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“The Government of Grenada calls upon the Bank of England to make reparations to Grenada on account of the direct involvement of the Bank of England in the 1780s in the enslavement of Africans and their descendants in Grenada.”

Rev Dr Michael Banner’s book, Britain’s Slavery Debt: Reparations Now!, estimates Britain owes over £200 billion to Caribbean nations, based on enslaver compensation claims post-abolition.

The Portuguese president’s timely speech should be leveraged by reparations advocates to redouble efforts to rouse the hibernating consciences of other European Union members.

Commenting on these developments, Denis O’Brien, founder of The Repair Campaign, said; “We are at a tipping point in the fight for reparatory justice. This is the first time that the UK has agreed to repatriate a natural history specimen to the Caribbean (something the Caricom Ten Point Plan for Reparatory Justice has been asking for since it was launched a decade ago) and the first time that a European power has unequivocally stated that the crime of the transatlantic traffickingof enslaved Africans had a ‘cost’ that has to be repaid. As real examples of affirmative action, these developments are hugely significant. The incredible advocacy efforts of so many are bearing fruit. Collectively, we must keep the pressure on. The door is finally ajar, now we need to power through it.”

The United Reformed Church in the United Kingdom on Sunday issued a solemn apology to Jamaica, the Caribbean, and Africa for its role in the transatlantic slave trade, regarded by many as the greatest crime against humanity.

Reparatory justice in my view has to do with the payment of reparations to the descendants of slaves in the Caribbean, whose ancestors were forcibly brought here and forced to work on plantations without reward, and treated most inhumanely. The advocates of reparations argue that it should be just and fair, and that this would facilitate internal development initiatives by Caribbean people themselves, and help to alleviate much of the poverty and underdevelopment caused by slavery and the plantation system.

Reparations that is embedded with a Ubuntu philosophy is the process of repairing our personhood. It is the way in which we can collectively call “See me here!”, the way in which we can be seen.

The CRC calls on the relevant European nations to oKer full, unreserved and unconditional apologies, accept responsibility for their role in perpetrating crimes against humanity of native genocide and chattel enslavement in the Caribbean and to repair the lasting consequences of early European expansion and growth.

Making amends for the injustice of slavery is about strengthening our connections, both within our communities and between the UK and the Caribbean. The Repair Campaign is calling on the UK to do the right thing. Three little words. I am sorry…

In tribute to the ancestors, we must continue to pursue reparations for the hundreds of years of chattel enslavement on plantations in this country. It is not enough that the enslavers and their descendants should regret the suffering that slavery inflicted on our ancestors. When you have done something wrong, you must take responsibility for it, apologise and try to set things right. That is really the essence of our demand.

Indentureship deserves to be acknowledged and addressed as part of the reparations’ agenda, as it is an integral part of the Caribbean history and experience. It has left a lasting legacy and impact on the Caribbean region and its people.

A rare opportunity now exists for an honest conversation in the UK to begin to heal the past.