A Vision for Remembrance, Research, and Renewal

In December 2021, Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley, S.C., M.P. announced the launch of the R.O.A.D. (Reclaiming Our Atlantic Destiny) Programme, stating:

“The Barbados R.O.A.D. Programme is one of the most significant projects ever undertaken since the country declared independence.”

A COMPELLING VISION

The stories of enslaved people often begin with the harrowing journey to an unknown land. While we may never know the fullness of these lives, Barbados is beginning its journey as a new republic by telling the stories of the enslaved, the liberated, and the descendants who forged their own national identity on the world stage, with dignity, honor, and hope. This story is anchored in four centuries of records in Barbados that document the Middle Passage, the lives of those who suffered and survived under slavery, and the long road to self-liberation and self-determination. 

At a time when the impact of slavery is fading from consciousness, many countries are not able to tell the full and complex truth of this part of our global history. Barbados is leading the bold, urgent effort to safeguard unparalleled historical resources and honour the countless individuals who lived through these conditions through a detailed, incontrovertible record of this history. As Barbados reclaims its past and its future destiny, it will emerge on the global stage as a robust and economically independent nation with extraordinary progressive values and amplify the culture and pride of its people. The lessons Barbados and its people are willing to share about honour and resilience are a contribution to global humanity from a country that offers a past, present, and future unlike anywhere else in the world.

ARCHIVES

At the core of the R.O.A.D. Programme is an obligation to safeguard the nation’s incomparable archives, which are the largest body of records outside of Great Britain documenting the development of Trans-Atlantic slave societies. It is estimated that as many as 40 million pages of records exist within the Archives Department. The R.O.A.D. Programme today employs over 100 Barbadians, who are scanning over 10,000 pages daily, and simultaneously undertaking metadata extraction, transcription, and interpretation, soon to relocate into the fit for purpose Digitisation Pavilion.

MEMORIAL TO THE ENSLAVED

Announced in tandem with the digitisation project was the commissioning of an Ancestral Memorial to the Enslaved, to open in the summer of 2025. Upon the Memorial’s completion, the R.O.A.D. Programme will continue to unfold with the development of the new Barbados Heritage District.

BARBADOS HERITAGE DISTRICT

The American Friends of the Barbados Heritage District, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) public charity dedicated to advancing the planning, development, construction, programming, and operations of the Barbados Heritage District, the home of the R.O.A.D. Programme. With the help of CCS Fundraising and LMI Group, AFBHD is planning the emergence of this transformative 150-acre development to commemorate the history of Barbados while forging new pathways for historical research, cultural preservation, education, and economic development.