Frank Gilbert Crichlow was part of the Windrush generation. Named after the ship HMT Empire Windrush, which arrived in the United Kingdom in 1948, the generation is often defined as the migrants who arrived in the country from Commonwealth nations between 1948 and 1971. While the Windrush wasn't the first boat to bring migrants from the Caribbean into Great Britain and it wasn't the sole ship to transport them (the generation's timespan actually corresponds closely with the growth of air transport), its name has come to symbolize the movement.
Born in 1932 in Port of Spain, the capital of Trinidad and Tobago, Crichlow arrived in the U.K. on the ship Colombie in 1953. Starting his British career with the band Starlight Four, his musical success led to him opening his first food business in Notting Hill. In 1968, he opened another restaurant in the neighborhood, called the Mangrove.
The Mangrove was more than just a restaurant. Frequented by celebrities, many active in the civil rights movements of the United States and United Kingdom, as well as community leaders and activists, it began to build a reputation as a social hub for the local Black community and allies against racism and discrimination.
Despite the Windrush generation migrating to help with reconstruction after World War II had led to great human losses and destruction in the U.K., many locals responded to the new migrants with xenophobia and racism. These attitudes were often institutionalized, with the police forces in particular targeting Black people. The Mangrove itself was raided by police six times during its first year of operation. Just two years later, in 1970, Crichlow and others were arrested during a protest march.
He, along with eight other protestors, came to be known as the Mangrove Nine. Following 55 days of a trial in which they were being charged with incitement to riot, they were eventually acquitted. Crichlow would be arrested twice more, in 1979 and 1988, both for drug offenses. For the latter, he ended up being acquitted and was paid £50,000 by the Metropolitan Police for damages, including malicious prosecution. The Mangrove closed in 1992, and Crichlow passed away in 2010.
This blue plaque honoring both was installed a year after his death, by the Nubian Jak Community Trust in December 2011. Blue plaques are a British historical marker scheme recognizing locations with connections to notable personalities and events, mostly in England but particularly in London. Established by Jak Beula, an activist with Afro-Caribbean ancestry, the Nubian Jak scheme uses blue plaques to honor more diverse historical figures, especially Black British ones.
Their first plaque, honoring Bob Marley and the Wailers, was installed in 2006. Their ongoing work continues to be relevant in facing up to discrimination in the United Kingdom. In recent years, it was discovered that many members of the generation had been affected by misfiled and lost immigration records, an event that has come to be known as the Windrush scandal. Migrants who had spent decades legally established in the country have been threatened with deportation and loss of benefits. This scandal has become just one more reminder of the long way to go for equality and fairness for migrants, a movement pioneered by the likes of Frank Gilbert Crichlow.
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