Guy Arlington Kenneth Hewitt (born November 1967) is a

Barbadian British Barbadian British people, Bajan Brits or British Barbadians, are citizens or residents of the United Kingdom whose ethnic origins lie fully or partially in the Caribbean island of Barbados. The UK is home to the second largest Barbadian-born mi ...

Anglican priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

, racial justice advocate, and specialist in social policy and development. He held the ambassadorial appointment of High Commissioner of Barbados in London from 2014 to 2018. He previously worked with the University of the West Indies, Caribbean Policy Development Centre,

Commonwealth of Nations The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the ...

Caribbean Community The Caribbean Community (CARICOM or CC) is an intergovernmental organization that is a political and economic union of 15 member states (14 nation-states and one dependency) throughout the Caribbean. They have primary objectives to promote econo ...

, and the

City and Guilds of London Institute The City and Guilds of London Institute is an educational organisation in the United Kingdom. Founded on 11 November 1878 by the City of London and 16 livery companies – to develop a national system of technical education, the institute has ...

. International Relations Assignments In addition to his assignment to the

Court of St James The Court of St James's is the royal court for the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. All ambassadors to the United Kingdom are formally received by the court. All ambassadors from the United Kingdom are formally accredited from the court – & ...

, Hewitt was the Permanent Representative to the UN International Maritime Organization, and a Governor on the Board of the

Commonwealth Secretariat The Commonwealth Secretariat is the main intergovernmental agency and central institution of the Commonwealth of Nations. It is responsible for facilitating co-operation between members; organising meetings, including the Commonwealth Heads o ...

. He has been a strong advocate for the

and

Small Island Developing States Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are a group of developing countries that are small island countries which tend to share similar sustainable development challenges. These include small but growing populations, limited resources, remoteness ...

(SIDS) particularly for a change in the

OECD The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; french: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, ''OCDE'') is an intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate e ...

Development Assistance Committee The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's (OECD) Development Assistance Committee (DAC) is a forum to discuss issues surrounding aid, development and poverty reduction in developing countries. It describes itself as being the ...

rules to allow Caribbean and other SIDS to access development financing when devastated by catastrophic storm systems. In 2018, he was one of the leading advocates on the Windrush scandal, in which he criticised the outcomes of the immigration policies of the British government on undocumented, elderly, West Indian-born, long-term UK residents which included the denial of the right to work, denial of benefits, denial of healthcare and also for some detention and deportation. He published articles with

Chatham House Chatham House, also known as the Royal Institute of International Affairs, is an independent policy institute headquartered in London. Its stated mission is to provide commentary on world events and offer solutions to global challenges. It is ...

and the University of the West Indies on the Windrush scandal in which he outlines the strategy adopted to make the Windrush scandal a national concern and global issue and bring about a major policy u-turn. Hewitt's agitation was included in the podcast series "100 Campaigns that Changed the World". He has published a number of books. In 2016, to celebrate Barbados' Fiftieth Anniversary of Independence he published ''Fathering A Nation'' on the life and legacy of

Errol Barrow Errol Walton Barrow (21 January 1920 – 1 June 1987) was a Barbadian statesman and the first prime minister of Barbados. Born into a family of political and civic activists in the parish of Saint Lucy, he became a WWII aviator, combat ve ...

, the first Prime Minister of Barbados and one of the

Barbadian National Heroes The Order of National Heroes is the supreme honour within the national honours system of Barbados and was established by the Order of National Heroes Act 1998 by the Parliament of Barbados. Members are referred to as National Heroes, and are ...

. He previous wrote extensively on gender-responsive national budgets. On 11 June 2021, Hewitt sought the presidency of the Democratic Labour Party, the organisation co-founded by

that led Barbados into Independence and enacted many of its social and economic reforms. He remains committed to Barbados. Hewitt supported the Barbadian government's decision to separate itself from the

British monarchy The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the constitutional form of government by which a hereditary sovereign reigns as the head of state of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies (the Bailiwi ...

as part of a journey of self-determination. He noted this transition to a republic, having a local citizen as head of state, had long been planned but the Windrush scandal altered perceptions of the "mother country". However, he was critical of how the current administration in Barbados is handling the process of constitutional change to a republic. To celebrate the

Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II The Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II was the international celebration in 2022 marking the Platinum jubilee, 70th anniversary of the accession of Queen Elizabeth II on 6 February 1952, the first British monarch to ever celebrate one. In the Un ...

, Hewitt was engaged by the media to speak to her role as Head of the Commonwealth. He underscored her pivotal role in keeping this "Family of Nations" together through her understanding that the modern Commonwealth as a multiracial and multinational association, and unlike many other European leaders in the post-colonial era, avoided redundant ideas of imperial loyalty or Anglo-Saxon (European) superiority.He subsequently paid tribute to her Commonwealth role on her passing. Faith-based Roles As an

has ministered in Barbados and the wider Caribbean, North America and Europe. In 2019, Hewitt became the parish priest at St. James-in-the-Hills Episcopal Church, in the Episcopal Diocese of Southeast Florida, . As with the Windrush scandal, Hewitt was active in the US on racial justice issues. His articles "Let Freedom Ring" and "No Justice, No Peace: A Christian Sociological Reflection on Race in the USA" were featured in the ''Episcopal Journal''. He prepared a liturgy on

Black Lives Matter Black Lives Matter (abbreviated BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that seeks to highlight racism, discrimination, and racial inequality experienced by black people. Its primary concerns are incidents of police br ...

for Lent and collaborated on a liturgy for

Juneteenth Juneteenth is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the emancipation of enslaved African Americans. Deriving its name from combining "June" and "nineteenth", it is celebrated on the anniversary of General Order No. 3, i ...

. After three years of ministering in Florida, Hewitt returned to London, the land of his birth, and subsequently took up the position of Associate Vicar at

All Saints Church, Fulham All Saints' Church is the ancient parish church of Fulham, in the County of Middlesex, pre-dating the Reformation. It is now an Anglican church in Fulham, London, sited close to the River Thames, beside the northern approach to Putney Bridge. ...

in the Diocese of London. In August 2022, he was appointed as the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

's first Racial Justice Director. Located within the

Archbishops' Council The Archbishops' Council is a part of the governance structures of the Church of England. Its headquarters are at Church House, Great Smith Street, London. The council was created in 1999 to provide a central executive body to co-ordinate and lead ...

and reporting to the Secretary General, he will work alongside the Archbishops' Commission for Racial Justice to ensure the taskforce recommendations ''From Lament to Action'' and the work of the Commission are implemented.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hewitt, Guy 21st-century Anglican priests 21st-century Barbadian people 1967 births American Episcopal priests High Commissioners of Barbados to the United Kingdom Living people