#basil watson

[the-sweet-life-ja]

Nanny of the Maroons

Location: Emancipation Park (Kingston, Jamaica) | Artist: Basil Watson

[wanderingandactingout]

Basil Watson, Emotional Cliff

[the-sweet-life-ja]

Marcus Mosiah Garvey

Location: Emancipation Park (New Kingston, Jamaica) | Artist: Basil Watson

[the-sweet-life-ja]

The Hon Louise Bennett-Coverley, OM, OJ, MBE

Location: Gordon Town, Saint Andrew, Jamaica, W.I. | Artist: Basil Watson 

[the-sweet-life-ja]

George William Gordon

Location: Emancipation Park (New Kingston, Jamaica) | Artist: Basil Watson

[mrsm-h]

On my way back from the Harlem Renaissance panel discussion at the Southbank Centre, I couldn’t resist stopping at Waterloo Station to take this picture.

This is the National Windrush Monument, created by Jamaican artist Basil Watson and unveiled in 2022. It is a striking tribute to the Windrush generation — their journeys, resilience, and legacy.

But for me, it also speaks to something much bigger:

To those who fought in both world wars.

To those who rebuilt Britain in the years that followed.

To those whose labour, land, and lives were taken through Empire and enslavement, laying the foundations of Britain’s wealth.

It is more than a monument — it is a reminder of the many hands, seen and unseen, that built this country.