Slavery, colonialism and more is the subject of Banburyshire talk on how to manage historical injustices

The talk (with tea) is on June 18 at 3pm at the historic Adderbury Quaker Meeting House, off Horn Hill Road in West Adderbury, OX17 3EW - on the path to the parish cemetery.

The Banbury and Evesham Quakers welcome speaker Ann Floyd who will talk about reparations for historical injustices, particularly slavery and colonialism, and how to respond to the current challenges from a Quaker perspective.

“The legacies of slavery, the slave trade and colonialism are topics of current debate in Britain and elsewhere. Quakers are one of many groups thinking about how the current generation ought to respond,” she says.

“Should the focus be on reparations for the past, or on current issues such as loss and damage, health, education, economic inequalities – or both? How should we go about whatever we do? How does this look to those we want to support and whose agenda is it?”

British Quakers have begun exploring all this among themselves and with Quakers in Africa. Sunday’s talk will be a personal take on the journey so far and what the next steps might be.

A member of Jordans Quaker Meeting in Buckinghamshire, Ann Floyd is involved in Quaker work nationally and internationally. Most of her professional life was as an academic at the Open University.

She has longstanding links with Africa, first as a mathematics teacher in Uganda and later through academic connections involving open/distance learning, alongside many interactions with African Quakers.

Visitors are assured a warm welcome at this fascinating public talk organised by Banbury and Evesham Quakers. The event, which is free of charge, is also a great opportunity to see the meeting house, which is only open a few times a year,and the talk will be followed by afternoon tea and conversation.

Adderbury Quaker Meeting House is one of the oldest in the country, having been built in 1675 and is a very special place, little changed by the passing of time. The building still acts as a meeting place, though it is now used infrequently.