Travelling to the “motherland”

Synonyms: native land, homeland, fatherland, country of origin.

I always feel a sense of sadness when I think of those people (some call them immigrants, or migrants) who travelled during the Windrush generation and came to the United Kingdom from the late 1940s. In 1948, the famed ship, the Empire Windrush touched down at the Port of Tilbury near London from Jamaica after 30 days out at sea. My first thoughts were:

“These people would have been excited and happy amongst a range of emotions. Most of all it was a brand new adventure that would reap rewards…”

Around 10 years later in the early 1960s the biggest wave of West Africans came to the UK. Some also came by boat and docked at the Liverpool docks. The feelings would have been the same.

Whether from Jamaica, Barbados, Guyana, Ghana or Nigeria and a host of other “nations” everybody was coming home to the motherland.

“Everybody was coming home to the motherland”

Let’s think this through. You’ve been educated in the UK school system under the colonial power. You have a trade or profession, worked to get money for the trip and proudly worn your best clothes to receive a “warm welcome” in the UK. Many of you came over as students as well. Quite a number would have fought in WWII…