What in the World - Why are some Caribbean nations demanding slavery reparations?

Download Why are some Caribbean nations demanding slavery reparations?

Across the Caribbean, governments are demanding that former colonial powers, like the U.K., France and The Netherlands, pay reparations for their involvement in slavery.

Anselm Gibbs, a BBC reporter in Trinidad and Tobago, explains what forms reparations can take and describes the specific demands that Caribbean nations have put forward.

We also hear from Akeem Chandler-Prescod, a member of the Barbados National Task Force on Reparations and his country’s Poet of The Year. He describes how the legacy of slavery still impacts people in Barbados centuries later and how the racial justice movement in the United States has inspired many Bajans to join the reparations movement.

Many European governments have refused to pay reparations. However, some individual families with historic links to slavery have decided to make payments. Laura Trevelyan, a former BBC reporter, explains why her family donated £100,000 ($120,000) to establish a community fund for economic development on the impoverished island of Grenada.

Email: whatintheworld@bbc.co.uk
WhatsApp: +44 0330 12 33 22 6
Presenter: Hannah Gelbart
Producers: William Lee Adams, Chelsea Coates and Benita Barden
Editor: Verity Wilde and Simon Peeks

Published on Friday, 27th October 2023.

Available Podcasts from What in the World

Subscribe to What in the World

We are not the BBC, we only list available podcasts. To find out more about the programme including episodes available on BBC iPlayer, go to the What in the World webpage.