A small note on language: the word “slave’ as in — My ancestors were ‘slaves’ – is a noun that names without recognizing, or one could say, with hiding the act of enslaving people.

As if a person is innately ‘a slave’ – so, try to replace ‘slave’ with enslaved’ – this way there is an actor; a guilty party who is the enslaver.

So, “My ancestors were slaves.” becomes “My ancestors were enslaved”

Even better, would be to name the act and the enslavers, “My ancestors were captured and enslaved by the British … , or the Spanish, or the Dutch, or the USA or …..