A monument in Arima to Aldwyn "Kitchener" Roberts
THERE are two Lord Kitcheners. There is Aldwyn Roberts, born in colonial Trinidad in 1922, whose life and work is to this day still known intimately among those in his homeland.
And there is the Kitch who became a global icon: a calypsonian of international repute who arrived in England on the Empire Windrush and went on to be at the forefront of a multicultural Britain.
This month, as the centenary of his birth is observed, we commemorate both sides of the Grandmaster.
One hundred years since he was born, and only 22 years since his death, there is a profound irony attending the famous Pathé footage of Kitchener singing London is the Place for Me soon after disembarking from the Windrush.
Even back in 1948, the claim of belonging was audacious, given the racism, smog and bitter winters many immigrants went on to experience.
Decades later, the Windrush generation would be repaid by having their descendants, many of whom were born in Britain, deported to the Caribbean. Successive British premiers would usher in a “hostile” immigration environment.
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