Reclaim Roots

Benin has begun granting citizenship to people of African descent whose ancestors were enslaved and taken across the Atlantic, a move aimed at reconnecting the diaspora with one of the most significant departure points of the transatlantic slave trade.

Among the first to be naturalised is Isaline Attelly, a 28 year old content creator originally from the Caribbean island of Martinique. Attelly had been living in Benin for nearly a year when genealogical research confirmed that her great grandmother was born in what is now Benin before being trafficked during the height of the slave trade.

The discovery led Attelly …