Wonderful event and exhibition at Brixton library yesterday, "My Mother-in-Law's Dresses". Curated by Windrush campaigner and former Lambeth councillor Sonia Winifred, the exhibition is an historical and cultural tribute to her late mother-in-law, Girleyvine ("Girly") who emigrated from Jamaica to the UK's Lambeth in 1958. The exhibition features Girleyvine’s personal collection of stunning vintage dresses, cosmetics and perfumes, and some lovely musical boxes. There's a lot of irritation amongst some historical purists who say that the idea of a Windrush Generation distorts the history of the African presence in the UK going back centuries. And there's much wrong with how that era and its people are spoken about, not least our misfocus on the ship. Sonia's collection shows that not only is there such a thing as the Windrush era to be celebrated (possibly renamed), but that the discourse ought to move from one that prioritises the Windrush Scandal and the oppression, to include the varied dimensions and experiences of the people whose lives we talk and write about. Lovely to see fashion featured and discussed not just in the sense of dappy dressers, but around style, creativity and craft, economy, the labour, commerce, the relationships formed, the outings and events adorned, and the memories some pieces evoke in those still living.

Despite progress, there continues to be ongoing injustices faced by some victims of the #Windrush Scandal. There is no doubt in my mind that there is something pernicious about the treatment of victims from West Africa, as this Observer story highlights, victims who have not had much benefit from representation or community led activism regardless of what the schemes are called. If you have no immigration status papers, or you've suffered a detriment because of an act or ommision of the Home Office, contact the Windrush Taskforce or any of the community groups or lawyers working on Windrush cases. Government after government has made promises, but still victims face hardships. And still we wait for there to be a statutory inquiry. observer.co.uk/news/national…

This might be humour, but it's also spot on.

Careworkers from overseas in the UK facing challenges due to government and Home Office policies, including the removal of the right to bring their dependants to the UK and the threat of proposed changes to settlement routes, use Asa's Jailer in an evocative protest.

RIP Professor Jason Arday. Tens of thousands of us assembled in Trafalgar Square last night to remember you and to demand change. I am so sorry that you did not know that you were loved and supported by so many.

Most of us who signed the open letter in support of former Cambridge Professor, Jason Arday, has had the media on our case for the past couple of days. I signed the letter. Jason's resignation seemed bound to happen and once Cambridge University started its own investigation, inevitable. Jason was clearly hounded by people with an agenda, particularly ones with distasteful and discredited views on race. They in turn were fuelled by a ravenous media which thrives on people's downfall, and other nefarious commentators. But Jason's fate was sealed as the discussion moved from plagiarism and his scholarship, to his character, in a way we've not seen before. And there are plenty of accusations of plagiarism. Academia in the UK is overwhelmingly white so therefore faculty plagiarism is going to be overwhelmingly white. We read about these cases from time to time. I don't recall the sort of forensic examination of every facet of the protagonist's life as I've seen in this case. I don't recall the elderly parents of anyone being doorsteped. African and Asian heritage professionals are over surveilled, micro managed and investigated. This is simply a fact; report after report in some professions, including law and medicine, tell the tale. So whereas media presenters are trying to catch us out when they ask whether race is a factor in this case, it is fair for me, who's worked in the UK for 40 plus years, including as a race equality officer, to say that whilst we don't know the facts in this particular case, we do know the uncomfortable truth that the likelihood is high and as luck would have it, the end might well have justified the means. But this isn't always the case! I signed the open letter when I heard that Liverpool John Moores had cleared Jason of plagiarism. Are they maintaining their position? Is he innocent of this? Was the problem poor citation, or something else? Who amongst us know the facts? This sorry tale does raise issues about the quality of the work done in some of these institutions, including the hallowed ones, and about how autism and neurodivergency might play out in the final analysis. If the multiple stories portrayed as fact turn out to be fantasy, exaggeration or invention, what caused this? Did this young man feel the need to emblish facts to fit in to what is a high, and possibly overachievening, world? Jason is obviously a very talented young man whatever the facts turn out to be. I hope he receives the best support, love and care from his friends and family and can reset and go on to use his talents. Whatever the facts are on his extra curricular activities and on the plagiarism when things are examined, Jason has, seemingly, more talent than most of the people celebrating his downfall. Not sure many of us can write a PhD even with copied paragraphs, run a marathon, or have any inclination to do anything useful for our communities. It's been interesting to hear his bright students speak about him and credit him with their own development. I was happy when I read about his appointment. It is rare to see a young Black person in the space he occupied. I am sad to read about his resignation, the confusion, the gotcha comments, and the implications for those who seek to put their head above the parapet only to be told you don't belong and, we'll get you one way or the other.

leighday.co.uk/media/wxicocn… Jamaica Gleaner covers Windrush letter sent to both the former and current UK prime ministers. Full letter at link. The letter was a joint initiative of lawyers and community campaigners and organisations. #Windrush

Windrush Day continues to be overshadowed by the Windrush Scandal. Yesterday I had the pleasure of being in conversation with an excellent panel of experts: Rachel Okello, Zoe Smith and Clem John in the beautiful setting of Grenada's Coyaba Beach Resort. Whilst we discussed topics as varied as the Black presence in the UK pre Windrush, the post war patterns of migration to the UK, and modern day migration to the UK, it was the Windrush Scandal, the challenges for those who gave up on the UK and returned home and questions of identity, belonging and defining home, which captivated the audience made up of for ease of reference I'll call the Diaspora and local people. The Windrush Scandal is seen through the prism of the wider inequalities faced by Black people in Britain across all spheres, including employment, education, access to capital, housing, health care, and engagement with the police and criminal justice system. The stories of the challenges of living in the UK, juxtaposed with those trying to resettle back into their former lands after long absences, provide a revealing and often heartbreaking story which defines the lives of so many who travel for better lives, for migrantion and for refuge. I ended the session by reading an extract, which I find myself using a lot recently, from Guyanese Poet Grace Nicholas who wrote in Whereever I Hang (1950): "...now after all this time I get accustom to de English life But I still miss back-home side To tell you de truth I don't know really where I belaang Yes divided to de ocean Devided to the bone Wherever I hang me knickers - that's my home" Please see Leigh Day's blog on Windrush Day at the link: lnkd.in/eVCUpX2q – at Grenada

Windrush Day 2026 with a difference. Windrush Day, celebrated in the UK to mark the arrival of the Windrush Generation, is steeped in controversy. There are those who think the idea of the Windrush Generation, defined as those who arrived from the Caribbean, mostly but not exclusively, to the UK between 1948 and 1973, and a day to celebrate this, undermines the presence of people of African heritage found living and working across the professions, and those enslaved by British families. I have some sympathy for this save for the fact that other groups seem able to study or celebrate a finite period of history without anyone suggesting it undermines the bigger story. There are historians studying the clothing of monarchs, particular speeches, an instrument, an incident in a war, and no one bats an eyelid. If you're doing anything concerning Africans, it must be all encompassing. So I often get asked why I speak about the kidnapping of Africans for the transatlantic slave systems, rather than all forms of slavery. Absurd right! Anyway, the Windrush story, for all its faults, is one tiny story in the history of travel and migration from the Caribbean and elsewhere to the UK. No one is claiming it is the defining story of the Black and African presence in the UK. We know the history. We have the records of the African presence in the British Royal family, in science and scholarship, in military companies, in the medical and other professions, in the arts and in politics, centuries before that "bloody ship was even conceived" as my mentor Professor Gus John, always reminds us. With all that, if you're in Grenada on Monday, do join us for brunch where I'll be discussing Windrush, migration, passports and more, with a panel of excellent experts. Please RSVP by DM.