Since the 1980s, theBlue Mountain Theatre's productions have offered a more earthy style of populist comedy, often bringing over Jamaican artists such asOliver Samuels.
WhileGuyaneseactorRobert Adamsbecame the first African-Caribbean dramatic actor to appear on British television on 11 May 1938 (in a production ofEugene O'Neill's playThe Emperor Jones), African-Caribbean entertainers were first widely popularised on British television broadcasts with the postwar resumption ofBBCtelevision in 1946 (pre-war Black entertainers on the BBC – the first in the world – had primarily beenAfrican-Americanstars).The profile of African-Caribbean actors ontelevision, such asLennie James,Judith JacobandDiane Parish, has widened substantially since 1970s programmes such as:Love Thy Neighbour(Rudolph Walker) andRising Damp(Don Warrington) when their role was often to act simply as either the butt of, or foil to, racist jokes made by White characters. The most influential programme in moving away from this formula was the 1989–94Channel Fourbarbershop sitcomDesmond's, starringNorman BeatonandCarmen Munroe. In 1982,Peter Davison, who is ofAfro-Guyaneseand English descent, was the then-youngest-ever actor to play the Doctor inDoctor Who.
One of the biggest African-Caribbean names incomedyisLenny Henry, who began his career as a stand-up comedian but whose television sketch shows, where he often caricatured Caribbeanémigrés, made him popular enough to headline numerous primetime comedy shows from, for instance,Lenny Henryin 1984 toThe Lenny Henry Showin 2004.Becoming a prominent television personality between 2002 and 2009 after appearing on seriesBig Brother,Jade Goodywas ofAfro-Jamaicanand English descent.AnotherBig Brothercontestant,Alison Hammond, has appeared on many television programmes and in 2020,ITVannounced a shake-up ofThis Morningpresenters, with Hammond replacingEamonn HolmesandRuth Langsfordon a Friday, presenting alongsideDermot O'Leary.Hammond is of Afro-Jamaican descent.
Another big African-Caribbean name isAinsley Harriott, who has appeared in several shows includingReady Steady Cook,Can't Cook, Won't Cook,City Hospital,Red DwarfandStrictly Come Dancing.In September 2008, Harriott explored his Caribbean heritage, taking part in the genealogy documentary series,Who Do You Think You Are?.
Other television personalities and presenters includeAngellica Bell,Andi Oliver,Alesha Dixon,Josie d'Arby,Diane-Louise Jordan,Floella Benjamin,Margherita Taylor,Trisha Goddard,Shaun Wallace,Mr Motivator,Alex Scott,MarvinandRochelle Humes.
The highest professional achievement by a British African-Caribbean actor wasMarianne Jean-Baptiste's 1996 nominations for anAcademy Award(Oscar),Golden GlobeandBritish Academy Award(bafta) for her feature-film debut role inSecrets & Lies.Naomie Harrisreplicated this in 2017, with nominations for a Golden Globe, BAFTA and Oscar for her performance inMoonlight.Numerous British African-Caribbean actors have become successful inUSfilm and television. In 2009 portrayingLord Voldemort– one of the most famous characters in cinematic history –Frank DillanehasAfro-Jamaicanand English heritage.Oxfordshire-bornWentworth MillerofPrison Breakfame is also of partial Jamaican descent. Miller earned aGolden Globe Award nominationfor hisPrison Breakroleand won aSaturn Awardfor his guest appearance in the critically acclaimedThe Flash.ActorStephen Graham, who has featured in threeMartin Scorsesedirected productions, hasAfro-Jamaican,Swedishand English ancestry.Delroy Lindoearned aSatellite Awardfor his role in Americandocudramatelevision filmGlory & Honorandwon numerous accolades for his role as Paul, inSpike Lee'shighly praisedDa 5 Bloods.Lindo is of Jamaican heritage.Colin Salmon, who is also of Jamaican descent, is known for playingCharles Robinsonin threeJames Bond filmsand James "One" Shade in theResident Evilfilm series.Marsha Thomason, who is of mixed Jamaican and English heritage, has appeared in Disney'sThe Haunted Mansion,oppositeEddie Murphy, and US television seriesLas Vegas,LostandWhite Collar.Ashley Walters, of Jamaican ancestry, played the role as Antoine inGet Rich or Die Tryin'David Harewood, who is Barbadian descent, played David Estes, Director of the CIA's Counter-terrorism Centre in the highly successful television seriesHomeland.He also played a lead role in the popular American superhero TV seriesSupergirl.Harewood was honoured with theVarietyOutstanding Achievement Award in recognition of his work and success in both the U.K. and U.S.Lashana Lynchfeatured oppositeBrie Larsonin 2019'sCaptain Marveland played the role of Nomi, the secret agent who replacesCraig'sretiredBondinNo Time to Die.Lynch won a BAFTA for her role inNo Time to Die,thanking her Jamaican parents while accepting the award.Adrian Lester, who is of Jamaican descent, featured in the political blockbusterPrimary Colors,directed byMike Nichollsand co-starringJohn Travolta,Kathy Bates,Billy Bob ThorntonandEmma Thompson. This part earned Lester aChicago Film Critics Associationaward nomination for "Most Promising Actor".
One of the most influential African-Caribbean people in the British art world has been Prof.Eddie Chambers.Chambers, along withDonald Rodney,Marlene Smithand curator, artist, critic and academicKeith Piper, founded theBLK Art Groupin 1982, when they were initially based in theWest Midlands. According to Chambers, significant artists such as the Guyanese-born paintersAubrey WilliamsandFrank Bowlingand the Jamaican sculptorRonald Moodyinitially found that, despite achieving worldwide renown, it was difficult to find acceptance in the highest echelons of the art establishment.Chambers worked withDonald RodneyandSonia Boyce, both of whose work is represented in the permanent collections of the London'sTate Britainmuseum. In 1986 theHayward Gallerypresented the exhibitionThe Other Story, which provided a survey of African-Caribbean, African and Asian artists working in the UK.
Other African-Caribbean artists of note includeFaisal Abdu'allahof Jamaican heritage,Guyanese-bornIngrid Pollard,British-based Jamaican painterEugene Palmer, the sculptorGeorge "Fowokan" Kelly, andTam Joseph, whose 1983 workSpirit of Carnivalwas a vivid depiction of theNotting Hill Carnival.The movement was also part of the impetus that led to the founding of theAssociation of Black PhotographersbyMark Sealyand others. In 1999 the filmmakerSteve McQueen(not to be confused with the Hollywood filmstar) won Britain's most prestigious art prize, theTurner Prize, for his videoDeadpan.The artist and producerPogus Caesarwas commissioned by Artangel to direct a film based on McQueen's work.Forward Ever – Backward Neverwas premiered at the Lumiere in London in 2002. Caesar has also established theOOM GalleryArchives, based in Birmingham, which has in excess of 14,000 images including photographs of contemporaryBlack Britishculture.
Edmundo RosOBE,FRAMwas a Trinidadian musician, vocalist, arranger and bandleader who made his career in Britain since 1940. He directed a highly popular Latin American orchestra, had an extensive recording career and owned one of London's leading nightclubs.
In 1983,Cleo Lainewon theGrammy AwardforBest Female Jazz Vocal PerformanceforCleo at Carnegie: The 10th Anniversary Concert. Laine has Jamaican heritage.Caribbean QueenscoredBilly Oceantwo Grammy Award nominations and won him theBest Male R&B Vocal Performanceat the1985 Grammy Awards. Ocean was born in Trinidad but has lived inSunningdale,Berkshiresince 1978. In 1987,Steel Pulsewon theGrammy Award for Best Reggae Album,Babylon The Bandit.Original band members (David Hinds,Basil GabbidonandRonald McQueen) are all of Jamaican descent. Formed in 1988,Soul II Soulgained significant popularity in theU.S.and achieved two Grammy Awards. Founding memberJazzie Bis of Antiguan descent, while lead singer,Caron Wheeler, has Jamaican ancestry. With worldwide record sales of more than 70 million, Grammy Award-nominatedUB40has various members of Caribbean heritage. With multiple UK number-one achievements between 1999 and 2001,S Club 7had two members of African-Caribbean heritage.Bradley McIntoshwas born toAfrican-Jamaicanparents, who had been members of funk groupThe Cool Notes,andTina Barrett, who hasAfrican-Guyaneseand English ancestry.Melanie Brownwas an integral part of the 90s girl groupThe Spice Girls, reportedly thebest-selling female group of all time. Brown was born to a father from Saint Kitts and Nevis.Leigh-Anne Pinnockis a member ofLittle Mix, one of thebest-selling girl groups of all time. Pinnock hasBarbadianandJamaicanancestry.
Estelle, who has a Grenadian father, picked up aGrammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaborationin 2009.Corinne Bailey Rae, achieved Grammy Awards in 2008 and 2012. Her father is from Saint Kitts and Nevis. Part-Jamaican,Ella Mai, wonthe Grammy Award for Best R&B Songin 2019. AMercury PrizeandGrammy Awards-nominated artist, rapperSlowthaihasAfro-Barbadian, English andIrishancestry.Nilüfer Yanyahas the same background, and alsoTurkishheritage.Other Grammy nominated British-Caribbean artists includeJoan Armatrading,Aswad,Craig David,Eddy Grant,Lianne La Havas,Leona Lewis,Mahalia,Julian Marley,Musical Youth,Nao,Maxi PriestandJorja Smith.
African-Caribbeans have made significant contributions to British politics andtrade unionism. Labour MPDiane Abbottbecame the first black female to be elected to theHouse of Commonsin1987.Elected alongside her was one other African-Caribbean Labour MP,Bernie Grant, who hadGuyaneseheritage. Linda C. Douglas was the first black member of the party'sNational Executive Committee, representing the later expelledMilitant tendency. Jamaican-bornBill MorriswasGeneral Secretaryof theTransport and General Workers' Unionfrom 1992 to 2003, and became the first black leader of a major British trade union. Jamaican-bornLurline Champagniebecame the first black woman to stand as a parliamentary candidate for theConservative Partyin 1992.Guyana-bornValerie Amosbecame the first black woman to serve as aCabinet ministerin 2003Dawn Butler, who has Jamaican ancestry, became the first black female to speak from thedespatch boxin the House of Commons in 2009.Dominican-bornPatricia Scotlandwas elected the first femaleCommonwealth Secretary-Generalin 2015.Marvin Rees, who has partial Jamaican heritage, is the UK's first directly elected black mayor.In 2022,Paulette Hamiltonwon theErdingtonby-election to becomeBirmingham'sfirst Black MP.Hamilton has Jamaican ancestry.
Other notable contributors includeDavid Lammy,Jennette Arnold,Jocelyn Barrow,Doreen Lawrence,Alison Lowe,Brenda Dacres,Shakira Martin,Lydia Simmons,Henry Gunter,Sam Beaver King,Harold MoodyandStuart Hall.
British African-Caribbean people are well represented in traditional British sports such asfootballandrugby, and have also represented the nation at the highest level in sports where Caribbean people typically excel in the home countries such ascricketandathletics. Some British African-Caribbean people have gone on to become international sports stars and top global earners in their chosen sporting field.
Britain's firstOlympicsprint medals came fromHarry Edward, born in Guyana, who won two individual bronze medals at the1920 games in Antwerp.Many years later, sprinterLinford Christie, born inSaint Andrew Parish, Jamaica, won 23 major championship medals, more than any other British male athlete to date. Christie's career highlight was winning agold medalin the immensely competitive100 metresevent in the1992 Barcelona Olympics.WelshhurdlerColin Jackson, who went to considerable lengths to explore his Jamaican heritage in a BBC documentary,held the110 metres hurdlesworld record for 11 years between 1993 and 2004.
Ethel Scott(1907–84), who had a Jamaican father and an English mother, was the first black woman to represent Great Britain in an international athletics competition. She was a sprinter active in international competitions for a brief period in the 1930s. Jamaican-bornTessa Sandersonbecame the first British African-Caribbean woman to win Olympic gold, receiving the medal for herjavelinperformance in the1984 Los Angeles Olympics.Denise Lewis, of Jamaican heritage, wonheptathlongold in the2000 Sydney Olympics,a games where 13 of Britain's 18 track and field representatives had Afro-Caribbean roots.Four years later in theAthens Olympics,Kelly Holmes, the daughter of a Jamaican-born car mechanic, achieved the rare feat of taking gold in both the800and1500 metresraces.In the same games, Britain'smen's 4 × 100-metre relay teamofMarlon Devonish,Darren Campbell,Mark Lewis-FrancisandJason Gardener, all of African-Caribbean heritage, beat the favoured United States quartet to claim Olympic gold.Jessica Ennis-Hill, the daughter of a Jamaican self-employed painter and decorator, won heptathlon gold in the2012 London Olympics.
Britishboxersof a Caribbean background have played a prominent role in the national boxing scene since the early 1980s. In 1995Frank Bruno, whose mother was aPentecostallay preacher from Jamaica, became Britain's firstworld heavyweight boxing championin the 20th century.Bruno's reign was shortly followed by British-born JamaicanLennox Lewis, who defeatedEvander HolyfieldandMike Tysonto become the world's premier heavyweight during the late 1990s.MiddleweightsChris Eubank, who spent his early years in Jamaica, andNigel Benn, of Barbadian descent, both claimed world titles and fought a series of brutal battles in the early 1990s.In theSydney Olympicsof 2000,Audley Harrison(who has Jamaican heritage) became Britain's firstheavyweight gold medalist.Other boxing champions from the British African-Caribbean community include the welterweightLloyd Honeyghan, nicknamed "RagamuffinMan" by boxing superstarDonald Curryin 1986, in reference to his (in comparison to Curry's extravagance) normal appearance; Honeyghan subsequently spectacularly defeated Curry.James DeGale, who is ofAfro-Grenadianand English descent, represented Great Britain at the2008 Olympicsas anamateur, winning a gold medal in themiddleweightdivision. He became the first British boxer in history to win both an Olympic gold medal and a professional world title after landing the IBF super-middleweight crown in April 2015.David Haye, who has English and Jamaican heritage, was the first British boxer to reach the final of theWorld Amateur Boxing Championships. Haye is one of only three boxers in history to have unified the cruiserweight world titles and become a world heavyweight champion.Jamaican-bornDillian Whyte, has held theWBCinterimheavyweighttitle since March 2021.
Crickethas long been a popular pastime among African-Caribbean people in both the West Indies and the United Kingdom, though this has waned somewhat since its peak during the 1960s–1980s.After the period of widespread immigration, tours of England by the combinedWest Indian cricket teambecame cultural celebrations of Caribbean culture in Britain, particularly at cricket grounds such asThe OvalinSouth London.Almost all the greatWest Indian cricketersbecame regular features of thedomestic county game, includingGarfield Sobers,Vivian RichardsandMichael Holding. In turn, British cricketers of Caribbean origin also began to make an impact in English cricket. In the 1980s–1990s, players includingGladstone Small(born in Barbados),Devon Malcolm(born in Jamaica)andPhillip DeFreitas(born inDominica)representedEngland, making significant contributions to the side. Phillip DeFreitas, Devon Malcolm and Gladstone Small made 44, 40 and 17test matchappearances for England respectively. DeFreitas also played 103One Day Internationalsfor England. Malcolm made 10 appearances and Small made 53 appearances in the shorter format. Small and DeFreitas also represented England in the final of the1987 Cricket World Cupagainst Australia.
The inaugural West Indian-bornfootballerto play football at a high level in Britain wasAndrew Watson, who played forQueen's Park(Glasgow) and went on to play forScotland. Born in May 1857 inBritish Guiana, Watson lived and worked in Scotland and came to be known as one of the best players of his generation. He played in 36 games for Queen's Park and also appeared for the London Swifts in the EnglishFA Cupchampionship of 1882, making him the first Black player in English Cup history. Watson earned twoScottish Cupmedals and four Charity Cup medals during his career;Who's Whoalso acknowledged his performances in international matches. Watson's place in football history included a spell in management as Club Secretary for Queen's Park – making Watson the first Afro-Caribbean man to reach the boardroom.
Other early Caribbean footballers includedWalter Tull, of Barbadian descent, who played for the north London clubTottenham Hotspurin the early 20th century.Some years later, Jamaican-bornLloyd "Lindy" Delapenhamade an impact playing forMiddlesbroughbetween 1950 and 1957, becoming a leading goal scorer and the first Black player to win a championship medal.However, it was not until the 1970s that African-Caribbean players began to make a major impact on the game.Clyde Best(West Ham United1969–1976), born inBermuda,paved the way for players such asCyrille Regis(born inFrench Guiana),andLuther Blissett(born in Jamaica).Blissett and Regis joinedViv Andersonto form the first wave of Black footballers to play for theEngland national team. Although the number of players of African-Caribbean origin in the English league was increasing far beyond proportions in wider society, when Black players represented the England national team, they still had to endure racial attacks at home and abroad. When selected to play for England, Regis received a bullet through the mail with the threat: "You'll get one of these through your knees if you step on ourWembleyturf."
By the 1980s the British African-Caribbean community was well represented at all playing levels of the game.John Barnes, born in Jamaica, was one of the most talented players of his generation and one of the few footballers to win every honour in the domestic English game including thePFA Players' Player of the Year.Although Barnes played for England on 78 occasions between 1983 and 1991, his performances rarely matched his club standard.Subsequently, Barnes identified a culture of racism in football during his era as a player.Players of African-Caribbean origin continued to excel in English football, in the 1990sPaul Ince– whose parents were fromTrinidad– went on to captainManchester United,Liverpooland the England national team. The contribution was reciprocated when a number of British born footballers includingRobbie Earle,Frank SinclairandDarryl Powellrepresented theJamaica national football teamin the1998 World Cupfinals.
At the turn of the millennium, British-born Black footballers constituted about 13% of theEnglish league,and a number of groups including "Kick It Out" were highlighting issues of racism still in the game.In the2006 World Cup finals,Theo Walcott, a striker of English and Jamaican parents,became the youngest ever player to join anEngland World Cup squad– a side that included African-Caribbean players in every department, goal-keeping, defence, midfield and attack. The England football squad for the 2006 world cup also containedAshley Cole(Barbadian father),Rio Ferdinand(father fromSt. Lucia)Sol Campbell(Jamaican parents)alongside goalkeeperDavid James,Jermaine JenasandAaron Lennon, all with ancestors from the Caribbean.Tyrone Mings,Marcus Rashford,Raheem SterlingandKyle Walkerare some of the British African-Caribbeans who represented England in 2021.
Lewis Hamilton, whose paternal grandparents immigrated fromGrenada, won the2008 Formula One World Championship, in only his second season in the sport; and, after narrowly finishing second in his debut season.  He won the Drivers' Championship again in 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 becoming the most successful British driver in the history of Formula One. Hamilton is ofAfro-Grenadianand English descent.
Clive Sullivan, who had both Jamaican andAntiguanheritage, captained the Great Britain team which won the1972 Rugby League World Cup. Sullivan was the first black captain for a Great Britain team, inanysport.Part of the2003 Rugby World Cupvictory,Jason Robinsonwas the first African-Caribbean to captain the England rugby union side. He is ofAfro-JamaicanandScottishdescent,and his biological sonLewis Tierneyhas the same background with also English ancestry.Ellery Hanley, who has Jamaican heritage, became the first man to captain his side to three consecutiveChallenge Cupvictories.Hanley is the only player to win the covetedMan of Steel awardon three occasions and is widely considered to be one of the greatest players in rugby league history.
Jimmy Peters, who was of partial Jamaican descent, was the first black man to play rugby union forEngland.Another England international rugby union player,Danny Ciprianiis ofAfro-Trinidadian,Italianand English ancestry.Jeremy Guscott, who is ofAfro-Jamaicanand English descent, played forBath,Englandand theBritish and Irish Lions. Other professional players of Afro-Jamaican heritage includeAshton Golding,Michael Lawrence,Umyla Hanley,Anthony Sullivan,Des DrummondandBen Jones-Bishop.
African-Caribbean communities organise and participate in Caribbean Carnivals (Caribbean-style carnivals) throughout the UK. The best known of these is the annualNotting Hill Carnival, attracting up to 1.5 million people from Britain and around the world, making it the largest street festival in Europe. The carnival began in 1964 as a small procession of Trinidadians in memory of festivals in their home country, and today is regarded as a significant event inBritish culture.In 2006 the carnival was voted onto the list of icons of England.
Luton Carnival, which has taken place since 1976,is the largest one day carnival in the U.K. (it is second only to Notting Hill carnival, which takes place over two days).Leeds West Indian Carnivalis Europe's oldest West Indian carnival and now attracts around 130,000 people.Other carnivals include the Leicester Caribbean Carnival and the Birmingham International Carnival.
In 2018, following campaigns and a petition started byPatrick Vernonfor 22 June to be recognized as a national day to commemorate and celebrate migration and migrant communities in Britain,and at the height of the Windrush scandal, it was announced by the British government that an annualWindrush Daywould be held, supported by a grant of up to £500,000, to recognise and honour the contribution of those who arrived between 1948 and 1971 and to "keep their legacy alive for future generations, ensuring that we all celebrate the diversity of Britain's history."
TheWindrush Festivalin London was created in 2018 as a way for home-grown Black businesses and Caribbean-British born Windrush Generation performers to have a platform to celebrate their culture and presence in Britain. The main event Radiate Windrush Festivalis always held on the last weekend of June to follow on from National Windrush Day, other festivals across the country are held generally in the month of June or July.
The earliest Caribbean immigrants to post-war Britain found differences in diet and availability of food an uncomfortable challenge.and many people longed for a "taste of home".In later years, as the community developed and food imports became more accessible to all,grocersspecialising in Caribbean produce opened in Britishhigh streets. Caribbean restaurants can now also be found in most areas of Britain where West Indian communities reside, serving traditionalCaribbean dishessuch ascurried goat, frieddumplings,ackeeandsalt fish(the national dish of Jamaica),Pelau(the national dish of Trinidad and Tobago),Cou-CouandFlying Fish(the national dish of Barbados), Pudding and Souse, as well as Fish Cakes from Barbados, the spices known as "jerk", and the traditional Sunday West Indian meal ofrice and peas.
The best-known Caribbean food brands in the UK are Jamaican Sun, Tropical Sun, Dunn's River andGrace. In March 2007, Grace foods bought ENCO Products, owners of the Dunn's River Brand, as well as Nurishment, and the Encona Sauce Range. Tropical Sun products have been widely available in the UK for more than two decades and there is a sister brand, Jamaica Sun, with products sourced exclusively from Jamaica. The most popular brands can now often be found in the large supermarkets; although the full range continues to be offered only by the local ethnic stores, the interest by the mainstream supermarkets reflects the wider population's interest in ethnic and more lately Afro-Caribbean foods.Caribbean food topped a (2015) list of the types of cuisine British diners would like to see more of on menus.
According to a report by the Caribbean Export Development Agency (Caribbean Export), the number of Caribbean restaurants in the UK tripled in the 12 months leading up to August 2019.
In many parts of Britain, African-Caribbean people have been recognised as being part of a distinct community.In the 1950s and 1960s,community centresand associations sprung up in some British towns and cities with an aim to serve African-Caribbean populations. One such example was the African Caribbean Self Help Organisation (ACSHO), founded in 1994 in the district ofHandsworthin Birmingham.Responsibilities included arranging social events, such asfestivals, carnivals and coach trips, which helped bring the communities together.Large centres presently operating include the Leeds West Indian centreand the Manchester West Indian centre.Typical of present-day centres is the Afro Caribbean Millennium Centre in Birmingham, which was established withNational Lotteryfunding to support principally Caribbean people in areas such as employment, housing, education, immigration, and cultural issues.
The influx of African-Caribbean people to the United Kingdom was accompanied by religious practices more common to the North American continent. In Britain, many African-Caribbean people continued to practiseNon-conformistProtestant denominationswith anEvangelicalinfluence such asPentecostalismandSeventh Day Baptism. African-Caribbean people have supported new churches in many areas of the country, which have grown to act as social centres for the community.Mike Phillips, writing for the UK national archive project, described the influences of the new churches thus; "[they] gave the entire Caribbean community a sense of stability. At a time when migrants were under severe psychological pressure and distrusted the official services, or were misunderstood when they went to them, the Black church groups offered invaluable advice and comfort."In 2005,The Economistmagazine discussed the growth of evangelical churches in London and Birmingham; "Another reason is that Britain's most prominent Afro-Caribbean institutions – the Black evangelical churches – are dominated by the urban poor. That has to do with the way the Caribbean was missionised: the hotter brand of Christianity gained most converts among the dispossessed, who then re-exported it to Britain."The manner of worship in some of these churches is more akin to that ofAfrican-Americanpractices than to traditionalEnglish CatholicorAnglicanliturgy.Gospel musicalso came to play a part in British cultural life. African-Caribbean people played a central role establishing British gospel choirs, most notably theLondon Community Gospel Choir.
Some British African-Caribbean people continue to practise other religious beliefs such asRastafari, which developed in Jamaica. The Rastafarian belief system, associated personal symbols such asdreadlocksand cultural practices concerningcannabishave influenced British society far beyond the African-Caribbean community, being adopted by both white British and others.
Englishis theofficial languageof the former British West Indies, therefore African-Caribbean immigrants had few communication difficulties upon arrival in the UK compared to immigrants from other regions.As integration continued, African-West Indians born in Britain instinctively adopted hybrid dialects combining Caribbean and localBritish dialects.These dialects and accents gradually entered mainstream British vernacular, and shades of Caribbean dialects can be heard among Britons regardless of cultural origin. ALancaster Universitystudyhas identified an emergence in certain areas of Britain of a distinctive accent which borrows heavily from Jamaican creole.
Jamaican poetJames Berrywas one of the first Caribbean writers to come to Britain after the 1948 British Nationality Act. He was followed by writers including BarbadiansGeorge LammingandEdward Kamau Brathwaite, TrinidadiansSamuel SelvonandC. L. R. James, JamaicanAndrew Salkeyand the Guyanese writerWilson Harris. These writers viewed London as the centre of the English literary scene, and took advantage of theBBC RadioshowCaribbean Voicesto gain attention and be published. By relocating to Britain, these writers also gaveCaribbean literaturean international readership for the first time and established Caribbean writing as an important perspective withinEnglish literature.
Some Caribbean writers also began writing about the hardships faced by settlers in post-war Britain. Lamming addressed these issues in his 1954novelThe Emigrants, which traced the journey of migrants from Barbados as they struggled to integrate into British life.Selvon's novelThe Lonely Londoners(1956) details the life of West Indians in post-World War II London. Writing much later,Ferdinand Dennisboth in his journalism and novels, such asThe Sleepless Summer(1989) andThe Last Blues Dance(1996), deals with "an older generation of Caribbean immigrants, whose narratives, stoical and unpolemical, rarely find expression".
By the mid-1980s, a moreradicalwave of writers and poets were addressing the African-Caribbean experience in Britain, promoted by a group of new mainly black-led publishing houses such as Akira, Karia Press (founded byBuzz Johnson),Dangaroo Press, and Karnak House (founded byAmon Saba Saakana), alongside the older establishedNew Beacon Books(founded in 1966 byJohn La Rose),Allison & Busby(founded in 1967 byMargaret Busby) andBogle-L'Ouverture Publications(founded in 1969 byJessica Huntley), and theInternational Book Fair of Radical Black and Third World Books(1982–95).
In 1984, the poetFred D'Aguiar(born in London to Guyanese parents) won theT. S. Eliot Prize, and in 1994 won theWhitbread First Novel AwardforThe Longest Memory.Linton Kwesi Johnson's rhyming and socio-political commentary overdubbeats – including such favourites as "Dread Beat An' Blood" and "Inglan Is A Bitch" – made him the unofficial poet laureate of the British African-Caribbean community.Anotherdub poet,Benjamin Zephaniah, born inBirminghamto Jamaican parents, overcame a spell in prison to become a well-known writer and public figure.In 2003 he declined anOBE, stating that it reminded him of "thousands of years of brutality, it reminds me of how my foremothers were raped and my forefathers brutalised".
African-Caribbean British writers have achieved recent literary acclaim. In 2004,Andrea Levy's novelSmall Islandwon theWhitbread Book of the Yearand theOrange Prize for Fiction, one of Britain's highest literary honours. The book also earned her the 2005Commonwealth Writers' Prize.Levy, born in London to Jamaican parents, is the author of four novels, each exploring the problems faced by Black British-born children of Jamaican emigrants.In 2005,Dreda Say Mitchellbecame the first black British writer to be awarded theCrime Writers Association's John Creasey Daggerfor her debut bookRunning Hot. The book drew upon Mitchell's experiences of working with prisoners and is a chase thriller about a young man trying to break the cycle of going to prison.Mitchell is of Grenadian extraction. In 2006Zadie Smithwon theAnisfield-Wolf Book Award, theCommonwealth Writers' Best Book Award(Eurasia Section) and the Orange Prize forOn Beauty. Smith's acclaimed first novel,White Teeth(2000), was a portrait of contemporary multicultural London, drawing from her own upbringing with an English father and a Jamaican mother.White Teethwas an international best seller and won multiple accolades, including theJames Tait Black Memorial Prizefor fiction, theWhitbread Book Awardin category best first novel, theGuardian First Book Awardand theBetty Trask Award.Timemagazine included the novel in itslist of the 100 best English-language novels from 1923 to 2005.
The UK also has a modest output of African-Caribbeanpopular fiction. A widely known example isYardie, a work ofUrban fictionwritten byVictor Headleyin 1992, describing the life of a Jamaican courier carrying cocaine from Jamaica to London. The book was published by Steve Pope andDotun Adebayoof Xpress books.Spare Room wasDedra Say Mitchell's firstpsychological thriller. Published in 2019, the book became a critically acclaimed international best seller.At the 2020British Book Awards,Candice Carty-Williamsbecame the first black woman to win the "Book of the Year" accolade, for her novelQueenie.The novel, which describes the life and loves of Queenie Jenkins, a vibrant, young British-Jamaican, received positive reviews and was marketed as "a blackBridget Jones".Queenieentered theSunday TimesBestseller hardback chart at number two and went on to win numerous accolades.
The Voicenewspaper was the primary African-Caribbean newspaper in Britain, and was founded in the early 1980s byVal McCalla. However, today it is owned by a Jamaican publisher and has a Caribbean focus.Pride magazine, which has been going for 21 years, is the largest lifestyle magazine for the community and was described byThe Guardiannewspaper as the dominant lifestyle magazine for the black community in the UK for more than 15 years. Its owner Pride Media also specialises in helping organisations target the community through a range of media. Other publications have included theGleaner,Black Voice,New EditorandThe Caribbean Times. The growth of such media is a response to the perceived imbalances of "mainstream" media. In 2006, SirIan Blair, Chief Commissioner of London's Metropolitan Police, joined a long list of commentators in branding the mainstream media as"institutionally racist"for its alleged failure to offer a proper balance in reporting affairs related to the community.
Trinidad-born SirTrevor McDonaldis one of the community's best-known journalists, having been the main presenter (newscaster) for the nationalITVnetwork for more than 20 years.Other notable media figures includeGary Younge,The Guardiancolumnist,Clive Myrie,Gillian Joseph,Charlene White,Darren JordonandMoira Stuart, the veteran BBC news presenter.Trinidadian-bornDarcus Howewrote regularly in theNew Statesmanand fronted a number of documentary series, including theChannel 4current affairs programmeDevil's Advocate. Much of Howe's work related to the experiences of British African-Caribbean people and racism faced by the Black community.Other notable producer/directors areTerry Jervis(Jervis Media) andPogus Caesar(Windrush Productions); both have made multicultural, entertainment and sports programmes forCarlton TV,BBC TVandChannel 4.
The community has a strong tradition of "underground"pirate radiobroadcasters. Among the most established are London's Lightning Radio, Genesis Radio and Galaxy Radio, which play a mix ofragga,reggae,bashment,hip hopandR&B. Pirate radio stations such as Supreme Radio, Galaxy Radio (which calls itself "the only de-brainwashing station"), Genesis Radio (known as "the people's station" or "the black power station") and the more recently emerged radio station Omega FM Radio are particularly highly regarded in the Afro Caribbean community for not only playing a variety of music such as soca, soul, dancehall, jazz, hip hop, Reveail and Funky House, but also for dedicating time to have "talk shows" and "information shows" often taking an uncompromising stance in view. Thus giving the community the opportunity to phone in and participate in an array of subjects that mainstream radio, wider media and even other pirate radio stations refuse to address.
In 2002, the BBC established its digital broadcasting strand,BBC Radio 1Xtra, to focus on new Black music – which in effect means catering to the tastes of the country's African-Caribbean youth.The Internet has afforded the community the opportunity to publish en-masse, and there are now thousands of websites and blogs produced by or for African-Caribbean people in the UK such as the BBC's Family History page,and The African-Caribbean Network, Blacknet UK, launched in 1996.
Award-winning Myrna Loy, a female poet and published writer who has recited poetry alongside Linton Kwesi Johnson is a poet in her own right.  Her poetry radiates passion for political situations, rages against hypocrisy and abuse and balances it with appreciation and gratitude. She came second in theBridport Prize, which is one of the UK's notable and prestigious poetry competitions; and came second for her poem "The Last Poem", performed at the Castillo Centre in Manhattan. Loy is three-times published, her bookThe Other Side of Tourismshares her conflict between her British and Jamaican roots, and her two poetry booksPoetry's TeacherandPoetry's Promiseshare her person and professional life experiences.  As a Black Briton, she says: "British culture teaches us to conform, to hide our light under a bushel, to not sing our praises, so as a result I reveal "my light" through my poetry, paintings and my quarterly magazine calledBlackbright News, which celebrates the wonderful works Black People (not only in Britain) have done.  I may eventually be relegated to the area where tyrants and revolutions belong, but in the meantime, I intend to shout from the roof-tops what I feel and why I feel it!"  Myrna (aka Lady Loy) is a radio presenter on Jamrock Radio, and uses this arena to promote black music and black talent.
The period of large-scale immigration brought many new musical styles to the United Kingdom. These styles gained popularity amongst Britons of all cultural origins, and aided Caribbean music in gaining international recognition. The earliest of these exponents was thecalypsoartistLord Kitchener, who arrived in Britain on theWindrushin 1948 accompanied by fellow musicianLord Beginner.Already a star in his nativeTrinidad, Lord Kitchener got an immediate booking at the only West Indian club in London. Six months later, he was appearing in three clubs nightly, and his popularity extended beyond the West Indian and Africannightclubaudiences, to includemusic hallandvariety showaudiences.Kitchener's recording "London is the place for me" exemplified the experience of theWindrush generation.Other calypso musicians began to collaborate with AfricanKwelamusicians andBritish jazzplayers in London clubs.
Jamaican music styles reached Britain in the 1960s, becoming the staple music for young British African-Caribbean people. Tours byskaartists such asPrince Busterand theSkatalitesfed the growing British-Caribbean music scene, and the success of Jamaican artistsMillie Small,Desmond DekkerandBob and Marciapropelled Caribbean music and people into mainstream cultural life. British African-Caribbean people followed the changing styles of Jamaican music and began to produce homegrown music appealing to both Black and White communities. In 1968,The Catsreleased a cover ofSwan Lake, which became the first Top 50 by a British reggae group and the following year, the British African-Caribbean ska bandSymariprecorded "Skinhead Moonstomp" – a cover of theDerrick MorgansongMoon Hop– which had a huge effect on the British ska scene. The ska sound andrude boyimagery inspired a generation of Whiteworking-classyouths (especiallymodsandskinheads), and later helped spawn Britain'smulti-cultural2 Tonemovement in the late-1970s.
As Jamaican ska gave way to the slower styles ofrocksteadyand the more politicisedreggae, British African-Caribbean people followed suit.Sound systemsto rival those in Jamaica sprung up throughout communities, and "Blues parties" – parties in private houses, where one paid at the door – became an institution. The arrival ofBob MarleytoLondonin 1971 helped spawn a Black British music industry based on reggae. His association with theRastafarianmovement influenced waves of young people, reared in Britain, to discover their Caribbean roots.British BarbadianDennis Bovellbecame Britain's prominent reggae band leader and producer, working with many international reggae stars, and introducing a reggae flavour to the British pop charts with non-reggae acts such as:Dexys Midnight RunnersandBananarama. Bovell also worked extensively with London-baseddub poetLinton Kwesi Johnson.
British music with reggae roots prospered in the 1980s and early-1990s. British African-Caribbean artistsMusical Youth,Aswad,Maxi PriestandEddy Granthad major commercial successes, and the multicultural bandUB40helped promote reggae to an international audience. Birmingham-basedSteel Pulsebecame one of the world's foremost exponents ofroots reggaeand accompanyingblack consciousness, their 1978 debut albumHandsworth Revolutionbecoming a seminal release.
British African-Caribbean music had been generally synonymous with Caribbean styles until the 1990s, although some artists had been drawing on British and American musical forms for several decades. In the 1970s and 1980s, British African-Caribbean artists such asHot ChocolateandImaginationbecame leaders of the Britishdisco,souland R&B scenes.By the mid-1980s, British African-Caribbean people were also incorporating Americanhip-hopandHousestyles, becoming leading figures in Britain's developing dance music culture. This led to an explosion of musical forms. British artists created musical hybrids combining many elements including Europeantechno, Jamaicandancehall, dub,breakbeatsand contemporary American R&B. These unique blends began to gain international acclaim through the success ofSoul II Souland the multi-racialMassive Attack.
British African-Caribbean people were at the leading edge of thejungleanddrum and bassmovements of the 1990s. Although the fast-tempo drums and loud intricate bass lines sounded fresh, Caribbean roots could still be detected.Two successful exponents of these styles were DJsGoldieandRoni Size, both of Jamaican heritage.Later, British African-Caribbean musicians and DJs were at the forefront of theUK garageandGrimescenes.
Historically, community centres have sought to address issues that arise within the community, including problems ofpolice harassmentand concerns about the housing of African Caribbeans, which was viewed as discriminatory during the early decades of mass immigration. One such community centre was the Gloucestershire West Indian Association, which was formed in 1962. The formation of this group was in response to a number of issues that arose within the community at this time. These included problems around police harassment and concerns about the housing of Black people on certain council estates in the city, which was viewed as discrimination and segregation.The centres also allowed African-Caribbean peoples to socialise without risking the potential racial discrimination and aggression of "unfriendlypubs".Many of these associations appointed a Community Relations Officer, whose role was to liaise between the community and wider British society, including theestablishment.
Although the community does not face any official or informal restrictions onpolitical participation, Britons of Caribbean origin are under-represented in local andnational politics.British African-West Indians have long asserted that they encounter discriminatory barriers to most middle- and higher-status occupations, as well as discrimination in hiring practices at all levels ofemployment. There is also considerable evidence that African-Caribbean people experience differential treatment at the hands of public officials, theBritish courtsand penal system, and thepolice.Studies have proposed that the isolation of certain regional urban areas by financial institutions such as insurance brokers disproportionately affects the community to its detriment.
Britain'sschool system, despite efforts to address issues of discrimination,has often been accused of being racially biased to a perceived lack of representation of Black history and culture in the cirricula.Grenadian authorBernard CoardpublishedHow the West Indian Child Is Made Educationally Sub-normal in the British School Systemin May 1971. For example, the distinctCaribbean dialects,creolesandpatois(patwah) spoken by many African-Caribbean immigrants and their descendants, have been problematic in the field of education. In a study by language and education specialist professor Viv Edwards,The West Indian language issue in British schools, language – the Creole spoken by the students – was singled out as an important factor disadvantaging Caribbean children in British schools. The study cited negative attitudes of teachers towards any non-standard variety, noting that:
Although there are hundreds of African-Caribbean teachers in the UK, it has been suggested that their under-representation in inner-city schools is a major factor in the failure, particularly of secondary-level schools, to achieve a satisfactory average of achievement for the community's children (seeBernard Coardand theSwann Reportof 1985).
In 2004, Greater London Authority Economics produced a report to examine the economic contribution black businesses made to London's economy. The report found that black businesses made up 4% of all London's businesses, provided more than 70,000 jobs and had a total turnover of almost £4.5 billion. Of this total, 42% of the businesses were owned by Black Caribbeans or those of partial Black Caribbean origin.
Businesses owned by Africans and Caribbeans generate more than £10bn for the UK each year, according to the Centre for Research in Ethnic Minority Entrepreneurship (CREME).
Notable high profile Black Caribbean business successes includeLevi Roots, whoseReggae Reggae sauceandLevi Roots brandhas grown into a multi-million pound enterprise.Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones'The Black Farmerrange of food products has annual revenues of more than £7m.Pat McGrath Labshas an estimated value of $1 billion.