Journalist Laura Trevelyan said she is leaving the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) “to join the growing movement for reparatory justice for the Caribbean.”
In Grenada in the 1800s, the wealthy Trevelyan family owned more than 1,000 slaves.
Trevelyan said in a tweet that she was leaving the BBC after 30 years to work on “reparative justice for the Caribbean.”
A new chapter is starting for me. After thirty incredible years at the BBC, I’m leaving tomorrow – to join the growing movement for reparatory justice for the Caribbean. Thank you to my beloved colleagues and to our amazing audience. I couldn’t be more grateful to you all.
— Laura Trevelyan (@LauraTrevelyan) March 14, 2023
The move comes a few weeks after Trevelyan and members of her family apologized to the people of Grenada for their ancestors’ role in enslaving more than 1,000 Africans at their three plantations on the island.
She said, “The Trevelyan family is sorry to the people of Grenada for the part our ancestors played in enslaving people on the island, and we are making up for it.”
The family plans to give £100,000 to set up a community fund to help the island’s economy grow, the BBC said.
In 1834, when slavery was outlawed in Britain, the government gave Trevelyan’s family about £34,000 as compensation. The amount is thought to be about £3 million in today’s money.
She admitted that giving £100,000 almost 200 years later might seem “inadequate,” but she added, “I hope that by apologizing for what our ancestors did, we’re setting an example.”
“You can’t fix the past, but you can recognize the hurt,” she said.
