Barbados becomes a republic – and Britain faces a reckoning

The first British monarch to claim Barbados was James I. On 30 November, Elizabeth II became the last. At that moment, the country made a symbolic break it hopes will help it take another step on a journey that began with emancipation but is still far from over.

Some see the establishment of a republic, with a president replacing the Queen, as profoundly important, but many are sceptical, pointing to the day-to-day deprivations that are still part of life on the island as a far more significant legacy of colonialism.

Michael Safi visits Bridgetown, and speaks to Esther Phillips, Barbados’ poet laureate, who takes him to the Drax plantation that was one of the country’s most heinous examples of the brutality of slavery and is still a going concern today. He also hears from David Comissiong, an activist and diplomat who has campaigned for a republic all his life, about the concrete consequences of colonialism that remain an impediment to Barbadian progress. And he meets Alexander Downes, the author of a petition that led to the removal of a statue of Lord Nelson in Bridgetown, who argues that while many may be apathetic about dumping the British monarchy, the moment’s true significance will be felt for decades to come

Read more:

• Nelson, BLM and new voices: why Barbados is ditching the Queen
• The Guardian view on Barbados and the Queen: it has moved on. Can Britain?
• Mia Mottley: Barbados’ first female leader on a mission to transform island