Jamaican protester says William and Kate benefiting from her great, great grandparents' 'blood, tears and sweat'

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are directly benefiting from the “blood, tears and sweat” of a Jamaican human rights advocate’s great, great grandparents, she has said.

Opal Adisa helped to organise activists outside the British High Commission building in Kingston, Jamaica’s capital, calling for the UK monarchy to pay reparations for slavery and apologise for human rights abuses.

The protest began shortly before the Cambridges were due to arrive in the island nation, as part of a tour of the Caribbean.

The Advocates Network coalition of Jamaican politicians, business leaders, doctors and musicians wrote an open letter detailing 60 reasons why the monarchy should compensate Jamaica, to mark the country’s 60th anniversary of independence.

Demonstrators were holding signs reading “Princesses and Princes belong in fairytales… not in Jamaica” and “apologise”, and holding copies of the open letter.

Ms Adisa, a retired professor in her 60s, is a gender specialist and human rights advocate who works with the coalition, and was keen to call the gathering a meeting of an advocacy network rather than a protest.

She said: “Kate and William are beneficiaries, so they are, in fact, complicit because they are positioned to benefit specifically from our ancestors, and we’re not benefiting from our ancestors.

Duke and Duchess of Cambridge: Jamaicans demand apology and slavery reparations ahead of William and Kate visit

William and Kate dance with villagers in Belize, putting early tour protest behind them

Prince William and Kate arrive in Belize after protests forced them to cancel trip on Caribbean tour

“The luxury and the lifestyle that they have had and that they continue to have, traipsing all over the world for free with no expense, that is a result of my great, great grandmother and grandfather, their blood and tears and sweat.”

She joined calls for an apology, and said the monarchy should provide “economic social reparation”, such as “building us proper hospitals, providing and making sure that our children are educated through college level, and making sure land is equally distributed”.

Ms Adisa said an apology is the “first step towards healing and reconciliation”.

She added: “You know, we don’t have anything personally against Kate and Prince William, and even the Queen, for that matter, but we’re simply saying you’ve done wrong, and it is way past time that you admit that you’ve done wrong and when you do, redressing it.

“The fact that our government is spending money to help provide security and finance for the duke and duchess, who are wealthy, is outrageous, it’s criminal.

“Because the Caribbean is fed up, the same thing happened in Belize. We’re just saying enough is enough, we’ve been quiet, we have been nice.

“Enough is enough, let’s deal with this racism and this discrimination.”

William and Kate will stay in Jamaica until Thursday when they depart for the Bahamas.

Earlier in the tour there was opposition from villagers in Belize, who cited a range of issues including objections to the Cambridges’ helicopter landing site, which forced a visit to a cacao farm to be cancelled.

It was replaced with a visit to a chocolate producer before the couple travelled to the cultural centre of the Garifuna community in Hopkins.

Read Entire Article