Laura Trevelyan and Clive Lewis were doing a podcast about slavery reparations. Then they discovered that their ancestors probably owned their

TO Friendship can survive many things. But could you survive discovering that one of your friend's ancestors probably enslaved yours? For Norwich South MP Clive Lewis and former BBC journalist Laura Trevelyan, it was an uncomfortable revelation they had to face head-on.

“Clive's ancestors might have been enslaved by my own, which is horrible, but it's a starting point to address a much-needed topic,” Trevelyan says. “If I felt angry,” Lewis adds. “I would have told Laura. “Our relationship is one where we can talk openly with each other.”

Lewis and Trevelyan have created a new podcast, Heirs of slavery, which addresses their shared history and their fight for restorative justice for descendants of enslaved peoples in the Caribbean. On their show, and today via Zoom, the pair have an upbeat relationship, with laughter and mutual compliments flowing easily. They are also somewhat unlikely allies: Lewis, 52, is a Republican on the Labor left, while Trevelyan, 55, says he has “quite centrist” leanings. They tell me they understand if people might see their connection as surprising, even before learning about their shocking historical link. But despite their differences, they are united in their passion for conversation, as well as their shared desire for reparations when it comes to Britain's role in the horrors of slavery.

“People who know us know that we come from very different backgrounds,” Lewis says. “And there is definitely a gap between our policies. I think that's what makes it even more attractive and interesting; “It shows how people from a fairly broad political spectrum can come together around a fairly controversial issue.”

Trevelyan's knowledge of her family history began in 2014 when, while working as a presenter on BBC World News Americadiscovered that his ancestors had not only owned up to 10 different plantations in Granada, but had, in fact, benefited financially from the abolition of slavery in 1837. “They received compensation for six different cane plantations. sugar in Grenada for what was called their property,” she explains. The Trevelyans ended up receiving £34,000, equivalent to £3.5 million in 2021, which provided them with wealth and social influence for generations.

However, it was not until the murder of George Floyd in 2020 and the resulting resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement that Trevelyan adequately confronted his ancestors' role in a centuries-old social imbalance. “Every night he presented the BBC US news broadcast, interviewing people about the meaning of the protests in America,” he says. “I thought, if the legacy of slavery in the United States is police brutality toward black men, what does it mean in Grenada? What is the legacy there? What is the debate? What role did my ancestors play? [play]?”

Trevelyan explored these questions in the 2022 documentary called Granada: confronting the past. In 2023, 104 descendants of slave plantation owner Sir John Trevelyan signed a letter of apology to the people of Grenada on behalf of their ancestors and also established an educational fund on the island worth £100,000. Trevelyan then left his 30-year career in broadcasting to advocate full-time for Caribbean reparations.

Back in Britain, Lewis was no stranger to the debate over compensation for the descendants of slavery. The son of the prominent Grenadian-British trade unionist Tony Lewis, and influenced by the late Labor politician and reparations activist Bernie Grant, Lewis had long wondered how best to bring the issue of British reparations to the Caribbean to the political forefront. “Not even in my own party was this issue discussed,” he says. “The Labor Party's unidirectional position is: 'The party does not believe in restorative justice.' It was a topic he was looking at but thinking, 'How can I talk about this?'”

Days after the Trevelyans' public apology, Lewis took action. He told ministers that the UK must pay reparations to Caribbean countries to compensate for Britain's role in slavery. “I knew this was my moment to stand up in parliament and say: 'If Laura and her family can do this, why can't the British state do it?'”

From there began Lewis and Trevelyan's friendship. They began messaging and calling each other on WhatsApp, congratulating each other for taking stances while sharing their individual resources. When the opportunity arose to visit Granada together and create a podcast about it, they couldn't say no. In Heirs of slaveryThey embark on a fascinating journey through Grenada and other Caribbean countries, speaking to figures in the restorative justice movement such as Sir Hilary Beckles, chair of the Caricom Reparations Commission.

However, while they were there, they learned that their Grenadine stories were more directly linked than they had previously considered. “Clive's father is from Gouyave, which is near the Beausejour plantation, which the Trevelyans were part owners of,” Trevelyan says. “People don't move that far from their ancestral home. Grenada is a small island of about 120,000 people, and the Trevelyans owned 10 plantations for 150 years. “The historians we spoke to in Granada said it is very likely that Clive and I are linked by this story.”

How is it possible to overcome a revelation as painful as that? How must it feel to stand under the scorching sun, in a field of towering crops, imagining the cruel conditions of your harvest 200 years ago? Lewis admits that it wasn't easy, but that his and Trevelyan's efforts to bring justice to those harmed by British colonialism were greater than getting bogged down in the details of their story. “Some elements of the trip were definitely unsettling, being on the plantation that Laura's family owned, with Laura. At one point, we were standing next to an outhouse that could have been a sugar storage facility or a slave dwelling. But being there, as friends, was like a coming full circle moment.”

Lewis and Trevelyan saw first-hand how slavery and colonization are discussed with complete transparency in Grenada, which opened their eyes to the relative silence surrounding both issues in the UK. Neither of them believes the lack of conversation is an accident.

“I firmly believe that one of the reasons the UK 'forgot' about this was because it was a huge crime scene,” Lewis says. “The UK narrative is that rich people are that way because they have earned it, they are smart and they have invested wisely. It doesn't tell you where that wealth came from: the brutality of empire and postcolonialism. Forgetting is convenient.”

A direct relative of Trevelyan was also instrumental in shaping how Britain's relationship with slavery is taught. “At school I was taught that Britain abolished slavery and how fantastic that was,” he says. “My great-grandfather, GM Trevelyan, was the best-selling historian of the first half of the 20th century. He must have known about the history of slavery money in his family, but in his history of England, celebrates abolition as a fundamental principle of 19th-century liberal Britain. “There is no talk of the horrors or legacy of the slave trade.”

While they are aware that not everyone will be willing to revisit the uglier side of British history, Lewis and Trevelyan hope their podcast will help educate all listeners (whether they are descendants of the enslaved, enslavers, or neither. two) about how the past still has important consequences. effects today. “Clive and I are a microcosm of British history,” says Trevelyan. “It's painful, but addressing it is very promising in the future.”

'Heirs of slavery' is available on all podcast providers