carmen esme e s m e steele. i am mrs munroe. lacita alexander reid. 20th may 1931, in- manchester, jamaica. yeah. piano refrain plays. emotive strings play. chirpy piano tune plays. history is thankfully and finally beginning to accord a rightful place to those men and women of the windrush generation. you look beautiful. how are you? it is, i believe, crucially important that we should truly see and hear these pioneers who stepped off the empire windrush at tilbury injune 1948, only a few months before i was born. and those who followed over the decades to recognise and celebrate the immeasurable difference that they, their children and their grandchildren have made to this country. many served with distinction in the british armed forces during the second world war, just as their fathers and grandfathers had in the first world war. once in britain, they worked hard, offering their skills to rebuild a country during peacetime and seeking opportunities to forge a bett