[ATTACH=full]165282[/ATTACH]
Francisco Félix de Souza (4 October 1754 – 8 May 1849) was a Brazilian born to Portuguese colonists and a slave trader in his own right who was deeply influential in the regional politics of pre-colonial West Africa (namely, current-day Nigeria, Benin, Ghana and Togo). He founded Afro-Brazilian communities in areas that are now part of those countries, and then went on to become the “chachá” of Ouidah (the slave trading hub for the region), a title that conferred no official powers but commanded local respect in the Kingdom of Dahomey, where, after being jailed by King Adandonzan of Dahomey, he helped Ghezo ascend the throne in a coup d’etat. He became ‘Cha-cha’ to the new king, a curious phrase that has been explained as originating from his saying Ja Ja, a Portuguese phrase meaning something will be done right away.
He was a major slave merchant. Married into the local African Tribes to bolster his slave selling business. Woe unto you if you found yourself on the other side of De Souza or if you were from the wrong tribe, You would be captured, and sent through this gate :
[ATTACH=full]165287[/ATTACH]
La Porte Du Non Retour – The Door of No Return
All those who went through it to the other side are now Afro-Brazilians, Jamaicans, Haitians, Antilleans, Americans. Many others died.
Today, De Souza’s monument stands in Ouidah, Benin.
[ATTACH=full]165285[/ATTACH]
He is revered and seen as a “great man” and “Historic figure”. The ruling class and creme of Benin Society have some kind of connection to De Souza. Commercial or Biological. Here is his great grandson on the right, the leader of the De Souza clan in Ouidah, Benin with local leaders.
[ATTACH=full]165284[/ATTACH]
Here is another descendant, who has been a government minister for quite some time
[ATTACH=full]165289[/ATTACH]
Very Rich and prosperous, because of this business
[ATTACH=full]165283[/ATTACH]
Yet still revered and worshiped in Benin. While South Africans are breaking down Cecil Rhodes monuments, Le Beninaise are propping up Slave Traders. Not all of them but a sizable chunk of their society. Not any different with our Home-guard descendants hovering around here in opulence profiting off treachery and betrayal. I was always skeptical of the narrative ya “Africans sold their fellow Africans into slavery”, I thought it was more of white hunters chasing Africans in villages, capturing and carrying them away. Kumbe ghasia zingine zilikua zinauza wenzao kwasababu ya tamaa. Alafu hizi ghasia ziko na status allover the continent.
We are not doomed yet. But we need to understand our past to know vile kujisort.