Luanda- The first 20 Angolans to arrive in the United States of America, in 1619, were honored on Monday through the holding of a virtual round of table that highlighted their contribution to the development of the American continent.
The event, a joint promotion of the ministries of Foreign Affairs and Culture, Tourism and Environment, AIPEX and the Angolan Embassy in the United States, reflected on "The Legacy of Slavery for Africans and Afro-Americans: Cultural Heritage", which, according to the speakers, connects the two peoples.
According to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Teté António, the arrival of the first 20 black Africans from Angola aboard the slave ship "the Withe", 402 years ago, to the coast of the State of Virginia (USA), began the transatlantic trade that sent more than 13 million Africans to be sold in American ports.
The Angolan top diplomat underscored that after more than four centuries, Angola maintains excellent friendship ties and cooperation with the United States of America, as a strategic partner in various areas.
The Minister of Culture, Tourism and Environment, Jomo Fortunato, in his turn, said remembering the 402 years of this relationship between the two countries is an occasion to rethink not only new ways of interpreting the past, but also the historical relations between the peoples around the Atlantic basin.
Jomo Fortunato defended the elaboration of a new approach that goes through the equal knowledge of the roles played by the exploited and the exploiters as historical subjects with their own social dynamics, in order to better preserve the mutual past.
According to the director of the Slavery Museum, Vladimiro Fortuna, the slave trade had a great impact, causing social backwardness and devastation to the social structure of Angola.
Vladimiro Fortuna pointed out that the museum has already done a work of identification of the 20 Angolans who embarked to the U.S., being made the recognition of family genealogy, a project that will strengthen the knowledge of society about the importance of museums.
Neil Breslin, Executive Director of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Angola, pointed out that 25 percent of African-Americans are of Angolan descent, a situation that should be taken advantage of to bring in more investors.
