Reparations describe how an individual, group or society attempts to rectify and remedy wrong-doing, crime or atrocity. In other words, reparations are an attempt to “repair” the harm done. Crucially, reparations “must be understood as a right and not a favour.”

Chattel enslavement, genocide and colonisation inflicted unimaginable harm and damage – the traumatic legacies of which are still felt by descendants today.

It is evident that reparations will help tackle social, economic, psychological and spiritual inequalities that exist but the path towards reparatory justice in the Caribbean is not straightforward.

Between 1525 and 1866, 12.5 million enslaved people were shipped from Africa, with 10.7 million arriving in the Americas making the transatlantic trafficking of enslaved Africans the “largest long-distance coerced movement of people in history.”