Photo Credit: public domain, Wikimedia Commons
by Selena Hill
July 8, 2026
More than 165 years after the last known slave ship arrived in the U.S., the great-great-granddaughter of Clotilda survivor Cudjo Lewis has become the first descendant of the ship’s captives to receive citizenship from Benin
More than 165 years after the last known slave ship arrived in the United States, one descendant of its survivors has fulfilled a dream her ancestors never had the chance to realize.
Cassandra Lewis, a direct descendant of Clotilda survivor Kossola “Cudjo” Lewis, has become the first descendant of the 110 Africans illegally transported aboard the infamous slave ship in 1860 to receive citizenship from the West African nation of Benin. Lewis told AL.com that the moment is deeply personal.
“This citizenship means a lot to me,” she said. “I knew about Cudjo from birth, but I never knew about Africa. I could [remember] seeing my daddy looking at books on Africans. Now I get to go there and learn about Africa, trace my roots back, and learn about it.”
Lewis’ journey to citizenship began long before Benin passed its landmark 2024 law establishing a right of return for descendants of Africans taken during the transatlantic slave trade. As the youngest of nine children, she grew up hearing firsthand accounts passed down from her father, Johnny Lewis, who spent the first 15 years of his life with his great-grandfather, Cudjo Lewis.
“Johnny was with him there during the first 15 years of his life, and he was able to tell his children,” Lewis said. “He did exactly what Cudjo said.”
Cudjo Lewis was among the best-known survivors of the Clotilda, the last known ship to illegally transport enslaved Africans to the United States more than 50 years after Congress outlawed the transatlantic slave trade. After emancipation, he and roughly 32 fellow survivors established Africatown in Alabama, where they preserved West African customs, language, and traditions. Lewis formally received her Beninese citizenship during a May 22 ceremony, standing beside a life-sized cutout of her great-great-grandfather.
“The Minister of Foreign Affairs shook my hand and said, ‘glad you made it,’” she recalled. “He said that he wondered if it was me that was with my grandaddy. They were so happy that I was there.”
Lewis’ citizenship became possible after Benin enacted legislation in September 2024 allowing descendants of enslaved Africans to reclaim citizenship. She submitted DNA results and genealogical records proving her direct lineage to Cudjo Lewis.
“The people there are trying to make things right,” she said. “These people have opened their doors and made it possible for me to come and learn about their people. They are very beautiful and welcoming in everything.”
Lewis plans to share her experience during Africatown’s annual Landing Event & Ancestors Festival, where her family’s story continues to serve as a powerful reminder that, generations after the Clotilda’s arrival, descendants are still reclaiming the history, identity and homeland that slavery sought to erase.
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