On a calm Sunday morning at south London’s Brixton market, I inquire.
Asking a stranger this question is difficult.
But without hesitation, Chino, with whom I’ve just started a conversation, responds: “Well, yeah, definitely.”
He acknowledges that his origins in Zimbabwe, a former Commonwealth nation, make him “definitely biased” and have a “different take” on the issue.
I want to know what he and other people here think about the increasing demands from Commonwealth leaders that the UK make amends for its involvement in the transatlantic slave trade hundreds of years ago.
Chino claims that since “a lot of benefits have been had out of Commonwealth countries,” there is a “good argument” for restitution.
He is not the only one who thinks that.
Ebony, a Jamaican, is moving quickly around the market while listening to music on her headphones.
According to her, “I think we need to give reparations in the modern context… like community help.”
“Symbolic” reparations, like an apology, would not be sufficient, she continues.
“Everything is symbolic’,” she argues. Here’s ‘let’s talk money’.
