Reclaiming History

They stood on a concrete platform over a cobblestone plaza as slave traders cast their final judgment, gazing westward at a bend in the mighty Cuanza River, where unknown horrors lay ahead.

For the ancestors of millions of African Americans, a slave market in Massangano, a village in the southern African nation of Angola, was likely the place where they were sold into bondage. It was a point of no return.

Slave traders cast their final judgment as men, women, and children stood on a concrete platform at a slave market in Massangano, a village in the southern African nation of Angola.

For the ancestors of millions of African Americans, this was likely the place where they were sold into bondage. They had no idea of the horrors that lay ahead as they looked westward at a bend in the mighty Cuanza River.

For nearly 400 years, Angola was a major center for the capture and sale of human beings for the transatlantic slave trade, during which more than 12 million Africans were shipped to the Americas to provide labor for European colonies. Historians believe that a quarter of the roughly 400,000 enslaved Africans who were brought to what’s now the United States came from the area of modern-day Angola. These people included the very first Africans to arrive in Point Comfort, Virginia, in 1619 (see “Treacherous Crossing,” below).

That history has largely gone unnoticed in the U.S., even though some 12 million Americans can trace their ancestry to Angola, according to the U.S. government. While many Black Americans often make pilgrimages to Ghana and Senegal in West Africa to trace their ancestors’ treacherous journeys, few have traveled to Angola.

For nearly 400 years, Angola was a major center for the capture and sale of human beings for the transatlantic slave trade. During this time, more than 12 million Africans were shipped to the Americas to provide labor for European colonies. Historians believe that a quarter of the roughly 400,000 enslaved Africans who were brought to what’s now the United States were from the area of modern-day Angola. These people included the very first Africans to arrive in Point Comfort, Virginia, in 1619 (see “Treacherous Crossing,” below).

That history has largely gone unnoticed in the U.S. According to the U.S. government, some 12 million Americans can trace their ancestry to Angola. While many Black Americans often make pilgrimages to Ghana and Senegal in West Africa to trace their ancestors’ treacherous journeys, few have traveled to Angola.

The Angolan government wants to change that. In an effort to build a tourism industry and strengthen diplomatic ties with the U.S., the government is promoting its country’s history in the slave trade, including a global campaign to highlight the significance of Massangano, the site of the slave market. With the help of the United Nations and the U.S., the government is also raising money to rehabilitate historical sites and has applied to have the Cuanza River corridor—through which millions of people were forced to march to the coast to be shipped to the New World—declared a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Angolan officials hope the shared past will draw Americans who want to better understand that history.

“This is the place where African Americans came from,” says Márcio de Jesus Lopes Daniel, Angola’s tourism minister. “Come and see where your roots are.”

The Angolan government wants to change that. It is promoting the country’s history in the slave trade in order to build a tourism industry and strengthen diplomatic ties with the U.S. The government has launched a global campaign to highlight the significance of Massangano, the site of the slave market. With the help of the United Nations and the U.S, the government is also raising money to rehabilitate historical sites. It has applied to have the Cuanza River corridor declared a UNESCO World Heritage site. (Millions of people were forced to march from the Cuanza River to the coast to be shipped to the New World.)

Angolan officials hope the shared past will draw Americans who want to better understand that history.

“This is the place where African Americans came from,” says Márcio de Jesus Lopes Daniel, Angola’s tourism minister. “Come and see where your roots are.”

Massangano was Angola’s main transit point for trafficking captives to the coast, scholars say, because it sits where a main tributary meets the Cuanza, the nation’s largest river. Today it’s a quiet village of a couple hundred residents. Most of them live at the bottom of a hill in homes made of mud and logs. Some blast music at night. Others gather beneath trees and play loto, a game similar to bingo.

At the top of the hill, European Renaissance-style stone buildings sit mostly in ruins. Each one has a hand-painted sign identifying its purpose, including the old town hall and the fort of Massangano. The slave market, at the village’s highest point, is marked by a concrete cross standing about two stories tall, at the spot where enslaved people in shackles would have stood before being sold. It’s a site that’s particularly emotional for tourists.

Massangano sits where a main tributary meets the Cuanza, the nation’s largest river. Scholars say it became Angola’s main transit point for trafficking captives to the coast because of its geography. Today it’s a quiet village. A couple hundred residents live mostly at the bottom of a hill in homes made of mud and logs. Some blast music at night. Others gather beneath trees and play loto, a game similar to bingo.

At the top of the hill, European Renaissance-style stone buildings sit mostly in ruins. Each one has a hand-painted sign identifying its purpose. Buildings include the old town hall and the fort of Massangano. The slave market was at the village’s highest point. It is marked by a concrete cross standing about two stories tall, at the spot where enslaved people in shackles would have stood before being sold. It’s a site that’s particularly emotional for tourists.

“They cry. Always cry,” Afonso Vita, a historian who works for Angola’s tourism ministry, says of African American visitors.

By the start of the 16th century, Portugal dominated the slave trade in the region. Portuguese settlers ignited long-simmering conflicts between African tribes, taking the captives from tribal wars and shipping them to Portuguese settlements in Brazil and the Atlantic islands. The ships departed from port cities such as Luanda, Angola’s capital, which the Portuguese controlled thanks to their superior weaponry. Some 10,000 enslaved people were exported each year for nearly 400 years, even after slavery in Angola was officially abolished in 1836.

“They cry. Always cry,” Afonso Vita, a historian who works for Angola’s tourism ministry, says of African American visitors.

By the start of the 16th century, Portugal dominated the slave trade in the region. Portuguese settlers started conflicts between African tribes. They took the captives from tribal wars and shipped them to Portuguese settlements in Brazil and the Atlantic islands. The ships departed from port cities such as Luanda, Angola’s capital, which the Portuguese controlled thanks to their superior weaponry. Some 10,000 enslaved people were exported each year for nearly 400 years. This continued even after slavery in Angola was officially abolished in 1836.

The effort to highlight that history has prompted new awareness and conversation in Angola, local historians say. Until now, Angolans rarely discussed that legacy, says Vladimiro Fortuna, the director of the National Slavery Museum in Luanda.

“Sometimes, people try to forget this part of the country’s history,” Fortuna told Voice of America. “That’s why this museum exists.”

Once a chapel where enslaved people were converted to Christianity before boarding ships to the New World, the museum is perched on a rocky cliff overlooking the Atlantic. Fortuna says he hopes to have a plan soon for building a new, larger museum. Visitors to Luanda are increasingly touring sites related to the slave trade, including the Street of Flowers, where slave traders once laid flowers to cover the blood of brutalized enslaved people.

The effort to highlight that history has prompted new awareness and conversation in Angola, local historians say. Until now, Angolans rarely discussed that legacy, says Vladimiro Fortuna, the director of the National Slavery Museum in Luanda.

“Sometimes, people try to forget this part of the country’s history,” Fortuna told Voice of America. “That’s why this museum exists.”

The museum is on a rocky cliff overlooking the Atlantic. It was once a chapel where enslaved people were converted to Christianity before boarding ships to the New World. Fortuna says he hopes to have a plan soon for building a new, larger museum. Visitors are coming to Luanda to visit sites related to the slave trade, including the Street of Flowers, where slave traders once laid flowers to cover the blood of brutalized enslaved people.

Aside from the occasional American visitor, Angola isn’t a tourist destination. Visitors flock to other African countries for their beaches or wildlife, but they’d be hard-pressed to find even a roadside scenic stop or gift shop in Angola.

When the Portuguese finally withdrew in 1975, they left behind an Angolan population decimated by centuries of slavery and with few resources to build an economy. Various groups fought for control, embroiling the country in a 27-year civil war, until 2002. Today Angola is the second largest oil producer in sub-Saharan Africa and the sixth-largest economy, but more than half of its people live in poverty, according to the United Nations.

Aside from the occasional American visitor, Angola isn’t a tourist destination. Visitors flock to other African countries for their beaches or wildlife. In Angola, they’d be hard-pressed to find even a roadside scenic stop or gift shop.

When the Portuguese finally withdrew in 1975, they left behind an Angolan population destroyed by centuries of slavery and with few resources to build an economy. Various groups fought for control in a 27-year civil war, until 2002. Today Angola is the second-largest oil producer in sub-Saharan Africa. It has the sixth-largest economy, but more than half of its people live in poverty, according to the United Nations.

In December, then-President Joe Biden traveled to Angola to highlight the bond between the two nations that was born out of slavery. But he wasn’t there just for the history. Biden also pledged $1 billion in aid to Africa, and another $600 million for a rail line that will pass through Angola. The move was part of the battle between the U.S. and China for influence in the country for its oil and particularly its minerals, necessary for electric vehicles and other clean energy technologies.

Biden’s visit could be significant for the many Americans who trace their genealogy to Angola. Wanda Tucker, a retired philosophy and religious studies professor who was a member of the presidential delegation, has traveled to the country several times. She believes her ancestors were among the first enslaved people taken to Jamestown in 1619.

In December, then-President Joe Biden traveled to Angola to highlight the bond between the two nations that was born out of slavery. But he wasn’t there just for the history. Biden also pledged $1 billion in aid to Africa, and another $600 million for a rail line that will pass through Angola. The move was part of the battle between the U.S. and China for influence in the country. Angola is rich in oil and minerals, necessary for electric vehicles and other clean energy technologies.

Biden’s visit could be significant for the many Americans who trace their genealogy to Angola. Wanda Tucker, a retired philosophy and religious studies professor who was a member of the presidential delegation, has traveled to the country several times. She believes her ancestors were among the first enslaved people taken to Jamestown in 1619.

“It’s incredibly awesome to have the president of the United States come to the homeland where the first enslaved people were taken from,” Tucker said outside the museum in Luanda, which will receive a U.S. grant of $229,000 to support restoration and conservation.

“It’s even more important because we have to keep the history and the story going wherever there are opportunities to tell the story,” Tucker said.

When he visited Angola in 2023, then-U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III, the first African American to hold the position, drew a blunt connection between himself and the Angolans he was addressing.

“Four centuries ago, slavers from far away put the men and women and children of this country into shackles—people who looked just like you and me,” he said.

That awareness is growing in both countries. Vita, the historian, says that when he gave lectures about the atrocities endured by the enslaved, Angolans became visibly angry.

“The time is right,” he says, “for us to start a revolution to reclaim our history.”

“It’s incredibly awesome to have the president of the United States come to the homeland where the first enslaved people were taken from,” Tucker said outside the museum in Luanda, which will receive a U.S. grant of $229,000 to support restoration and conservation.

“It’s even more important because we have to keep the history and the story going wherever there are opportunities to tell the story,” Tucker said.

Then-U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III visited Angola in 2023. He’s the first African American to hold the position. While speaking to the Angolans, he drew a blunt connection. 

“Four centuries ago, slavers from far away put the men and women and children of this country into shackles—people who looked just like you and me,” he said.

That awareness is growing in both countries. Vita, the historian, says that when he gave lectures about the atrocities endured by the enslaved, Angolans became visibly angry.

“The time is right,” he says, “for us to start a revolution to reclaim our history.”

John Eligon is the Johannesburg bureau chief for The Times, covering southern Africa.

John Eligon is the Johannesburg bureau chief for The Times, covering southern Africa.