Jamaican Community in Birmingham

Where they come from

Jamaica is the third largest island in the Caribbean, famous for its mountains, beaches and music. Jamaicans came to Birmingham in large numbers from the late 1940s, as part of the Windrush generation invited to help rebuild Britain after the war. Many settled in Handsworth, Lozells, Aston and Ladywood.

The community in numbers

At the 2021 Census, out of a city population of 1,144,919, 12,093 people living in the city had been born in Jamaica; and 44,776 Birmingham residents described their ethnic group as Caribbean. The Caribbean figure covers all Caribbean heritage, and people with Jamaican roots are its largest part.

Working for Birmingham

The Windrush generation worked on the buses, in the factories and in the hospitals, and helped to build the post-war city. Their children and grandchildren are now doctors, nurses, teachers, lawyers, police officers, entrepreneurs, artists and councillors, and Jamaican-heritage businesses serve every part of Birmingham.

The city's future rests on the same things as its past: skills, enterprise and people willing to put in the hours. Whether in a hospital, a classroom, a lecture theatre, a van full of tools or a shop on a busy high street, Jamaican residents are helping to build that future, and to make Birmingham a stronger, fairer and more welcoming city.

Culture and community life

Birmingham has made a huge contribution to reggae, with Steel Pulse from Handsworth among its pioneers, and the poet Benjamin Zephaniah grew up in the city. Pentecostal and other churches are central to community life, and jerk chicken, patties, rice and peas and ackee and saltfish are loved by Brummies everywhere.

Like so many of the communities that make up modern Birmingham, the Jamaican community shows how a city can be home to many cultures at once. Its members are proud of where they come from, and just as proud to be Brummies.