The words "Black History Month" often evoke stories of luminaries like Rosa Parks and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. While their legacies will always be crucial to the culture, this year, we're going beyond. Roots is R29Unbothered's Black History Month series that delves into the tangled history of Black identity, beauty and contributions to the culture. Follow along as we shine light on Black history and Black present throughout February and beyond — because Black history is made every day. In September 2018, Ghanaian president Nana Akufo-Addo made the global declaration that 2019 would officially be known as the "Year of the Return." The initiative marked 400 years since the first arrival of the ships carrying thousands of stolen Africans on the shores of Jamestown, Virginia, in 1619, and the anniversary would usher the descendants of the enslaved Africans scattered across the globe back to the continent. But the president’s announcement wasn’t the only thing that inspired African descendants to return home. Music — specifically the sounds of Afrobeats — played a key role in the pilgrimage. The globalization of the genre piqued the diaspora’s interest in their homeland, encouraging them to partake in a culture that had been stripped away from them. Read on refinery29