Jamaican Christians on UK Reparations Tour

With the issue of reparations on the national agenda, a group of Christians from Jamaica is now in the United Kingdom to begin discussions with church leaders from Britain.

Among the arguments the Jamaicans are seeking to advance is a justification for UK church denominations involved in the transatlantic slave trade to consider making financial restitution to black communities still experiencing the harmful effects of enslavement.

The five-person delegation is drawn from the Church Reparation Action Forum (CRAF), founded in 2019 to be the voice of the church in Jamaica on reparations.

In a release issued by CRAF, co-founder, Pastor Bruce Fletcher, who is a member of the delegation, said, “Our conversations about reparations in Jamaica were highlighted with the brutal murder of George Floyd in the US in 2020. It helped focus discussion on the racial injustice black people throughout the world experienced and assisted with the demand for reparations.”

He shared the desire to make headway while in the UK. “A number of reports have highlighted the financial contribution enslaved Africans made to the world economy during the Atlantic slave trade for which they received nothing. It’s now time for businesses and church denominations that benefited from the slave trade to make reparation to their descendants. It’s CRAF’s hope that whilst in Britain, we will move the case for reparations forward.”

Another co-founder, Rev Dr Gordon Cowans, indicated that it was not simply a matter of money. “It entails Christians also seeking to redress the emotional and psychological harm enslavement caused within black communities.”

The delegation will meet with representatives of The Quakers, Churches Together in England, the Evangelical Alliance, the Church of England, the New Testament Church of God, and the National Church Leaders’ Forum.

The team is also expected to attend the 75th anniversary service at Southwark Cathedral commemorating the arrival of HMS Windrush in 1948 and the contribution of the Windrush Generation to British society. CRAF will visit Birmingham and take part in a discussion about reparations on social media.

This tour, which begins today and is scheduled to end on June 27, is organised by UK Street Pastors founder Rev Les Isaac, and other theologians and black British churches.

Rev Isaac expressed hope for a meaningful outcome. ‘It’s time for the UK church across the denominational spectrum to have an honest, open and meaningful discussion about reparations. This tour will play a part in that process.”