Benin has appointed acclaimed American filmmaker Spike Lee and his wife, Tonya Lewis Lee, a producer, author, and civil rights activist, as its ambassadors for African Americans in the U.S.
Spike Lee and his wife will serve as “thematic” ambassadors, promoting Benin’s initiatives centered on reconnecting Afro-descendants with their roots in the West African country through culture, history, and heritage, as reported by Africa News.
In 2024, as part of moves to strengthen cultural and historical ties between Benin and descendants of the African Diaspora, the government passed a law offering nationality to diaspora descendants. It launched a website where the descendants of enslaved Africans can apply for citizenship. Among the hundreds of people who applied was Tonya Lewis Lee. She visited Benin last year.
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Spike Lee has said in the past that DNA analysis traced his father’s lineage to Cameroon and that of his mother to Sierra Leone. He and his wife are widely recognized as advocates for civil rights, with Spike Lee using his platform as a filmmaker to address racial injustice and social inequality.
The Benin government said that “through their long-standing commitment to justice, their exceptional creativity, and their global reach”, the couple have “profoundly shaped the contemporary narrative of the African diaspora”.
Benin hopes that the latest move will promote cultural tourism. In 2019, Ghana’s economy generated a total of $1.9 billion through activities related to the “Year of Return.”
Some of the activities that contributed to this figure included air travel, hotel accommodation, transport fares, and other key entertainment events.
Ghana’s “Year of Return” program saw hundreds of African Americans visit the country to experience the history, culture and tradition firsthand.
It was an initiative by the government of Ghana to mark 400 years since the first black slaves landed in Jamestown, Virginia.
This initiative saw an array of celebrities across the globe make their way into Ghana to explore, learn and appreciate their roots, as well as unite with Africans on the continent.
Steve Harvey, Nicole Ari Parker, Diggy Simmons, Michael Jai White, and Bozoma Saint John were among a host of celebrities who spent some time in Ghana.
