Laura Trevelyan Says Her Success Is Tied To Slavery After Quitting The BBC To Confront Colonialism
17.03.2023 - 16:03
/ deadline.com
EXCLUSIVE: Laura Trevelyan has said that her professional success can be traced back to Britain’s colonial history after quitting the BBC this week to tackle her family’s slave trade legacy.
In an interview with Deadline, the former BBC World News anchor said she felt a personal responsibility for her ancestors owning slaves in Grenada, the Caribbean island.
Trevelyan also called on King Charles III to properly confront the British royal family’s connection to slavery amid a growing reckoning among Commonwealth nations in the Caribbean.
The 54-year-old enjoyed a 30-year career at the BBC, presenting shows including Emmy-winner BBC World News America. She left this week to join the movement for reparatory justice for the Caribbean.
“My own social and professional standing, almost 200 years after abolition, is almost certainly linked to the wealth and the status that our family acquired, at least partly through slave ownership,” she said. “There’s no coincidence. The past does define the present.”
Trevelyan, who is married to former ABC News chief James Goldston, and her family apologized last month to the people of Grenada because their ancestors owned more than 1,000 slaves across six sugar plantations.
Trevelyan said she would use her storytelling expertise and public platform to raise the profile of efforts to uproot the legacy of colonialism in the Caribbean. She does not have a formal role as yet, but said she would be a “roving advocate for reparatory justice.”
She explained: “It’s a bit of a leap into the void, for sure, but a path has presented itself. This is an opportunity and maybe I’m uniquely positioned [to embrace this role] because I’m a descendant of slave owners, and because I’m not scared to answer