�������t¶��

Banneker’s grandparents were said to have been an Englishwoman named Molly, who was a White indentured servant, and an enslaved Wolof man from Senegambia named Bana’ka.

She pointed out that most of the enslaved people first brought to Louisiana in the early 18th century came from West Africa, including Senegambia, and that Africans sold into slavery were commonly targeted by human traffickers for their specific skills.

Before the Senegambia Bridge was inaugurated three years ago, hundreds of truck drivers moving goods south from Dakar would need to line up for a ferry, sometimes waiting days to cross.

For all the progress the Senegambia Bridge has brought, the journey south is not without its bumps, both literal and metaphorical, with the peaceful river flowing through mangrove swamps and salt flats just one of the many obstacles on the road.

The Senegambia Bridge is open 24/7, but the job protecting it is “chill,” said Sgt.