When it comes to the horrors of the transatlantic slave trade and ongoing support of fossil fuels, what would be the cost of financial reparations? Through exploring the history of a prominent player in the insurance marketplace, Sahar Shah and Harpreet Kaur Paul have an idea of where to start.
‘It has come to our attention that your company was built on the blood, sweat and tears of our ancestors.’
So began an open letter by rapper T.I., published on 17 July 2020. As a ‘representative of the descendants of the enslaved Africans’, he had placed the Lloyd’s of London insurance marketplace on notice for its involvement in the transatlantic slave trade, by insuring ships and their human ‘cargo’.
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