By Our Reporter,The Nation
Copyright thenationonlineng
Haitian-American priestess, Dr. Dòwòti Désir, has lauded Benin’s citizenship law for Afro-descendants, saying it is step in the right of return of descendants. Known as Queen Mother Sêmévo I, she is focused on social justice and leadership development.
In a statement, she reflects on her ancestral ties to Benin, her Pan-African vision and the country’s nationality law, saying the real work is now to turn symbolism into rights, land and true acculturation for returnees.
Challenging the label, African American, she said: “It isn’t the multiple juridical or geopolitical spaces that make me who I am — it is the geo-spiritual one, both transnational and transcendent.”
Her heritage shows this complexity: her maternal line comes from Cuba with DNA roots in Cameroon and Congo, while her paternal line traces to the Kingdom of Danxomé. She recalls her great-grandmother naming Dahomey’s kings and her father pointing to the country on a wall map. “At five, I knew the names were important,” she says.
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Raised in a household animated by Haitian pride, Marxist politics and Vodou traditions, she was “indoctrinated in revolutionary theories” and drawn to Benin long before she first visited more than 25 years ago.
That connection informs her partnership with Stories by Roots, founded by Marketing Strategist and Cultural Diplomat, Brekwald Degoh III. Désir has become a brand ambassador for the organisation, which seeks to chronicle and reverse the “epic drama” of forced deportation by promoting voluntary repatriation of the Diaspora.
“Our coming together under the banner of Pan-Africanism isn’t just about survival but about knowing that if we are not rejoined with our brothers and sisters on the continent, humanity will not survive,” she says. The initiative aims to bring scientists, scholars and artists together, highlight DNA links to the Kingdom of Danxomé and generate revenue for Benin.”
Central to this momentum is Benin’s 2024 citizenship law — Act No. 2024-31 — granting nationality to Afro-descendants. Désir said the move mirrors the High Council of Kings’ recognition of a royal throne for the African Diaspora.
But she said the gesture must evolve into full rights, access to land, partnerships, housing and representation to ensure sustainable integration.
“We must not entertain romantic ideas about what it means to return,” she cautions. “Acculturation, not assimilation, is key.”
Looking ahead, she sees ”potential for partnerships between Africans on the continent and those in the Diaspora, even for those unable to travel.
Through the Imperial Corps Agoodjié, founded in her inaugural year as Queen Mother, she holds workshops and spiritual pilgrimages for women of African descent in Benin and United States.
