Benin Grants Ciara Citizenship in Move to Reconnect with Black Diaspora

Grammy-winning artist Ciara has become one of the first public figures to gain citizenship in Benin under a groundbreaking new law that offers nationality to descendants of enslaved Africans. The initiative, launched in September 2024, reflects Benin’s effort to confront its role in the transatlantic slave trade and reconnect with the global Black diaspora. Ciara received her citizenship in Cotonou and later visited historic sites in Ouidah, including the Slave Route and the haunting Door of No Return. Through this gesture, Benin hopes to inspire “memorial tourism” and offer Afro-descendants a deeper connection to their roots. Ciara, speaking after the ceremony, described her experience as a mix of “emotion, reflection, and heritage,” calling it a “profound return to what truly matters.”

AP