This week we are revisiting our Cotton Capital series that originally ran in April 2023. Today in Focus will be back with new episodes on Tuesday 29 August.
Maya Wolfe-Robinson, the editor of the Cotton Capital series, which is examining the Guardian’s links to slavery, travels to Jamaica to look for the the site of the former sugar plantation Success. It was once co-owned by the Guardian funder Sir George Philips.
She interviews Dr Esther Figueroa and Prof Veront Satchell about the history of enslavement in Jamaica and learns more from Dr Cassandra Gooptar about the Success plantation, including details of the enslaved people forced to work there. The writer and historical researcher Zakiya McKenzie imagines what life may have been like for those on Success planation.
Tourism and farming are both industries that have been affected by the legacies of transatlantic slavery. Maya speaks to Khurt Fletcher, the island supervisor for the National Workers Union in Jamaica, which represents many workers in the tourism industry, and to local farmers Ray Kerr, Wellesley “Melody” Chambers, Anthony “Tony” Campbell and Maisie Pennycook about their experiences.
Finally, Maya visits Mount Gurney church, now overseen by the Rev O’Neil Bowen. It was the church where some of the enslaved people from Success attended services. She finds a village called Success where she meets a man called Mr Bailey who says he can show her the site of the former plantation.
Cotton Capital is a six-part podcast series looking at the Guardian’s links to transatlantic slavery and the legacies of that history. It takes listeners from Manchester to Jamaica, the US, Nigeria and Brazil and back to the UK.
Host: Maya Wolfe-Robinson
Guests: Dr Esther Figueroa, Prof Veront Satchell, Dr Cassandra Gooptar, Zakiya McKenzie, Khurt Fletcher, Ray Kerr, Wellesley ‘Melody’ Chambers, Anthony ‘Tony’ Campbell and Maisie Pennycook, the Rev O’Neil Bowen, Lascelles Bailey
Series producer: Courtney Yusuf
Producer: Silas Gray
Consultant executive producer: Colin Stone
Historical consultant: Dr Keston Perry
Original music: Melo-Zed
Sound design: Max Sanderson
Development series producer: Tej Adeleye
Development producers: Weyland McKenzie-Witter and Fatuma Khaireh
Commissioning editors: Nicole Jackson and Maya Wolfe-Robinson
With thanks to: Rachel Goffe, Suzanne Francis-Brown, Bob Betton, Theresa Rodriguez-Moodie, Madge Wright-Corniffe, Denique Gordon, Charmaine McIntosh, Tamisha Lee of the Jamaica Network of Rural Women Producers, Daniel Grizzle, Casey Gane-McAlla and Nick Davis
Illustration: Mark Harris/The Guardian
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