British-born actress Gugu Mbatha-Raw, who starred as “Plumette” in Disney’s 2017 Beauty and the Beast, is calling for reparations for blacks.
The Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) awardee appeared on a press tour for the British TV series Possession in which she stars as “Claudia” and for which she is an executive producer, when she veered off into the topic.
“There is a huge healing process to go on in the world on, on many levels. And you know, reparations is part of that, but I think that you have to approach the subject on a on a humanized level. And I think that that’s really the power of drama. So, for me, it’s about, you know, generating the conversation. It’s complex,” she said.
Her cast mate, British actor Sheldon Shepherd also claimed that reparations are needed to address slavery.
“It’s repairing damages done. I think the word repair in itself, reparation is such a big strong word that it scares people. I think that word repair is a word that allows you to feel like it’s a job that’s necessary, you know what I mean? It’s a task that is necessary, the word, repair. And that’s my take on it. We’ve always been championing that kind of energy of repair,” he exclaimed.
The series follows “Claudia” (Mbatha-Raw), a lawyer who is hired to resolve an inheritance dispute and who finds a long-buried family history connected to the slave trade.
“What the series is really about is much deeper,” Mbatha-Raw said. “It explores identity, heritage and the enduring legacy of slavery between Bristol and Jamaica, as well as the impact of colonialism and how the past continues to shape the present.”
“For Claudia, it becomes a journey back to her roots and an awakening to parts of herself she has long kept at a distance,” the star and producer said.
Of course, historically, slavery was not exclusively perpetrated against black people. Indeed, every race, every religion, and every tribe has been subjected to slavery at one time or another across human history. And in some parts of Africa and the Middle East, it is still be practiced today — though often below the radar.
Possession premieres in August on Sky Atlantic and Now TV.