Ndalatando - Angola is to launch a project to enhance the tourism on the slave trafficking route and bring together in festival Angolans and their descendants in the Diaspora, said Monday in Massangano, northern Cuanza Norte Province, the director of the Tourism Promotion Institute, Afonso Vita.
The project, which is named Reconstitution of the Slave Route in Angola, will include Luanda Province, the localities of Massangano commune of Kwanza Norte, Ambriz municipality of Bengo Province, Soyo and Mbanza Congo municipalities of Zaire Province where the Dialaku Festival will take place for Angolans and their Diaspora to meet and reconnect.
Afonso Vita, who was speaking to the press about the visit by members of the Tucker family, descendents of an Angolan slave transported to the United States of America in 1619, said that the project would soon begin and would be annually or biennially held.
The official clarified that the visit of Tucker family and friends in a total of 19 people who are in Angola to know their origin, marks the beginning of the project and it will be a reality as from now.
He considered that the visit of this family that is done by the third time, starts a new stage towards the valorization of the history and cultural identity of Angola.
The director of the Tourism Promotion in Ndalatando reiterated the need to improve access to tourist areas, the creation of conditions to offer greater convenience to tourists and to make them more profitable.
To Afonso Vita, there is the need to boost river transport from the historic city of Dondo to the Massangano commune which he considered a “fabulous” tourist route.
The governor of Cuanza Norte Province, Pedro Makita Júlia, considered the Tucker´s visit as a reunion of the Angolan family.
The provincial governor highlighted the importance of this visit to foster tourism in the province and to enhance the country as well as the well-being of all Angolans.
According to the spokesperson of the family, Wanda Tucker, its members feel that they originate from and are members of the kingdom of Ndongo and that they are part of this land and should continue to learn about their history.
She explained that the family´s coming to Angola has two objectives, which are, firstly, the hope that the descendants of Angolan slaves are still alive and in order for them to continue working and learning about their origin, and secondly, because of the tragedy that befell their ancestors.
Wanda Tucker said that she will continue to encourage African-Americans to come to Angola to know and learn the history of their ancestors who were strong, determined and educated.
The Tucker family´s visit is part of the “Angola Heritage Tour” route that includes the provinces of Luanda, Malanje and Cuanza Norte with the aim of identifying areas of cooperation in the lands of their ancestors.
In Cuanza Norte, the group was received in audience by the provincial governor and then proceeded to the commune of Massangano, to learn about the place, its history and relive moments of the slave trade.
Massangano was the first temporary capital of Angola which was set up by the Portuguese settlers.
Among the existing infrastructures in the commune, one can find the Church of Our Lady of Victory, the ruins of the Slaves Square, the old Portuguese Court, the Tomb of the navigator and captain Paulo Dias de Novais.
The tourists visited the Slaves Square, the Massangano Fortress, the Town Hall and the Court House.
This is the third visit of members of the Tucker family to Angola, the first visit was done in 2019 and the second time was observed in 2021, however, according to the project mentors the visits will be yearly.
The story reveals that the first couple descending from the Tucker family arrived in the United States of America in 1619, aboard the ship White Lion, representing the presence of the first Africans in that country.
The couple had their first child (William Tucker) in 1624, who was the first African-American registered and baptised in the United States of America.
It is estimated that there are 12 million American citizens of Angolan origin.
