Barbados has opened its 2026 Season of Emancipation with fresh urgency after new research placed the economic cost of slavery at up to $4 trillion, a figure officials said underscored the scale of harm still shaping the island’s story.
But the American economist who conducted the research said the figure was not a literal bill but the factual foundation for dialogue.
“This research is not creating an invoice for anybody to pay,” said Dr Coleman Bazelon. “It is an accounting of the harm that was done… a recognition of the harm that was done that is the starting point for reconciliation.”
Speaking at the emancipation season launch at Golden Grove Plantation in St Philip, one of the key sites of the April 14 1816 Bussa Rebellion, programme adviser for the Office of Pan‑African Affairs and Heritage, Rodney Grant, detailed a calendar that began on the anniversary and extends through late August. The season is designed to be a “long journey” of education and cultural reclamation.
programme adviser for the Office of Pan‑African Affairs and Heritage, Rodney Grant(Photo credit: Contributed photos)
Grant said: “I think we are the only country in the region that actually does a full season,” noted one official during the opening remarks. “Most people just celebrate August 1st, so we start on April 14th… and then we move to April 28th, where we recognise the day of our national heroes.”
A focal point of this year’s launch was the presentation of research by Dr Bazelon, who was tasked with quantifying the economic impact of slavery in Barbados. He revealed that the accumulated debt for stolen labour and loss of life ranges between $3 trillion and $4 trillion (US $1.5 – $2 trillion).
“Overall, in Barbadian dollars, it’s three to $4 trillion worth of harm that has accumulated debt unpaid for slavery in this island,” Dr Bazelon said. “If you’re enslaving a few hundred people on a single plantation, that’s a crime, but enslaving hundreds of thousands of people is a crime against humanity. And that’s why these numbers are so large because the amount of damage that was done was that large.”
The research estimates that over 792 000 people were affected by slavery in Barbados, resulting in approximately 25 million years of stolen life and labour.
In 2023, a report commissioned by the American Society of International Law (ASIL) and the University of the West Indies estimated that reparations associated with loss of life and uncompensated labour in the territories in the Americas and the Caribbean amounted to $110tn (US$55tn) as of 2020. This is equivalent to $5.6m (US$2.8m) for each of the estimated 19.9 million enslaved people.
The report, conducted by the Brattle Group, a US-based economic consultancy, was created to provide a legal and economic framework for compensation.
Minister for Pan-African Affairs and Heritage Trevor Prescod called for radical honesty regarding the island’s history and its future.
”You can’t erase history,” Prescod said. “My job is to give an Afrocentric redress to the imbalances that occurred during the period of slavery.”
The minister acknowledged that the topic of reparations often sparks intense debate across the island. “We must have these hard conversations that we sometimes are very uncomfortable about,” he urged. “The Pan-Africanist movement has always been in the forefront of the struggle for the various steps of the mind.”
Prescod also highlighted upcoming projects to preserve physical history, including the identification of a cave at another key 1816 rebellion point, Bayley’s Plantation in St Phillip, believed to have sheltered enslaved people. The rebellion was reputedly co-led by Africa-born enslaved man, Bussa or Bussoe, who lived and worked as a ranger at Bayley’s.
The launch concluded with an invitation for all Barbadians to engage with the season through digital platforms and community events.
What to Know – Emancipation celebrations
- April 28 – National Heroes Day
- May 25 – Africa Day, focusing on African‑heritage education in schools
- June – Heritage Month
- June 12 – Unveiling of Cuffee’s bust, a symbolic artefact submerged for a year off Speightstown
- July – August – Recognition of the Crop Over Festival
- July 26 – Day of National Significance
- August 1 – Emancipation Day
- August 17 – Homage to Marcus Garvey, focusing on economic empowerment
- August 23 – National Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade
- August 27 – Celebration of Jackie Opel
Scene from the launch of the 2026 Season of Emancipation and the Commemoration of the Bussa Rebellion Anniversary.(Photo credit: Contributed photos)
Scene from the launch of the 2026 Season of Emancipation and the Commemoration of the Bussa Rebellion Anniversary.(Photo credit: Contributed photos)
Scene from the launch of the 2026 Season of Emancipation and the Commemoration of the Bussa Rebellion Anniversary.(Photo credit: Contributed photos)
Scene from the launch of the 2026 Season of Emancipation and the Commemoration of the Bussa Rebellion Anniversary.(Photo credit: Contributed photos)
Scene from the launch of the 2026 Season of Emancipation and the Commemoration of the Bussa Rebellion Anniversary.(Photo credit: Contributed photos)
Scene from the launch of the 2026 Season of Emancipation and the Commemoration of the Bussa Rebellion Anniversary.(Photo credit: Contributed photos)
Scene from the launch of the 2026 Season of Emancipation and the Commemoration of the Bussa Rebellion Anniversary.(Photo credit: Contributed photos)
(RR)
