Windrush Day, officially recognised by the UK government since 2018, is commemorated annually on 22 June to mark the arrival of the SS Empire Windrush in 1948. This historic moment has become a powerful symbol of the Caribbean community’s establishment in the UK and their enduring contribution to British society.
Established in 2020, Serendipity’s Annual Windrush Day Lecture responds to the ongoing need for deep reflection and historical context against the backdrop of contemporary issues, including Black Lives Matter, Brexit, the Windrush Scandal, and the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on Black communities. The lecture provides a vital platform for leading thinkers, writers and educators to examine Black presence, persistence and resistance in Britain, while unpacking the complex realities of British-Caribbean connections.
Previous speakers have included Professor Stephen Small, Dr Beverley Bryan, Professor Gus John, Gary Younge, Professor Lisa-Dionne Morris, and Professor Verene A Shepherd, offering a wide range of perspectives on Windrush history, memory and legacy.
The 2026 lecture will be delivered by Dr Chistienna D. Fryar, a writer and independent historian of Britain and the Caribbean. Central to her work is the conviction that Britain and its history cannot be understood in isolation from the Caribbean. After twelve years working in universities in North Carolina, Western New York, Liverpool and London, she left academia in April 2023. Her final academic post was at Goldsmiths, University of London, where she was the founding convenor of the MA Black British History — the first taught master’s programme of its kind in the UK.
Dr Fryar is a trustee of the Black Cultural Archives and the Tudor Trust, and a member of the Church Commissioners Oversight Group, advising on the Church’s response to its historic links with African chattel enslavement. She is also a historical consultant and a regular media contributor, appearing across television, radio and podcasts, and reviewing books for The Observer, London Review of Books, and BBC History. In 2020, she was selected as a BBC Radio 3 / AHRC New Generation Thinker.
This annual lecture offers audiences a thoughtful, rigorous and timely exploration of the Windrush legacy and its continuing relevance in British life today.
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