The question of reparative and restorative justice must be addressed. The Commonwealth is a relationship between Britain and her former colonies. 

The Commonwealth Games is a symbol and legacy of British Empire colonialism. 

The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) is the umbrella organisation that leads the Commonwealth Sport Movement and is responsible for the Commonwealth Games.

The CGF is in the most soul-searching, significant and existential decade in its history.

Facing legitimate questions about its future, relevance, impact and meaning the CGF must have a profound awakening of consciousness and awareness.  

A first step is to establish a Reparations Fund/Foundation to assist with holistic sport development in the Caribbean with particular focus on youth engagement and development.

British Empire, colonialism, slavery and the transatlantic slave trade bequeathed a legacy at odds with the CGF's shared values of humanity, equality, destiny. 

It is a historical continuum - the present is never completely shut off from the past. There is a direct line from the past to today. The CGF historical roots cannot escape scrutiny.

In 1911, The Festival of Empire competition was arranged to celebrate the coronation of King George V. 

In October 1891 John Astley Cooper suggested a festival to foster goodwill and understanding in the British Empire. From 1930 to 1950 the Games was called British Empire Games. 

The name was changed to the British Empire and Commonwealth Games until 1962. From 1966 to 1974 it was the British Commonwealth Games, then in 1978 the Games was rebranded as the Commonwealth Games.

The British brought 3.5 million Africans to the Caribbean, but at emancipation there were only 600,000. 

However an estimated 12 million African men, women and children were sold into slavery. Along the middle passage 1.8 million died on the journey - thrown overboard to the sharks.

The 1661 Barbados Slave Code established that enslaved Africans be treated as sub human chattel. They had no right to liberty or life. 

Slave codes defined Africans as non-human heathens and brutes and slave owners had the legal right to commit the most heinous of crimes against black subjects of colonial society without negative consequences. 

It was legally sanctioned racial discrimination, racial violence and murder. The legal debasement of Africans constituted whites as superior beings to Africans. Africans weren't humans but an inferior thing.

Slavery is the foundation for the enrichment and generational wealth of slave traders, slave and plantation owners and their descendants.

The legacy of the horrendous, murderous and barbaric crimes against inhumanity are unassailable. The condescension inherent in suggestions that the descendants of the enslaved should move on is a gross insult, insensitivity and disrespect to the millions brutally murdered.

Britain has never apologised for its role in slavery and the transatlantic slave trade.

The generational beneficiaries (nations, individuals, institutions and organisations) of the enslavement of Africans surrounded by the power and wealth of the perpetrators who benefited from chattel slavery and profitable investment in the slave trade continue to ignore calls to put reparation on their agenda.

The system and institutions built on the foundation of the brutality and inhumanity of the transatlantic slave trade remain empowered. Millions of Africans were kidnapped and uprooted for personal greed as the profits from the slave trade and colonial rule funded the Industrial Revolution.

Murder and torture. The brutality of the Middle Passage from West Africa to the Caribbean. Inhumanity and wealth extraction drowning in blood - the long shadow of British slavery and colonialism have been the foundation on which under development and persistent poverty have taken place in the Caribbean.

A consequence of centuries of crimes against humanity carried out by British colonial powers on enslaved and indentured labour. At the height of Britain's imperial power the British were merciless.

The crimes of the British Empire cannot be erased. Its not about historical hate, anger or lost opportunity but building a better future, healing and moving forward by understanding the past and reshaping the future.

The CGF can't change, hide or rewrite its sportwashing history it should seize the opportunity to educate, foster growth and sustainable development, understanding, resilience, non-racism, inclusion and diversity, and promote a fair, just, safe and sustainable future for everyone in the Commonwealth sports movement. 

It's about having empathy - acknowledging, sharing and understanding the historical pain.

Sport is a universal language, and as such to establish its contemporary relevance, reputation, credibility and purpose the CGF must take meaningful and strong action to give dignity and recognition to the millions of lives and ancestors that were dehumanised, stripped of their dignity and murdered and to recognise and address the enduring transgenerational trauma of their descendants.

The CGF and the Commonwealth Sport Movement can find the courage to make the uncomfortable choice to do the right thing because it's the right and decent thing to do. Stop hiding behind the passage of time. 

There is no shame or disgrace in admitting the role the CGF and the Commonwealth Games played in Britain's colonial history of slavery and the transatlantic slave trade.

A start point is to establish a CGF Reparations Foundation. Act now.