Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
Benin appointed the famous American director Spike Lee and his wife Tony Lewis Lee, an experienced producer and author, as ambassadors of African Americans to the United States.
The couple are expected to serve as “thematic” ambassadors, enhancing awareness and supporting the initiative to promote Benin’s connections with people of African descent.
The agreement was finalized during their visit to the Benin capital, last week, according to the French State TV and radio company RFI.
The government says it will help restore “African people around the world with its historical, cultural and spiritual roots.”
The West African country came up with several initiatives that encourage African origin to return their heritage and pursue citizenship where they are entitled.
Last year, the government passed a law proposing citizenship to people with an African ancestor who was taken from the Motherland as part of transatlantic slave trade.
The appointment of ambassadors follows A recent web launch Where descendants of enslaved Africans can apply for citizenship.
RFI reports that Tonya Lewis Lee was among the hundreds of people who applied and received a favorable answer.
In 2019, Garni launched what she called the “Year of Return” to encourage African heritage people to return to the continent.
Spike Lee had previously stated that the DNA -Analization leaked the father’s family to Cameroon, while the mother’s roots were from Sierra Leone. A specific country of origin of his wife was not announced.
Both have long advocated civil rights and social justice in the US in their works. Spike films are often based on African-American experiences and study the topics of race, identity and justice.
The Benin government stated that “due to its long -standing commitment to justice, their exceptional creativity and their global achievement,” both “deeply formed a modern story about the African diaspora.”
They did not publicly commented on their purpose.
Benin’s coastline is part of the fact that it was once known as the slave coast – the main departure point for the enslaved Africans who are shipped across the Atlantic to America.
It is estimated between 1580 and 1727, the Kingdom of Widda, the main trading center of the slave, located on the Benin coast, more than a million Africans were exported to the US, Caribbean and Brazil.
