I write this open letter to you, against the background of much cherished sentiments attached to memories re the beautiful wedding of your beloved parents, and the birth of their two sons, one of whom you are, William. I was an impressionable teenager, who like most Jamaicans, was fascinated with the fairytale wedding and then the cute babies of Prince Charles and Lady Diana. Your beloved Mom is still such a hero of many hearts across the world.

My heartfelt thoughts are that you will be only too happy and even humble enough to accede my humble request and appeal to your humanity, for an apology to our Jamaican people who continue to live with the attendant consequences of colonialism, slavery, and the towering heights of white supremacy in all its systemic and viral prevalence in the most fundamental institutions impacting the Jamaican psyche. These institutions are religious, educational, and political. They do not even have to conspire or collaborate in the ongoing project of mental slavery. They just do their thing on their own platforms, and the system works!

The insult to our human dignity, self worth, and autonomy is so palpable that many no longer realize the ongoing effects of the sheer cruelty wrought upon us by the genocide and holocaust of the transatlantic slave trade.

Would you be so kind to just tender an apology for the crimes against humanity? Your high offices held by others in the past, and now by you for a time such as this, present us with an opportunity to live on the side of history for healing, reparatory justice, and a celebration of human rights for all.

We know that you will rise above the cold, crude, contemptuous and crass disregard that we met in Prime Minister Cameron who on his 2015 visit to Jamaica displayed a lack of common decency, emotional intelligence, and sensitivity for the pain and suffering endured by our revered ancestors and the manumitted who were never even compensated for the centuries of Great Britain’s prosperity at the expense of the lives and dehumanizing experiences in England’s colonies across the Caribbean and the rest of the world.

We do not believe that any more representatives of Her Majesty’s loyal Westminster parliamentary democracy will ever treat us in this way again! Your simple apology is anticipated and most welcome. Respectfully, I thank you.

The Rev. Sean Major-Campbell, J.P. Anglican Priest and Advocate for human rights

Photo – Deposit Photos