Fownhope’s Heart of Oak Society traces its roots to the age of friendly societies, when communities provided their own safety net. Its anniversary celebrations reveal a tradition still very much alive, says MARK SEDDON
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The Gladstones’ apology for slavery is the beginning of a hard conversation
After abolition in 1883, the famous family received the largest payout of all from the Slave Compensation Commission — now the process needs to be reversed, argues ROGER McKENZIE
William Gladstone
ANGUS REID explains the significance of Cuba’s egalitarian in letter and spirit Family Code and the pertinent lessons it holds for democracies anywhere in the world
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NICK WRIGHT considers how the isolation of Israel and a new film on the controversial Italian communist leader are creating new reference points for Italy’s left
CARLOS MARTINEZ says Cuba’s achievements in the face of a criminal blockade are startling, but the island’s future if the United States succeeds in crushing it looks bleak
AMNON BROWNFIELD STEIN reports that far-right MPs who mobbed the event organised by Hadash may have helped raise awareness of the brutality of the Israeli right
NEWS that the family of Victorian-era prime minister William Gladstone will travel to Guyana, South America to issue an apology for the part played by their ancestor in the slave trade is to be welcomed.
Charlie Gladstone will reportedly travel with five other family members to make an apology for what he himself describes as a “crime against humanity” committed by his ancestor John Gladstone.
They are also, it seems, intending to pay reparations to fund further research into the impact of slavery.
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On the anniversary of the implementation of the 1833 Slavery Abolition Act, ROGER McKENZIE warns that the legacy of black enslavement still looms in the Caribbean and beyond
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SUE TURNER is appalled by the story of the only original colonising family to still own a plantation in the West Indies