tms recognizes and celebrates Windrush and Juneteenth
June 22 marks Windrush Day in the UK. It’s a dedicated time to recognize, celebrate, and thank the Windrush Generation and their descendants for their enormous contributions to British society from the past to the present.
This year marks the 75th Anniversary of HMT Empire Windrush arriving on British shores, bringing 1072 passengers — the majority residents from the Caribbean, as well as passengers from India, Pakistan, Kenya, and South Africa — coming to help rebuild Britain after the war.
In the London tms theatre space, Charles Ogunkeye, Trends Analyst, hosted a panel with three tms Windrush descendants: Alex Francis, Associates Manger, Brand Partnerships, Maurice Clarke, Director, Business Operations and Samantha Simpson, Quality Assurance Engineer. This was a great opportunity for employees to enjoy some delicious Caribbean food, whilst immersing themselves in the history, heritage and inspiring legacy of the Windrush Generation, as well as hearing directly from their colleagues’ lived and learned experiences!
Watch our Windrush Day Lunch & Learn.
It was great to see tms celebrate the 75th year of Windrush. We don’t have many celebrations of Black history in the UK so to see this being recognized, celebrated, and embraced by our colleagues meant the world. It goes to show that when provided with the space and opportunity, people are willing to learn and educate themselves!
Following the Windrush Lunch and Learn, Stephen Williamston Jr, Senior Director for DE&I and Dr Kristi Kelly, Senior Director Enterprise DE&I, hosted a virtual event about Juneteenth in the US and Windrush Day in the UK.
Juneteenth, recognized on June 19, commemorates the emancipation of slavery of African Americans. When Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act in 2021, it has since become a federal holiday for American citizens.
Many educational points were shared by guest speaker Reverend Ray Jordan, a Professor of Civil Rights at Southern Methodist University and a Pastor of First Community United Church of Christ. Reverend Ray spoke on the history of Juneteenth and Windrush, new national recognitions of these days and questions, and the lessons and thoughts the next generation can centre their thoughts around
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