Reporting by Deborah Barfield Berry, USA TODAY Network
MASSANGANO, Angola – As the sun beat down on us, we slowly walked down the dirt path, stirring up red dust as we headed toward the centuries-old fort atop a hill here.
The chatter hushed. The 21 of us understood the gravity of the moment. We dreaded the history lesson ahead.
On one side of the path still stood a church built in the 15th century by the Portuguese, key players in the Transatlantic Slave Trade there. On the other side was the Kwanza River, its beauty masking centuries of ships transporting human cargo.
It was in the village some 400 years ago that Angolans were marched, likely in shackles, to a life of enslavement in faraway lands, including what would become the United States.
Massangano, east of Luanda, the capital of Angola, was one of several stops on the Tucker Family Angola Heritage Tour. The group of Americans joined the tour in early summer 2025, exploring places where Angolans were forced to leave but are still remembered.
The timing of the 10-day trip made it extra special. It was the 50th anniversary of Angola’s independence from Portugal. And it was the fifth time the Tucker family from Hampton, Virginia, hosted its annual heritage tour.
At the heart of the tour was an effort to recognize the connection between African Americans and Africans and the rich history that binds us. With my daughter, Amaya, and sister, Selina, also on the tour, the journey was indelible.
We were among a growing number of African Americans eager to learn more about our ancestral roots in America and the Motherland.
It was a journey that involved hours-long stretches to historic sites – each telling a powerful narrative of resilient people who tried to fight off enslavers, including the Portuguese and fellow Africans.
“We don’t want to change the history,” Fernando Cabrai, our tour guide told us. “We can’t.”
There were bumpy rides along pitch-black roads and people speaking in languages, including Portuguese and local dialects, that we didn’t understand.
Tears flowed as village leaders and guides told of the painful history of slavery. But there were also smiles, laughter, and amens as we learned about the culture and the people, including Queen Nzinga, who refused to bow down to colonizers.
It wasn’t a vacation, it was a journey.
‘You are making a difference’
It was a richer experience because of the dynamic people on the tour. There were educators, leaders from the city of Hampton, college students, business owners, retirees and an opera singer. They ranged from 20 years old to 83 years old.
Several of my fellow travelers called the trip life-changing. Educators said they left better equipped to teach our history.
“You are making a difference by being here,” Carolita Jones Cope, the trip coordinator and a Tucker family member, told the group.
We visited the national slavery museum, the Museum of Anthropology, the breathtaking Kalandula Falls and the Black Rocks of Pungo Andongo, massive rock formations suddenly rising on the landscape.
We celebrated Angolan culture and art on a walking tour in Luanda and paid homage to those enslaved centuries ago.
At one stop, our Angolan friends sang their national anthem. We proudly followed with “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” often called the Black national anthem, which we knew by heart.
We spent an evening learning Semba, a high-spirited Angolan dance, then whipped out our fans to show our friends “Boots on the Ground,” a popular line dance at home.
Amaya Berry and others on the Tucker Family Angola Heritage Tour July 2025 checked out murals in Luanda, Angola celebrating the country’s culture ad history on one of the city’s oldest streets.
We marveled as the landscape changed from crowded urban centers to dusty villages and majestic rock formations. We immersed ourselves in the beauty of Angola.
‘The importance of healing’
The Tuckers believe they are descendants of two of the 20 or so Africans believed to have been taken from the interior of Angola in 1619 and brought to the English colonies in Hampton.
They were treated as special guests, complete with police escorts. They were greeted by sobas (village chiefs) and national ministers. Each of us was blessed by a king before we climbed the Black Rocks.
“Welcome home,” local officials repeatedly said.
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At one stop, Steve Brown, the vice mayor of Hampton, shared how his city isn’t proud of its role in slavery, but treasured its Sister Cities partnership with Malanje, a city in Angola that we also visited.
“We recognize the importance of healing,” Brown said. “We recognize the importance of working together.”
The long journey
The Tuckers started the family tour after Wanda Tucker traveled to Angola with USA TODAY in 2019 as part of its “1619 Searching for Answers” project.
The tour hosted by the William Tucker 1964 Society, a nonprofit set up to educate people about the family’s history, became an annual trip.
The $3,000 per person covered ground transportation to the sites, meals, private tours and accommodations, including at some five-star hotels like the Kahombo Resort Rural.
It helped that Angola doesn’t require a tourist visa for U.S. travelers staying fewer than 30 days.
Airfare, which we booked on our own, ran about $2,000 each. Be prepared for a long trip. Our flight, which included a stop in Ethiopia, took more than 20 hours.
You have to be passionate about taking this journey. And we were.
Bring toilet paper
Pack your patience and toilet paper. It can be hard to find toilet paper in some places or restrooms with “modern conveniences.”
There were other challenges. Our bus driver had to navigate around crater-size potholes on some roads. Historic sites can be hours apart.
Cell phone service can be spotty, especially in the interior. Bring a European block to charge your phone.
We were repeatedly reminded not to drink the water. Some in our group paid the price for forgetting.
In some ways, the country is still recovering from a 27-year civil war that ended in 2002.
‘We are going to write history, not erase history’
Angola is still working on how to tap into the African American heritage tourism market. Ghana has long been a destination for African Americans hungry to learn more about their ancestors and slavery. It’s understandable given that Ghana is an English-speaking country with better infrastructure and known for its slave castles.
But in December 2024, Joe Biden became the first sitting U.S. president to visit Angola and acknowledged the ties to slavery.
“We are going to write history, not erase history,” Biden told the crowd as we watched him from the foot of the national slavery museum.
The museum, once a gateway for enslaved Angolans to board ships, houses reminders of that history. Shackles are in glass cases. Against a wall is a baptismal bowl that was used to baptize captured Africans before they were given new names and forced onto ships.
We stood in the doorway that would have been the last time they were on Angolan soil.
While boosting tourism is a goal, Angolan officials also hope more Americans invest not only in their country but also in other African nations. “The future of the world is in Africa,” João Diogo Gaspa, the governor of Cuanza Norte, a province in Angola, told me.
Back at home, the day after the trip, it warmed my heart when my daughter took friends to the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC. She was equipped with a fresh experience no history book could teach.
The museum’s exhibit on the Transatlantic Slave Trade featured a picture of Queen Nzinga. Amaya could share how she had just climbed the Black Rock formations, where the queen tried to protect her people.
That alone was worth the journey.
Reporting by Deborah Barfield Berry, USA TODAY Network
