Why I was the right person to deliver the United Reformed Church’s slavery apology

‘As the elected moderator, it was my duty and right to deliver this apology, representing not only the church but also my personal, historical connection to the issue.’ Photograph: Andrew Boyers/Reuters

As the moderator of the United Reformed Church (URC) General Assembly and a womanist practical theologian, I must respond to Dr Robert Beckford’s article regarding the URC’s acknowledgment of its historical involvement in the enslavement of African people (Will the Anglican church come clean and pay its debt over slavery? Not from what we have seen so far, 4 June).

Beckford critiques my role as a Black woman delivering the apology, overlooking my extensive background and connection as a Trinbagonian woman of Caribbean descent. Delivering the apology in Jamaica was a profound act of healing, and not just symbolic. My engagement in Jamaica with stakeholders including local leaders, church leaders, Prof Hilary Beckles and the Churches’ Reparations Action Forum underscores the depth of this commitment.