What it means to be the first son of a Windrush descendant

My name is Khrishawn Randal Samuel Powell, aged 24, the first son of Leslie Randal Powell, who sadly passed away on the 13th of February 2021, aged 84. As we mark the 75th anniversary of the Windrush this year, I wanted to share some reflections on being the first son of a Windrush Generation migrant, how it has made me who I am today and how the Windrush Generation can help to inspire future generations to come.

My Father, Leslie Randal Powell, was born in Trelawny Lorimers, Jamaica, in 1937 and came to the United Kingdom in 1956, aged just nineteen. He told me of the challenges of migrating to the UK as he was welcomed to a post-war Britain full of soot and derelict buildings due to the wartime bombings. Posters in windows said, “no dogs, no blacks, no Irish”. My father's first job in the UK was to keep an inventory of the stocks of paint, ladders, and other materials used to rebuild derelict buildings.

My father's second job was in a factory – and how he got this job is one of the reasons why my younger brother Gareth Powell, aged 20, and I have developed our grit and determination. 

Back in the day – before LinkedIn or even job ads in the newspaper – people often had to queue outside where they wanted to work and wait in line to ask for a job. During this time, my father would frequently queue up, day after day, seeking work, only to be denied – while he saw other men being given a position in front of him. Due to my fathers’ great determination, he would keep turning up, asking for work, until they were finally so tired of seeing him that they eventually gave him the job.

My father taught my brother and I never to give up, no matter what obstacles we face. He would tell us we will achieve what we want if we put our minds to it. The Windrush Generation’s ability to work through adversity and handle all the pressures that come with it in a highly stoical manner is something that I try to emulate and will seek to teach future generations of the Powell family to emulate.  Life is not about how often you get hit but how resilient you are to get back up and keep going

Many of my father’s teachings consisted of putting your ambition first and letting the world see it – because even while you think nobody is watching you, they are, and someone will help you. Ambition, he taught us, will carry you around the world – quite literally, in his case. Yet he also told us that we should treat people how we would want to be treated. I sometimes wonder if people paid him that courtesy when he arrived in the UK.

Khrishawn Randal Samuel Powell (right) emulating his father Leslie Randal Powell (left).

Growing up as a Black male of Caribbean descent, my father's teachings were important to me.  I would constantly be bombarded with remarks from my peers and broader society that Caribbean men and boys would never come to anything good in life. Yet the journey of my brother and I has shown that this is not the case, and I have my father’s wisdom and knowledge to thank for that. He set us both up for life, and the Powell family's future generations will be thankful for his teachings as we aim to pass them down from generation to generation.

The Windrush Generation had some very special qualities. I believe all generations of those in the UK with Black ancestry are indebted to them for what they went through when they migrated and how they paved the way for future generations. As many of them are getting old and are in their 90s or close to it, it is only a matter of time before this generation is no longer with us.

So, it is only fitting that we celebrate their courage and determination in the 75th year since the Windrush first docked in the UK. From me, thank you for what you have done and gone through.