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WORLD NEWS Wednesday 23 March 2022
Protesters in Jamaica spurn royals ahead of official visit

By DÁNICA COTO
Associated Press
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP)
— Protesters in Jamaica
raised their fists Tuesday as
they donned T-shirts embla-
zoned with a pair of shack-
led Black wrists surrounded
by the phrases “Seh Yuh
Sorry!” and “Apologize
now!” as they demonstrat-
ed just hours before the of-
ficial visit of Prince William
and Kate.
The protest in front of the
British High Commission in
Kingston comes just days
after dozens of prominent
leaders in Jamaica publi-
cized a letter demanding
that Britain apologize and
award its former colony
slavery reparations. They
also decried the weeklong
Central American and Ca-
ribbean tour that the Duke
and Duchess of Cam-
bridge embarked on Satur-
day, which coincides with People protest to demand an apology and slavery reparations during a visit to the former British colony by the Duke and Duchess
Jamaica’s 60th indepen- of Cambridge, Prince William and Kate, in Kingston, Jamaica, Tuesday, March 22, 2022.
dence anniversary and the Associated Press
70th anniversary of Queen
Elizabeth II’s coronation. The British empire con- celebrating the crown.” cent years after some Ca- some deported because
“Kings, Queens and Prin- trolled Jamaica for more Prince William and Kate are ribbean people who had they didn’t have the re-
cesses and Princes belong than 300 years and forced scheduled to spend two long lived in Britain legally quired paperwork. Britain
in fairytales, NOT in Jamai- hundreds of thousands of days in Jamaica, where were denied jobs, hous- has since apologized and
ca!” read one poster held African slaves to toil the they’re expected to meet ing or medical care, with pledged compensation.q
aloft by a young girl who island under brutal condi- with government officials
joined the protest. tions. Sugar replaced to- and tour Trench Town, the
The royal couple’s trip, bacco and cocoa as the gritty birthplace of rock-
which began with a stop in main crop, with some 430 steady and reggae where
Belize followed by sched- sugar estates reported by Bob Marley grew up.
uled visits to Jamaica and the mid-1700s, up from 57 Ahead of their trip, Jamai-
the Bahamas, was orga- nearly a century prior, ac- can singer Beenie Man told
nized at the queen’s be- cording to Jamaica Infor- TV show Good Morning
hest as some countries mation Services, a govern- Britain that the U.K. still con-
debate cutting ties to the ment agency. trols the commonwealth
monarchy like Barbados The group protesting the of Jamaica: “It’s all about
did in November. royal visit noted in its letter the Queen, and the Queen
Mike Henry, a veteran Ja- that the British raped and serve and the Queen this
maican lawmaker, said killed thousands of slaves and that – but what are
in a phone interview that as it sought an apology for they doing for Jamaica?
while the topic has been 60 reasons, including “for They’re not doing anything
discussed, he worries that refusing to acknowledge for us.” The monarchy has
demands for an apology the historic trade in Africans said that Britain and Ja-
and reparations would be as a crime against human- maica have a strong trade
rendered moot if the island ity,” and for “pretending relationship, with the island
stopped pledging alle- that the British led the abo- exporting goods including
giance to the queen. lition movement, when our rum and raw cane sugar
Maziki Thame, a senior ancestors worked, prayed to the U.K. It also noted
lecturer at the University and fought hard for this.” the creation of programs
of the West Indies, noted Tames, the university pro- targeting poverty, security,
that Jamaicans have been fessor, said she and many natural disaster manage-
seeking reparations for de- other Jamaicans are not ment, social issues and the
cades. “This is not a new celebrating what is known economy.
cause,” she said in a phone as the queen’s Platinum Ju- An estimated 55,000 Brit-
interview as she prepared bilee. ish citizens live in Jamaica,
to join the protest. “The “That doesn’t speak to us in while some 800,000 people
question is whether it will the way they might imagine of Jamaican descent live
get any traction...whether that speaks to us,” she said. in the United Kingdom. The
the British are ready to con- “In the 20th century, Jamai- relationship between the
tend with their history.” cans have moved beyond two countries soured in re-