ABSTRACT
Belinda Sutton’s petitions to the Massachusetts General Court are narratives requesting reparations from her former enslaver. They are also a recounting of childhood, interrupted by her captors. This chapter examines what Sutton’s petition reveals about the conditions and stakes of hers and other transatlantic enslaved childhoods. Focusing on childhood in Sutton’s narrative illuminates the centrality of children to slavery, emancipation, and demands for reparations. Sutton’s petition also frames reparations’ orientation to future generations. Unable to truly repair slavery’s damage or repay its theft, this payment can only benefit future generations, ensuring that other Black childhoods are not similarly stolen.
