Page 26 - Poems by Alyson Malach - Childhood to Adulthood

Windrush Story

My father arrived in England in 1955.
He came to work on an invita�on, leaving behind his life.

He le� his partner and his children three.

To work hard, share his skills and help prop up the UK economy.

I was a just baby, just three and a half weeks old.
He left me, my brother and sister, to send for us later, my mother was told.

He experienced racism from the day he arrived.

He was shaken and sad, not sure he would survive.

He could not get anywhere decent to live.

Had to settle for rat infested rooms that only rogue landlords would give.

He later told us of names he was called.
How he was shouted at, spat at, and physically mauled.

Over the years he worked hard and setled down

Despite racism s�ll being rife and s�ll scatered around.

When I was five, he sent for us kids.
To provide us with a beter life and somewhere to live

He told us his tales of what he had endured

Listening to his stories, we were never bored.

He o�en told us that the colour of our skin.

Would be a disadvantage and not let us in
The black shade of our skin would make us stand out

We would encounter, like he did, hatred and shouts.

Shouts to get back from whence we came

We would forever experience racist names.

He told us to study hard, to educate our minds.
To rise above the nega�vity and the racist signs

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