The Opportunity Index E-Book

Gavin Lewis

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 337

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Beschreibung

A bold and fresh perspective unravelling the economics of racial inequality In The Opportunity Index, BlackRock Managing Director and co-founder of the #Talkaboutblack movement, Gavin Lewis, skillfully plots the origins of the racial wealth gap and its impact on the inequalities faced by the Black community today. Weaving a personal and at times moving narrative through some of the most disruptive events of our time, he offers a blueprint for businesses and individuals to understand the risks and opportunities presented by inequality and issues an urgent call to action. The Opportunity Index also presents: * A root cause-oriented and solutions-focused exploration of the racial wealth gap and its role in social, health, and opportunity inequality * A perspective that moves beyond the typical workplace discussion to explore the deeper truths about society and the role of capitalism * The lessons learned from the #BlackLivesMatter, #MeToo, and climate change movements and how these provide case studies for real and lasting change An eye-opening and insightful treatment of what equity and access mean in the context of international finance, The Opportunity Index will earn a place in the libraries of finance professionals, business leaders, teachers, academics, community leaders, diversity, equity, and inclusion experts, and anyone else with an interest in racial, social, and economic fairness around the world.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Notes

Prologue

1 Onion

Notes

2 Six Hours

Notes

3 Equity

Notes

4 Horses and Sparrows

Notes

5 Zero-Sum Game

Notes

6 Almonds

Notes

7 Vacuum

Notes

8 Ghosts

Notes

9 Plastic Bag

Notes

10 The Opportunity Index

Notes

Epilogue

References

About the Author

Index

End User License Agreement

Guide

Cover

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Prologue

Begin Reading

Epilogue

References

About the Author

Index

End User License Agreement

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Praise for The Opportunity Index

“I've never been more desperately eager to endorse a book, yet I have never found it harder to write or articulate the actual endorsement. And there is a good reason for this: The Opportunity Index is such a multifaceted, intellectually robust yet curious, meticulously well researched, historically in-depth, culturally rich, and refreshingly written book that it is painfully hard to do it the justice it truly deserves.

“Case in point, from an ethnic diversity angle, there is scarcely an area in global industry that is more worthy of deep dive examination than Britain's and America's financial sectors. These are places that owe much of their origins and wealth to the transatlantic slave trade. They are the epicenter of the racial wealth gap. And like many of the monuments to British and American greatness and success in industry, politics, and religiosity, the City of London and Wall Street are both fascinatingly grandiose yet opaque places. If you come from a working-class background, the construction of the buildings, dress codes, professional conduct, language, and unwritten rules can be enormous barriers to entry. And even greater barriers to prosperity lie within. Yet when compared to other areas in British and American industry, especially liberal-dominated areas such as media, arts, and culture, the City, Wall Street, and the broader financial sectors have done a much better job of providing opportunities—indeed life-changingly lucrative opportunities—to people traditionally shut out of major industry. Very far from a utopia, the City and Wall Street have created once inconceivable professional openings for working-class children of Black immigrants and the descendants of slaves such as Gavin.

“I personally could not think of anyone better placed to conduct this examination of the racial wealth gap and offer solutions than Gavin Lewis, a person who works and lives at the heart of the juxtaposition of opportunity and historical oppression. Despite the might of the challenge, in The Opportunity Index Gavin has created a work of true public service that can conclusively transform how we view, discuss, and address diversity, representation, access to opportunity, and closing the racial wealth gap, a term this book should help make greater common currency in socioeconomic and political discussions and decisions.

“By looking back and taking us on a journey of our histories as people and his own unique history as a working-class Black man who grew up in the economically challenged inner-city area of London to a captain of the finance industry as well as observing the shortcomings of the education and political systems and economic orthodoxy, Gavin shows us how we arrived at the challenge we currently face, and the magnitude of that challenge. Yet by looking so far forward into a potentially much brighter future and offering robust solutions as to how we get there, The Opportunity Index helps us pave the path to the more egalitarian, meritocratic, and wholesome tomorrow that we all yearn for.”

—Nels Abbey, writer, broadcaster, and founder of the Black Writers Guild

“The discussions regarding racism, discrimination, and inequity are incredibly important in order to challenge harmful stereotypes many communities fight against. Importantly, they lift the lid on the divisions within the societies we hope would be structured on meritocracy and they provoke debates which cause us to ask ourselves: what can we do? The difficulty with many of these conversations is that they spend a lot of resources and energy focused on the trauma caused by discrimination, but not enough on what needs to be done to disrupt the catalysts which cause that trauma to exist, or at least allows it to continue. The Opportunity Index,with the powerful personal perspectives of the author, allows the reader to fully understand the various ways that race can be a direct barrier to wealth and its creation. This context frames the basis of the solutions that present a direct challenge to the status quo and misconception that the solution to racism sits with those who are treated differently because of the amount of melanin in their skin. The book focuses on presenting an objective way of assessing the impact racial advantage has in the same way many would assume simply a good education would. The complexity of creating equal societies is tackled brilliantly by Gavin and is a must read for those who want future generations, essentially my children and their own, not to have to be held to any different standards. The Opportunity Index doesn't lift the lid on what causes racial discrimination (many have focused on that for years), but instead focuses on the hope left in Pandora's box with an optimism for how we move forward in tackling inequality, institutional cultural bias, and planning for a world where there is a higher standard than simply the absence of discrimination being celebrated.”

—Tim Campbell, MBE, BBC's The Apprentice

GAVIN LEWIS

THE OPPORTUNITY INDEX

A SOLUTION - BASED FRAMEWORK TO DISMANTLE THE RACIAL WEALTH GAP

Copyright © 2023 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.Published simultaneously in Canada.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

ISBN: 9781119840763 (cloth)ISBN: 9781119840787 (ePub)ISBN: 9781119840794 (ePDF)

Cover design: Paul McCarthy

FOR THOSE WHO RAISED ME, MUM AND ERIKA

FOR THOSE WHO SHAPED ME, TREVOR, CHRIS, AND BORAY

FOR THOSE WHO MADE ME, MAI-LAN, EDEN, AND ANAÏS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

THANK YOU, MAI-LAN, FOR YOUR enduring love and belief.

Thank you, Eden and Anaïs, for your constant inspiration.

Thank you, Mum and Erika, for recounting some difficult but also loving memories.

To Jessie and Shannon at Wiley, thank you for seeing my potential.

To Julie, for persevering through my first draft.

To Debbie, for the quality control.

To Justin, Darren, Rachel, Dawid, Anji, Bola, Maria, Marisa, and Natalie at #Talkaboutblack, for keeping me going.

To the Diversity Project, for providing #Talkaboutblack with a platform to make a difference.

To Andrien, for always challenging the status quo and taking on the school program.

To my unofficial editors for the unabashed feedback, Trevor, Chris, Boray, Nick, Bob, Tilly Justin, Darren, Keith, Arlene, Professor Keith and Tiffany.

To the authors of the Black Wealth Creation Report, Marcel, Fayemi, Naomi, and Princella.

To the Inequality Risk project group, Jovan, David, David, Chris, Daniela, and Tim.

INTRODUCTION

THE CITY OF LONDON IS the UK's financial district. It's often referred to as the Square Mile because it covers an area roughly 1.12 square miles or 2.90km2.1 Glass-covered modern buildings are occupied by banks, asset managers, accountants, insurers, and lawyers, cogs in a machine that generates approximately 22% of the UK's GDP.2 Among these new buildings are churches, sculptures, and plaques, which signpost the City of London's rich history, but it's incredibly easy to miss them. Busy executives rush from one meeting to another, and on the odd occasion they have some respite from the demands of corporate life, their attention is consumed by mobile phones, even as the hideous figures known as Grotesques on Gracechurch Street gaze down upon them.3 There is one sculpture which, ashamedly, I must have walked past a dozen times before I paid it any heed. On September 4, 2008, Archbishop Desmond Tutu unveiled a monument that commemorates the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade in 1807. The artwork consists of a group of granite columns protruding out of the ground. Entitled Gilt of Cain, it is a collaboration between sculptor Michael Visocchi and poet Lemn Sissay.4 Extracts from Sissay's poem “Gilt of Cain” are engraved into the stone.

Cash flow runs deep but spirit deeper

You ask Am I my brothers keeper?

I answer by nature by spirit by rightful laws

My name, my brother, Wilberforce.

It's tempting to focus on the fact that the poem and sculpture address the abolition of slavery, particularly given the reference to William Wilberforce (August 24, 1759–July 29, 1833). Wilberforce was a British politician, philanthropist, and leader of the movement to end the slave trade.5 But Sissay's poem is also littered with references to the economics of this period:

The dealer lied when the dealer said

the bull was charging the bear was dead,

the market must calculate per capita, not head.

And great traders acting in concert, arms rise

as the actuals frought on the sea of franchise

thrown overboard into the exchange to drown

in distressed brokers disconsolate frown.

In Accounting liquidity is a mounting morbidity

but raising the arms with such rigid rapidity …

The sculptures jutting out of the ground are shaped in the form of sugar cane, a staple and valuable commodity during the slave era, and adorned with excerpts from Sissay's poem.

Similarly, I have now lost count of the number of times I have visited New York, either for business or pleasure, and knew nothing of the slave market that once occupied Wall Street. Wall Street itself was an actual wall, erected by the Dutch to keep out Native Americans who might attack the area.6 But between 1711 and 1762, on the corner of Wall Street and Pearl Street, there was an active market where enslaved were traded.7 On June 27, 2015, Mayor Bill DeBlasio dedicated a plaque commemorating the site in Lower Manhattan.8

I never really questioned my “right” to establish a career in finance. Often being the only Black person in the room, I always felt like an outsider, a guest, on tenterhooks in the event that my pass ran out and I would be asked to leave. Yet, as a British person of Caribbean heritage, my very being is inextricably linked with this world. Black people helped create the wealth of the US, the UK, and Europe, yet we don't participate in it. I do, however, recognize the difference that working in finance has made to my life after growing up in a single-parent family in inner-city London where, on paper at least, my life chances were poor. The journey has been difficult and there are still too few who are able to even conceive of embarking on anything similar. This is a waste—of potential, of life, and of opportunity. So the question is, what can I do to equip others with the belief to take the first step and how can I change the world to accept them?

The Black diaspora is not monolithic, but many segments of the Black community in today's Western democracies face a range of challenges, including higher rates of unemployment, poorer physical and mental health, lower educational attainment, and higher rates of imprisonment or incarceration than our White counterparts. When we think about these challenges, we tend to see these as a social construct caused by the way someone treats us, interacts with us, or behaves toward us. I am 44 years old, live a pretty middle-class lifestyle, and yet when I'm heading back from the gym wearing a tracksuit and I pop into the supermarket, I may still find myself being followed by a security guard. This is demeaning, and the cumulative effects of this cause significant physical and emotional harm. However, my life outcomes cannot be solely attributed to situations like this. Social advantage must be created alongside economic advantage. For example, the prevention of discrimination of Black patients must come alongside equal access to healthcare; preventing the schoolteacher from negatively stereotyping Black pupils must come alongside the opportunity to receive a quality education; and equality of opportunity through promotion in the business world must come alongside equal pay. This book will argue that the key challenges Black communities face stem from our economic position and that the way to overcome them is to change our economic situation alongside combating social prejudice. This “socioeconomic inequality” needs to be deconstructed, because to date the economic considerations have been neglected.

To fully understand this economic inequality, we must assess the origins. We find that they are rooted in the histories of Western democracies through the transatlantic slave trade, industrialization, and the growth of capitalism. These pivotal periods changed both the economic fortunes of the United States and Europe, with vast amounts of wealth created, but concentrated in the hands of a few segments of society. This wealth—which we define as the economic value of assets such as property, land, business interests, and income—affords access to healthcare, education, and employment and improves the life outcomes of individuals. Meanwhile, this same period saw African states and the descendants of the 10 million enslaved who were transported across the Atlantic Ocean and who now reside in the Americas, the Caribbean, and Europe systematically prevented from accumulating wealth, which has had a detrimental impact on their life outcomes.9

Today, the legacy of this period is plain to see. Our finance system, from banking to insurance or broking, was built during this period and shaped the dominant economic belief system of Western capitalism. Meanwhile, our education, policing, judicial, and health systems have been created to operate in this system.

Attempts to improve the life outcomes of Black communities have been both piecemeal and focused on the symptoms of economic inequality rather than the causes. This might be the crime rates experienced in the Black community being met with increasingly forceful methods of policing and imprisonment or incarceration rather than understanding that they are more likely to be victims of crime and that the issue is one rooted in social deprivation due to the economic position and lack of economic opportunities Black communities face. When we have seen attempts to reduce the racial wealth gap, they have tended to focus on one segment of an individual's life, rather than across an individual's life journey. So if we are to reduce the wealth gap, it can't only be focused on educational attainment; we also need to understand the household a child is born into, their access to healthcare, their ability to enter the workplace, their capacity to be paid and promoted equally, and their adequate retirement and healthcare provisions. By creating an “index,” it can allow us to set a benchmark for progression of different cohorts and make and measure interventions during an individual's life.

One might argue that creating economic freedom in a system constructed on racial inequality is impossible, that the system itself requires wholesale change. Others are concerned the progression of Black communities means the regression of White communities, often referred to as a zero-sum game. If we are spending a significant portion of a county's gross domestic product on policing, healthcare, and our prison systems, this presents an ongoing economic burden on a country. And yet there is no universal measure for this risk, and consequently it goes unnoticed. This is in stark contrast to other risks such as inflation, interest rates, longevity, and increasingly climate, geopolitical conflicts, and a pandemic, which are all measured. If we can develop a measure for inequality, it can be monitored and mitigated by governments and corporations. Measuring racial inequality risk presents the prospect of measuring gender, class, or even geographical risks—risks that also impact White communities. The creation of risk measures for Black economic inequality could be transformative for all. These risks are measured and mitigated not because of an individual's belief or values, but because they make rational economic sense.10

Furthermore, the creation of an index alongside an understanding of its economic impact presents us with an opportunity to gain social and economic value from Black communities. This may mean bringing more people who have a host of attributes into firms in this era of social, political, and economic upheaval. It might mean releasing their economic potential by increasing productivity. Or it may mean contributing to economic output by tapping into Black consumerism. The following chapters detail my own experience of much of the above, from a council estate in London to the senior levels of finance.

Some names and places have been changed to protect identities.

Notes

1

.  Corporation of London, City of London Resident Population Census 2001, July 2005.

2

.  Shalchi, A., Georgina Hutton, and M. Ward, Financial services: contribution to the UK economy, December 8. 2021,

https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn06193/

.

3

.  Look Up London, Gargoyles of Gracechurch Street, May 26, 2020,

https://lookup.london/51-54-gracechurch-street/

.

4

.  Monument: Gilt of Cain, London Remembers,

https://www.londonremembers.com/memorials/gilt-of-cain-slave-trade

.

5

.  Wolffe, J., William Wilberforce (1759–1833), WikiTree, May 21, 2009,

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Wilberforce-2

.

6

.  Wall Street,

Encyclopaedia Britannica,

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Wall-Street-New-York-City

.

7

.  New York City Slave Market, New York Public Library, June 29, 2015,

https://www.nypl.org/blog/2015/06/29/slave-market

.

8

.  New York City Council approves monument to slaves, BBC, April 16, 2015,

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-32340683

.

9

.  Lewis, T., Transatlantic Slave Trade, History & Facts,

Encyclopedia Britannica,

https://www.britannica.com/topic/transatlantic-slave-trade

.

10

. Hedman, M., F. E. Folatomi, N. Okukenu, and P. Boateng, Inequality Risk: The Black British Wealth Creation Report, November 2, 2021,

https://www.voice-online.co.uk/news/sponsored-news/2021/11/02/black-britain-and-beyond-release-inequality-risk-the-black-british-wealth-creation-report/

.

PROLOGUE

WHEN ADDRESSING THE CHALLENGES THAT segments of the Black community in today's Western democracies face, the discussion typically focuses on poor mental and physical health outcomes, lower educational attainment, higher rates of unemployment, and greater rates of imprisonment or incarceration than our White counterparts. The discussion also tends to focus on social interactions or behaviors directed toward Black people as the cause of these challenges. For example, poor educational attainment among Black children is often seen as a result of a schoolteacher's bias or higher rates or imprisonment due to prejudices in the judicial system. These undoubtedly have an impact on the ability of Black communities to progress, and we should continue to combat this. However, the removal of these alone are not enough to change the life outcomes of Black communities. By comparison, White communities in Western democracies experience better life outcomes and much of this is due to their ability to access healthcare, education, and maximize opportunities in the workplace. Any attempt to improve the life outcomes of Black communities, whether in the realm of better physical and mental health, better performance in education, or progression in the workplace or business world, needs to tackle the economic factors. Instead, to date, we focus on the symptoms of inequality rather than the cause.

To truly change our position in society requires access to adequate healthcare alongside fair and unbiased patient treatment; it requires access to quality education alongside unbiased teaching practices; and it requires equality of opportunity in the business world, whether employment, progression, or equal pay alongside fair treatment by line managers. These challenges are economic in nature and it is the combination of these two elements, both the social and economic challenges, that comprise “socioeconomic inequality.” But while a significant portion of time has been spent understanding the societal factors, less has been spent analyzing the economic considerations. Increasing the economic opportunity of the Black community so it is at least comparable to our White counterparts, what we typically refer to as the reducing the wealth gap, is critical to improving this community's life outcomes.

Attempts to increase the economic position of Black people today have so far been piecemeal rather than understanding that the deprivation is compounded over the course of an individual's life. So if we are to truly tackle this, we need to find a method of tracking the life journey of an individual, what advantages or disadvantages they might have, and what interventions are necessary. For example, what are the prospects for a Black girl born in a single-parent family on a lower income when compared to a White boy born with both parents present, in a higher-income household. If we can track this, we might be able to assess what interventions can make a difference to the Black girl's life. This may also allow us to assess the economic contribution of different groups within society and not only measure the risk of not improving their life outcomes but also the contribution to a country's economy. If we can treat inequality risk in the similar way to other risks—interest rates, inflation, and longevity, but also climate, geopolitical, and now pandemic risk—it moves this discussion from being one of values and beliefs to one of rational decision-making. Furthermore, applying this successfully to reduction of racial inequality opens the possibility of reducing other inequalities such as gender or class, inequalities that impact a cross-section of diasporas.

However, if we are to dismantle the wealth gap, we need to understand its origins and how it manifests today. Our finance system, from banking and insurance to broking and wealth management, influences Western democracies' political systems and social stratification. After all, our education, policing, judicial, and healthcare systems have been designed to operate within this construct. To begin to unravel this complex and interwoven societal system, we must start with the birth of capitalism and the transatlantic slave trade.

This is my story, but we all have a part to play. I can see the opportunity; I hope you will too.

1Onion

THE FIRST TIME I SAW the Royal Exchange, in London's financial district, was during a bus ride when I was about 18 years old. Music was a big part of my life, and I would travel across London to independent record shops with one of my closest friends, Jamie, to search for obscure hip-hop records, often costing a fortune because they were imported from the United States. This particular day we were sitting at the back of the bus, traveling back from East London to North London. I began to notice the increasingly grandiose buildings that seemed to sprout from the ground and stretch high into the sky. When the bus turned a corner, I was taken aback by the sight of what seemed like hundreds of people in suits teeming out of buildings, presumably on their way to buy lunch or rushing to an important business meeting. My first reaction was one of awe: this seemed like a different world. I grew up in the inner city in what was then a poor, predominately Black neighborhood. I had no concept of the world of finance, so much so that I wasn't actually sure what I was looking at. My second reaction was one of inspiration: I was studying and had achieved very good grades at school, and depending on the outcome of my final exams there was the possibility that I would gain acceptance to one of the UK's top universities. I had no idea what career I would forge but knew this seemed like a place I should be.

The second time I saw the Royal Exchange was after I graduated, on my way to an interview for an investment bank based in Bishopsgate. This was before the age of smartphones and GPS, so to find my way I printed a map and memorized the route. “Exit 7 at Bank tube station, walk past the Bank of England and onto Cornhill and then turn left onto Bishopsgate,” Easy—except I wrongly assumed the Royal Exchange was the Bank of England, as many people still do today. Given its importance, the Bank of England is surprisingly nondescript. And so I got completely lost and ended up somewhere near Aldgate, which is a good 20 minutes away from the Royal Exchange. Asking for directions was fruitless; it was impossible to get the attention of the stream of people as they walked past, their pace spinning me on my heels. I eventually asked a Black cab driver for directions, but that wasn't before two others drove off just before I got close enough to ask. He directed me back toward Bishopsgate, where I walked past the Royal Exchange once again before finding the right building with about five minutes to spare.

“Can I help you, sir?” A security guard stopped me as I entered the revolving doors. “I'm here for an interview,” I replied. “May I see some ID?” he asked. I pulled the letter of confirmation out of my bag and showed it to the grey-haired guard. He scrutinized it and then said, “Right, over to the reception desk.” The lady behind the desk greeted me with a smile and asked me to sit with some other eager interviewees. I sat and gazed around the huge lobby. Some people were clearly regulars, saying hello to the security guard as they entered. Some were visitors; however, the security guard did not stop any of them.

“So you have good qualifications, and we really like the way you handled the case study we gave you. But one thing we're interested in is why you only worked at a supermarket whilst you were at university. Some of our other applicants have traveled, built schools in Africa. They're incredibly well-rounded. Do you feel you have as much to offer?” I have gone back in time and answered this question too many times. The archetype for a finance professional is easy to define. They've often attended the same universities, studied the same degree, and have pursued the same extracurricular activities. They're typically high-performing and function well with clear parameters. But the world is changing and when faced with a challenge for which there is no rule book, I've seen many flounder. Too much emphasis is placed upon ticking these boxes rather than attributes. I wish I had told the interviewer I couldn't afford to quit my job because it was a lifeline that enabled me to attend university. The risk of giving this up to go somewhere during the summer felt too great to bear. And at the same time, I paid my own way through university and sacrificed a lot. It was only when I eventually reached a senior position and embraced my journey that it became a virtue rather than something to shy away from. But at the time, comparing myself to candidates who had built schools in Africa felt futile.

As I left the building I walked back out through the revolving doors and made the fatal mistake of not seeing a sign that said DO NOT PUSH. The door stopped abruptly, briefly trapping me and a dark-suited gentleman in the door opposite. I couldn't hear what he was saying but from the look on his face he was angry, spit flying from his mouth as he admonished me. I walked back toward Bank tube station and past the Royal Exchange for the fourth time.

Trying to understand your place in the world is similar to peeling an onion: you remove one layer only to find another. The Royal Exchange was created by Sir Thomas Gresham in 1566 and was designed to be London's first exchange dedicated to trading goods, services, and stocks.1 It was officially opened in 1571 by Queen Elizabeth I, who gave the exchange its royal title and a licence to sell alcohol. Today the Royal Exchange still houses luxury goods and is a great place to grab a coffee on a discreet upper floor, which is a favorite haunt of the city's headhunters priming candidates to make a big money move.2 To enter the building, you walk up an imposing set of stairs and through eight large columns. Above this are sculptures of a number of figures, which can be easily missed unless you take the time to look. I worked in the city for 20 years before someone pointed out the scene. These figures represent Britain's global trading activities in the 16th century. The dominant figure stares fixedly across the City with a crown upon her head. You'd be forgiven for mistaking this central figure for a religious or even royal figure. But it actually represents Commerce, holding a “charter of exchange in one hand” and a ship's rudder in the other. Alongside Commerce, other figures include a Turkish merchant doing his accounts, an Armenian banker, and a Chinese man trading opium. But to the left is another man, the only figure who is not standing or trading, but kneeling: an African man dressed in only a loincloth in a display of subservience at the table of commerce.3

The kneeling man is still there today, and he serves as a reminder, a bookmark if you will, of the origins of the socioeconomic position of Black communities.

The first layer of the onion I peeled back was the realization that this period shaped not just our social standing but also our familial structures. When I was at school there was never any discussion about this era of British history. We did study the British industrial revolution, but not the preceding era, which contributed to it. I also knew my family was from Jamaica but never understood how and why my family arrived there. I even studied history at university and took electives in African history, but shied away from the slavery modules because I thought I knew all I needed to about this period.

The triangular slave trade commenced around 1500 and concluded in the 1865. European nations forcibly removed millions of people from West and Central Africa and shipped them, in horrific conditions, across the Atlantic. The trade was considered “triangular” because traders set out from European ports and headed to Africa's west coast. From there they bought people in exchange for goods and placed them chained and shackled into ships. The voyage across the Atlantic, the “Middle Passage,” took six to eight weeks to complete and those who were fortunate enough to survive the journey were sold off and enslaved to new owners. The ships then returned to Europe with goods produced by the enslaved such as sugar, coffee, or cotton. From there the ships would set off again to return to Africa. What more did I need to know? That is, until my aunt, who had traced my family history, told me about the gaping hole in my family's lineage.

My grandmother Winifred Agatha Lewis, nee Stewart, was born in 1926 in Spanish Town, Jamaica. To me, “Spanish Town” was just a name; I never made any connection to this and the history of the island, yet it was a clue to Jamaica's past. The island of Xaymaca, which was later dubbed Jamaica by the Spanish, was located in an archipelago between North and South America. It was originally inhabited by the Redware people, called such because of the red earth artefacts they left on the island.4 But it was the Arawakan Taino people with light brown skin and coarse hair who dominated the island. They arrived on the island after the Redware people and relied on subsistence farming and fishing. They traveled to the island from South America and built small settlements inland by the shore.5 The Taino lived a peaceful existence until 1494 and the arrival of Christopher Columbus, who had set out to discover the East Indies but instead came across what he eventually termed the West Indies. Columbus originally arrived at St. Ann's Bay to the north of the island but was attacked by the Taino, who didn't recognize the strange-looking guests. Columbus then sailed further down the coast to Discovery Bay, docked, and went on the offensive, overwhelming the Taino and declaring ownership of the island on behalf of Spain. The Spanish then set about killing and torturing any Taino who resisted. Others were forced to work on establishing Spanish settlements. Many died from the conditions they were forced to work in, and the remaining Taino perished after coming into contact with European diseases from which they had no immunity. The island only really served as an outpost for refueling and replenishing supplies to Spanish ships and remained poor as a result. Most of the settlements remained insignificant, with the exception of St. Jago de la Vega, or “Spanish Town,” which eventually became the capital. The Spanish required labor initially for agricultural production and the mining of gold and silver in Peru and Mexico.6

My grandfather Tivy St Ledger was born in 1905. His nickname at school was Brass Head Jimmy because his hair had a reddish tint. He worked as a boiler man for the national gas company, which was considered a very good job. His mother, my great-grandmother, was called Catherine Emily McClymont, aka Miss Katie. She spoke “proper” English, which at the time was unusual for someone who lived in the countryside. When I read about my family history, there is a touch of pride. The Lewises were considered cultured because they sat at a dining table for dinner and food was served in separate dishes rather than from the pot. The silver was always polished and Tivy would ring a bell for dinner. My aunt was able to trace my family history right back to my great-great-great-grandfathers but then the history stops.

Slave ships kept little record of their cargo, and in any case it may have been futile. Not only was the name Lewis bestowed upon my family after the slave owners themselves, but there was also a breakdown of the Black family structure during this period. The community I grew up in had a mixture of family structures, from nuclear family to single-parent households, which included my own. At the time this seemed normal because I really had nothing to compare my experience to. But reflecting on this now, I'm struck by the number of single mothers raising their children. I certainly became aware of my own absent father, an awareness that increased as I grew older. I'm struck by the ability of the Black family to survive slavery but can't help but ask whether the disruption of the Black family now has its roots in the dissolution of the Black family then. Upon enslavement, men, women, and children were separated before being transported; this not only broke the family structure but also cultural practices. Once Black people arrived at their destination there was still no guarantee of stability. Black people who were enslaved often did have relationships and families; a large number of the enslaved grew up with both parents and often grandparents. But there was always the threat that these family units would also be broken up. In her autobiography Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, formerly enslaved Harriet Jacobs describes a mother being parted from her seven children.