First-year anniversary of reparations group
The group was set up in October 2023 to take forward the Quaker commitment to consider reparations
Britain Yearly Meeting (BYM) marked the first-year anniversary of its Reparations Working Group (RWG) this month. The group was set up in October 2023 to take forward the Quaker commitment in 2022 to consider reparations for the Society’s role in the transatlantic slave trade, colonialism, and economic exploitation.
Marghuerita Remi-Judah, of RWG, said: ‘We have had a challenging and busy first year and look forward to being assisted by a reparations co-ordinator as we embark on our second year.’
In the last twelve months, the group has undertaken historical research into the roles played by individual British Quakers and families in slavery and colonisation, as well as assessing the financial impact. It has also engaged with those affected by these legacies, and liaised with other faith groups, including Caribbean churches advocating for reparations, the Churches Reparation Action Forum of Jamaica. Area Meetings (AMs) across the UK, including Lancashire and Bristol, ‘have made significant progress’, said BYM. The RWG aims to create a searchable database of findings and shared some early results at the 2024 annual Quaker gathering.
The group also offered rooms at its London offices to organisations focused on reparation-related work, including the first UK reparations conference.
The second annual conference, convened by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Afrikan Reparations, will be held at Friends House on 27 October. Next year the group will visit more AMs and develop educational resources in partnership with Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre.
