Silverio Omari
Keachia Bowers and Damon Smith once called Florida home, but in 2023, they decided to leave everything behind and start anew in Ghana. Among a growing number of returnees, they found a sense of belonging.
“I am an African woman. How do we identify who we are? You look at your skin. I didn’t need citizenship to tell me I’m African. Everywhere I go in the world, if someone looks at me, I’m melanated,” said Bowers.
In November, Bowers and Smith, along with 522 other members of the global Black diaspora, were granted Ghanaian citizenship in a meaningful ceremony.
“For me, this passport is not just mine; it’s for my ancestors who longed to return home but never had the chance. Their dying wish was to come back, and they never made it,” Bowers reflected.
Ghana’s government has been actively promoting the reconnection of the diaspora through its “Beyond the Return” initiative, launched in 2019. The program follows the 400-year commemoration of the transatlantic slave trade, in which Ghana played a significant role as a departure point for enslaved Africans.
While “Beyond the Return” is an economic program designed to attract diaspora investment, for many, reconnecting with their roots remains the primary goal.
Dejiha Gordon, another US-Ghanaian citizen who moved to Ghana in 2019 and opened a Jamaican food truck, shares this sentiment.
“It feels amazing to connect with an African country as an African-American. Back in America, we couldn’t trace our roots to anything but Africa. Now that I’m here, I feel like I’ve done something right,” she said.
Dj Vnyash
