Barbados’ poet laureate takes centre stage at the United Nations

Barbados’ Poet Laureate, Esther Phillips, has challenged the international community to act on reparations for the consequences of the transatlantic slave trade and slavery.

Speaking at a special session of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in New York on Wednesday, Phillips read two of her poems to the assembled representatives of the 193 member states of the UN.

She is a renowned poet, teacher, and editor and is the first and current Poet Laureate of Barbados, appointed in March 2018 to honour and promote the island’s literary arts.

Phillips was invited to address the General Assembly by the President of the Assembly, Annalena Baerbock, on the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade.

Later in the session, the General Assembly adopted a resolution put forward by Ghana and co-sponsored by Barbados and more than 60 other countries, declaring the trafficking of enslaved Africans and racialised chattel enslavement of Africans as a crime against humanity.

By the terms of the resolution, the Assembly affirmed the importance of addressing historical wrongs affecting Africans and people of African descent and emphasised that claims for reparations represent a concrete step towards remedying historical wrongs. (BGIS)