The history of Caribbean slavery is being lost. Britain must act now to protect it. Laura Trevelyan and Nicole Phillip

kuacou, Hankey, Cuffee, Fatima, Fanny Ibo and Quamina. These are the names of enslaved Africans recorded in the colonial slave registry of the Caribbean island of Grenada in the 1830s. They tell a story of inhumanity, brutality and human resistance. However, this painful story is in danger of being lost forever.

In July, Hurricane Beryl destroyed everything in its path, including a museum on Grenada's sister island. Cariaco. That same month, a fire at the Barbados Archives destroyed historical documents from the colonial period, including clothing and hospital records. Officials later said they were working to secure a fire protection system for the archives.

The Caribbean section of the International Council on Archives expressed “great sadness and deep concern,” adding that the fire “not only led to the loss of priceless historical documents, but also dealt a severe blow to our collective cultural heritage.” Barbados has begun the process of digitizing its invaluable archive, but there is still much to do across the Caribbean before accidents or natural disasters consume these obsolete documents.

The National Archives of Grenada were damaged by Hurricane Ivan in 2004 and have not reopened to the public. Looking at the redskin-bound slave records preserved in St. Georges, the capital of Grenada, you can read about Fanny Ibo and Gwamina, enslaved African women who worked on the sugar plantations of Beausejour, Grenada. But how much longer will the temperature continue to rise and will we run the risk of the old paper decomposing? The history of an entire people is slowly being erased: the records of babies who died at birth, of mothers who died in childbirth, and of their fathers who died of exhaustion, who were worked on the land by British slaves.

The British government recognized transatlantic slavery and, like other European powers, encouraged plantation owners to enslave Africans in the Caribbean. Shouldn't he help the islands he colonized preserve a vital collective record of the past? The slave records, which tell us so little about the hundreds of thousands of enslaved Africans at Kaffee and Fatima and throughout the Caribbean, should be digitized and made available online for everyone to access.

Ingrid Thompson, Chief Archivist of Barbados, says: “These records contain information about who we are. The legacy of slavery is one of destruction. Every detail in these records is another piece of the puzzle of human existence on these islands.

The names of enslaved Africans and the plantations they lived on at the time of liberation in 1834 are of great interest to people trying to trace their family history, whether they live in Britain, the Caribbean, Africa or the United States. . For example, records listing the names of enslaved Africans sent from Barbados to South Carolina can provide important clues for African Americans seeking to explore their past. “In the Caribbean, our history leaves a painful void,” says Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, chair of the Caribbean Community Compensation Commission (CARICOM). Preserving and preserving what we know about this history and making it publicly accessible is a way to ease the pain: an act of restorative justice.

The National Archives of Great Britain hold many records from the slavery period. However, many of these valuable documents have not been digitized and Caribbean scholars or family genealogists must make a pilgrimage to Kew in London to examine the plantation records. Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy noted that she was the first person of enslaved African descent to hold the position and said that would influence her approach to governance. Could we get support for a project to digitize all the archival material on slavery in Britain's archives and create an online museum explaining its significance? What a tribute it would be to their Guyanese ancestors and to the entire Windrush generation to recognize the importance of the legacy of those who helped build post-war Britain.

It is not just the British government that is bringing together all the archives of the Caribbean and Great Britain to create an online museum. Thus, even his ancestors, King Charles, allowed the slave trade from its beginning, through the Royal African Company, which sent thousands of enslaved Africans to the Caribbean and North America. In 2022, as Prince of Wales, Charles told Commonwealth leaders how he sought to “deepen my own understanding of the lasting impact of slavery.”

What will King Charles say when he addresses next week's Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Samoa, this time speaking as head of the organisation? As a constitutional monarch, he is subject to the policies of the government in power. But a palace source said: “One of the key issues of most concern to the King is the preservation of historical records, which are vital to the current and future understanding of our shared history.”

The King expressed this interest when the film was filmed and saw that the “Slave Bible” at Lambeth Palace – the version authorized for use in Caribbean churches during the era of slavery – was destroyed for fear that the Old Testament references to freedom will encourage rebellion. Perhaps you could offer similar symbolic support for the immediate preservation of important historical records in the Caribbean and donate money to help make the vision a reality.

Slavery existed a long time ago and no one alive today is responsible for this shameful part of our history. But the painful legacies of slavery persist to this day, including who your ancestors were or where they came from. The historical record of the Caribbean contains clues to past lives. Before we forever lose the memory of Quacou, Hankey, Cuffee, Fatima, Fanny Ibo and Quamina, we must protect and preserve these archives and make them available to everyone in digital format.

• Laura Trevelyan is a journalist and honorary fellow at the PJ Patterson Institute for Afro-Caribbean Advocacy at the University of the West Indies.

• Nicole Phillip is Global Campus Director at the University of the West Indies. Granada and author of Collins Jr. History of Granada.

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