In 2023, Keachia Bowers and Damon Smith made the life-changing decision to leave Florida behind and move to Ghana. Among a growing community of returnees, they have found a renewed sense of belonging and connection to their heritage.
“I am an African woman—how do we identify who we are? You look at your skin. So 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,” Bowers explained.
In November 2023, Bowers and Smith were among 522 members of the global Black diaspora who received Ghanaian citizenship in a symbolic ceremony. For Bowers, the moment was deeply personal.
“But 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 said.
Ghana’s “Beyond the Return” Initiative
The Ghanaian government has been actively fostering connections with the global African diaspora through its Beyond the Return program, launched in 2019. The initiative commemorated the 400th anniversary of the arrival of enslaved Africans in the United States. Ghana, historically one of the major departure points for the transatlantic slave trade, has since become a beacon for descendants of the diaspora seeking to reconnect with their roots.
While Beyond the Return is primarily an economic initiative aimed at attracting investment from the diaspora, it has also become a meaningful cultural and emotional journey for many.
A Deeply Personal Connection
For individuals like Dejiha Gordon, who moved to Ghana in 2019 and opened a food truck serving Jamaican cuisine, the experience has been transformative.
“It just feels good to have a connection to an African country as an African-American, as a Black American,” said Gordon. “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.”
For returnees like Bowers, Smith, and Gordon, Ghana represents more than just a new home—it is a bridge to the past and a platform for building a future steeped in heritage and purpose.
