Michael Allen, a local Gullah Geechee community advocate, has been named to an advisory panel of the London-based Guardian newspaper to help the publication report on communities affected by the trans-Atlantic slave trade.
Allen, a former park ranger with the National Park Service, is one of three new members to the advisory group that will guide the Scott Trust Legacies of Enslavement program, which a year ago published a report on the Guardian’s links to the slavery.
Allen, a Mount Pleasant resident, said the Guardian has a desire “to atone for their past mistakes and sins in this evil event. I was selected to represent the entire Gullah Geechee region and the United States on this advisory board.
“I am grateful for the foundation that my Gullah upbringing provided me,” said Allen, a Kingstree native. “I look forward to serving on this committee and adding my voice and experience in this worthwhile endeavor.”
John Edward Taylor, the newspaper’s founder, was a cotton merchant. He and others, who established the publication, were also involved in Manchester, England’s textile and cotton trades, which were connected to slavery in the Americas.
Ebony Riddell Bamber, the trust’s program director, said the advisory panel will oversee long-term programs of restorative justice.
“The focus for the period ahead is to carry out further engagement with descendant communities and begin to develop concrete options for partnerships, as well as continuing to work closely with the Scott Trust, our advisory panel, and connecting with other [organizations] and institutions advancing restorative and reparative justice efforts,” Bamber said.
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