Benin Designates Spike Lee & His Wife As Ambassadors To Afro-Descendants In The US
Benin has named acclaimed American director Spike Lee and his wife, Tonya Lewis Lee, an experienced producer and author, as its ambassadors for African-Americans in the United States.
The couple is intended to serve as "thematic" ambassadors, promoting awareness and supporting measures to strengthen Benin's ties with individuals of African descent.
The government claims that it will assist in reconnecting "people of African descent around the world to their historical, cultural and spiritual roots".
The West African country hopes that the decision will boost cultural tourism. It has launched many campaigns to encourage persons of African descent to reclaim their history and seek citizenship if they are eligible.
Spike Lee previously indicated that DNA testing linked the genealogy of his father to Cameroon, while the roots of his mothers were in Sierra Leone. The particular country of origin of his wife has not been revealed.
The coastline of Benin is part of what was historically known as the Slave Coast, which served as a major departure point for enslaved Africans transported across the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas.
Between 1580 and 1727, the Kingdom of Whydah, a prominent slave-trading city on the coast of Benin is thought to have exported over a million Africans to the United States, the Caribbean and Brazil.