The Legacy of Colonialism

We were no longer physically enslaved but our minds would also need to undergo its own emancipation. More than 400 years since our forefathers and mothers began arriving in chains and made to work in unimaginable conditions to finance the wealth of others, changed us.

Ours is the burden of emancipating Caribbean literature for young people from literary models passed down to us from colonial headmasters and embracing instead models of our own making. We are tasked with using stories to help Caribbean children question dominant ideologies, love themselves and know their worth.

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.