Redeeming Memory, Reclaiming Voice: A Theological Reflection on Creative Writing in the Post-Transatlantic-Slave-Trade Context

Abstract

In this essay, the author explores the important role of writing, and particularly creative writing, for academics and pastors engaged in transatlantic reparatory initiatives, arguing that it is not only an aesthetic endeavour but a sacred vocation — one that invites us to engage history not as detached observers but as wounded healers and prophetic witnesses.  As he argues, in the spirit of those who endured and resisted, we write.  In the memory of ancestors whose stories were drowned in the middle passage or hidden in plantation fields, we reclaim voice.  And in the promise of a God who liberates, restores, and resurrects, we press on —  crafting words not only to remember the past but to transform the future.