A recent law passed by the West African country of Benin grants citizenship to anyone who can show they are descended from slaves. American singer Ciara is one of the first public figures to take up the offer.

Porto-Novo

Benin has introduced a digital platform, My Afro Origins, to process citizenship applications for people who can prove descent from slaves. US singer Ciara became one of the first prominent figures to receive citizenship through this initiative, participating in a ceremony in Kotonou and visiting historic sites linked to the slave trade. The citizenship offer is part of Benin's broader strategy to reconnect Afro-descendants with their heritage and address its role in the transatlantic slave trade. Additionally, American filmmaker Spike Lee and his wife Tonya have been named ambassadors to promote Benin's memorial policy and right of return among the Afro-descendant diaspora in the United States.

Singer Ciara becomes citizen of Benin

Benin has launched the digital platform My Afro Origins to process citizenship applications for anyone who can show they're descended from slaves. On Saturday, the US singer Kiara became one of the first public figures to take up the offer. Following a ceremony in Kotonou, the Grammy-winning performer toured the historic city and walked the slave route to the door of no return, the point where enslaved people would start their journey to an unknown destination in terrible conditions. Offering citizenship is part of a wider push by Benin to reconnect Afro-descendants with their heritage. American filmmaker Spike Lee and his wife Tonya have been appointed ambassadors to the Afro-descendant diaspora in the United States with a mission to promote Benin's memorial policy and right of return. Benin has long been working to atone for its legacy of complicity with the slave trade. European merchants deported an estimated 1.5 million enslaved people from the Bight of Benin to the Americas. Alongside the national reckoning, memorial tourism around the legacy of the slave trade has become a key approach by the West African nation to attract Afro-descendants.

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