British Trade in Black Labour: The Windrush Middle Passage

After World War Two Caribbean people re-crossed the Atlantic Ocean, this time not as chattel slaves but in response to the push of colonial oppression and exploitation, and the demand for their labour in the UK. Professor Sir Hilary Beckles examines the circumstances which lead to this ‘second Middle Passage’ in this keynote lecture.

Historian Hilary Beckles is Vice-Chancellor of the University of the West Indies (UWI). Born in Barbados, he received his higher education in the UK and has lectured extensively in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas. Professor Beckles has written widely on Caribbean economic history, cricket history and culture, and higher education.  The author of more than 10academic books he also serves on the editorial boards of several academic journals. He is also the founder and Director of the CLR James Centre for Cricket Research, and a former member of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB).

Sponsored by the Eccles Centre for American Studies at the British Library

Image: The Empire Windrush by Royal Navy official photographer, via Wikimedia Commons

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