\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPhoto Credit: public domain, Wikimedia Commons<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tby Selena Hill <\/p>\n
July 8, 2026<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Cassandra Lewis, a direct descendant of Clotilda survivor Kossola \u201cCudjo\u201d 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<\/a>. Lewis told AL.com<\/em> that the moment is deeply personal.<\/p>\n \u201cThis citizenship means a lot to me,\u201d she said. \u201cI 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Lewis\u2019 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.<\/p>\n \u201cJohnny was with him there during the first 15 years of his life, and he was able to tell his children,\u201d Lewis said. \u201cHe did exactly what Cudjo said.\u201d<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Minister of Foreign Affairs shook my hand and said, \u2018glad you made it,’\u201d she recalled. \u201cHe said that he wondered if it was me that was with my grandaddy. They were so happy that I was there.\u201d<\/p>\n Lewis\u2019 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.<\/p>\n \u201cThe people there are trying to make things right,\u201d she said. \u201cThese 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Lewis plans to share her experience during Africatown\u2019s annual Landing Event & Ancestors Festival, where her family\u2019s story continues to serve as a powerful reminder that, generations after the Clotilda\u2019s arrival, descendants are still reclaiming the history, identity and homeland that slavery sought to erase.<\/p>\n RELATED CONTENT: Citizenship Denied: DOJ Releases Memo Prioritizing Denaturalization<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":34401,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/blackenterprise-prod.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2026\/07\/Cudjoe_Lewis_photo_cropped-e1783457975360.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10666],"tags":[7784,5822,24436,1686,24434,24435,2732,5510,24432,24433],"class_list":["post-34400","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reparations","tag-africa","tag-alabama","tag-benin","tag-citizenship","tag-cudjo","tag-descendant","tag-lewis","tag-receives","tag-slave-trade","tag-slavery-descendants"],"rttpg_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/blackenterprise-prod.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2026\/07\/Cudjoe_Lewis_photo_cropped-e1783457975360.jpg",0,0,false],"landscape":["https:\/\/blackenterprise-prod.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2026\/07\/Cudjoe_Lewis_photo_cropped-e1783457975360.jpg",0,0,false],"portraits":["https:\/\/blackenterprise-prod.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2026\/07\/Cudjoe_Lewis_photo_cropped-e1783457975360.jpg",0,0,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/blackenterprise-prod.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2026\/07\/Cudjoe_Lewis_photo_cropped-e1783457975360.jpg",150,150,false],"medium":["https:\/\/blackenterprise-prod.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2026\/07\/Cudjoe_Lewis_photo_cropped-e1783457975360.jpg",300,300,false],"large":["https:\/\/blackenterprise-prod.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2026\/07\/Cudjoe_Lewis_photo_cropped-e1783457975360.jpg",1024,1024,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/blackenterprise-prod.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2026\/07\/Cudjoe_Lewis_photo_cropped-e1783457975360.jpg",1536,1536,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/blackenterprise-prod.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2026\/07\/Cudjoe_Lewis_photo_cropped-e1783457975360.jpg",2048,2048,false],"post-thumbnail":["https:\/\/blackenterprise-prod.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2026\/07\/Cudjoe_Lewis_photo_cropped-e1783457975360.jpg",370,265,false],"kava-thumb-s":["https:\/\/blackenterprise-prod.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2026\/07\/Cudjoe_Lewis_photo_cropped-e1783457975360.jpg",150,85,false],"kava-thumb-s-2":["https:\/\/blackenterprise-prod.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2026\/07\/Cudjoe_Lewis_photo_cropped-e1783457975360.jpg",230,230,false],"kava-thumb-m":["https:\/\/blackenterprise-prod.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2026\/07\/Cudjoe_Lewis_photo_cropped-e1783457975360.jpg",400,400,false],"kava-thumb-m-vertical":["https:\/\/blackenterprise-prod.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2026\/07\/Cudjoe_Lewis_photo_cropped-e1783457975360.jpg",370,500,false],"kava-thumb-m-2":["https:\/\/blackenterprise-prod.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2026\/07\/Cudjoe_Lewis_photo_cropped-e1783457975360.jpg",570,450,false],"kava-thumb-l":["https:\/\/blackenterprise-prod.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2026\/07\/Cudjoe_Lewis_photo_cropped-e1783457975360.jpg",1170,650,false],"kava-thumb-xl":["https:\/\/blackenterprise-prod.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2026\/07\/Cudjoe_Lewis_photo_cropped-e1783457975360.jpg",1920,1080,false],"kava-thumb-masonry":["https:\/\/blackenterprise-prod.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2026\/07\/Cudjoe_Lewis_photo_cropped-e1783457975360.jpg",600,999,false],"kava-thumb-justify":["https:\/\/blackenterprise-prod.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2026\/07\/Cudjoe_Lewis_photo_cropped-e1783457975360.jpg",640,640,false],"kava-thumb-justify-2":["https:\/\/blackenterprise-prod.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2026\/07\/Cudjoe_Lewis_photo_cropped-e1783457975360.jpg",1280,640,false]},"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"#RiseCelestialStudios","author_link":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/author\/ralph-c\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"REPARATIONS NEWS<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"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…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34400","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34400"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34400\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34402,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34400\/revisions\/34402"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}