After arriving here in the late 1700s from Brazil, then a Portuguese colony, he became one of the biggest slave merchants in the history of the transatlantic slave trade. “In the past, the country had a hard time telling the story of the victims of the slave trade. Instead, many initiatives commemorated those who enslaved them.”Unlike some African countries, Benin has publicly acknowledged — in broad terms — its role in the slave trade. In 1999, President Mathieu Kérékou visited a Baltimore church and fell to his knees during an apology to African Americans for Africa’s role in the slave trade. When the event ended, the de Souza family poured out of the building.

Source: Washington Post January 29, 2018 20:28 UTC