One hot day in November 2017, Hasani Carter, a genealogist and middle school science teacher from Columbus, Ohio, walked the dusty path to the confluence of the Ezu and Omambala Rivers just outside of Aguleri, a village in southeastern Nigeria. The sun pounded down on his head as he neared the placid waves. Surrounded by dozens of members of the village, he and others he was traveling with were guided into the shallow water, where Eze (King) Chukwuemeka Eri, the traditional ruler of Aguleri, slowly poured water over their heads. “He baptized us and reinstated us into the community as Igbo,” an ethnic group, Carter recalled recently. “He absolved the hardships of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. The eze took us to a shrine afterward; it was a white building with a thatched roof. We bowed, and he gave us our Nigerian names. Prince Chineme Eri is my name. It means ‘God’s gift.’ It was the most amazing experience of my life.”
Carter, 40, had traveled to Africa with Roots to Glory, a Maryland-based company that helps Black people, particularly descendants of those enslaved in the U.S., connect with their ancestral lands and people. Since the company was founded a decade ago, it has hosted hundreds of travelers on custom-designed pilgrimages to countries all over West and Central Africa. Many describe the experience as a homecoming celebration, a cultural exploration and a spiritual awakening all at once. “The very first village that I went to was the village where my ancestors walked,” Carter said. “I was more myself there than I am in Ohio. I didn’t have to think about my Blackness. I felt freer—fully free.”
When Hasani Carter visited Nigeria with Roots to Glory in 2017, the king of Aguleri gave him the name Prince Chineme Eri. “The whole trip felt like family,” he said.
Sarahbeth Maney
Brown and Roots to Glory travelers, many of Nigerian descent, present a painting to Eze Chukwuemeka Eri of Aguleri in Nigeria. Courtesy of Ada Anagho Brown
Roots to Glory is one of a number of heritage travel companies…
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