In 2023, Keachia Bowers and Damon Smith made the bold decision to leave their lives in Florida behind and move to Ghana, joining a growing number of returnees reconnecting with their ancestral roots. For them, Ghana’s welcoming embrace has provided a sense of belonging they could not find in the U.S.
“I am an African woman… you look at your skin, and it tells you who you are,” Bowers said. “I didn’t need (citizenship) to tell me that I’m African. Anywhere I go in the world, and someone looks at me, I’m melanated.”
Their journey is part of a broader movement of African Diasporans returning to the continent. In November, Bowers, Smith, and 522 other members of the global Black diaspora received Ghanaian citizenship during an official ceremony.

For Bowers, this was more than just a legal status. “My ancestors who wanted to return and come back home, those ancestors who never made it back—their dying wish was to come back to their home, and they never made it. That passport, for me, is for them,” she reflected.
Ghana’s government has actively facilitated this reconnection through its “Beyond the Return” initiative, launched in 2019. This program encourages members of the global African diaspora to invest in the country and contribute to its economic development. Beyond its economic focus, the program has resonated deeply with many who, like Bowers, see it as a way to reconnect with their African heritage. 2019 marked the 400th anniversary of the first African slaves being brought to the United States, with Ghana playing a significant role as a major departure point for the transatlantic slave trade.
Dejiha Gordon, a U.S.-born Ghanaian citizen who moved to Ghana in 2019, opened a Jamaican food truck in Accra. She shares a similar sentiment of connection. “It just feels good to be, to have a connection to an African country as an African-American, as a Black American, right? Because back in America, we don’t have anything to trace our roots to but Africa. And to have that connection here, I feel like I’ve done something right,” Gordon said.
The Beyond the Return program has garnered increasing support as it continues to encourage diaspora members to visit, invest, and reconnect with their roots. Ghana’s efforts to support its returnees go beyond citizenship and investment—it represents a profound cultural and emotional return to a home many of these individuals have never known but have always felt connected to. Through this initiative, Ghana continues to foster a new chapter in its history, one that seeks to heal the wounds of the past and build a future grounded in unity, culture, and shared history.