Photos: Obama visits Senegal

Obamas at the 'Door of No Return': First Family makes emotional trip to former slaving port in Senegal from where captives were shipped to America - never to see their homeland again

President Barack Obama has spent the afternoon touring a Senegalese island where Africans were shipped across the Atlantic into slavery and he called the visit a 'very powerful moment.' 

Obama says visiting Goree Island Thursday with his family helps them fully appreciate the magnitude of the slave trade. They toured the museum at the Maison des Esclaves where slaves were gathered before going through the 'Door of No Return' and being forced onto ships bound for North America.

Obama also said that, as an African American and an African-American president, the trip gaves him even greater motivation to stand up for human rights around the world, and the visit came just hours after he clashed with his Senegalese hosts over gay rights. 

He said the island is a reminder of what happens when civil rights are not protected. 

President Obama said that the visit to the former slave trade hub was important to him as an African American and an African American President tasked with protecting human rights

The Obamas visited Goree Island's Door of No Return where the slaves would embark on their journeys across the Atlantic Ocean

Facing history: President Obama took a tour of Goree Island outside of Dakar, Senegal where slaves used to be depart on boats bound for America in the late 18th century.

Obama  begins his African tour with his family....He will be visiting ony 3 African countries, Senegal (where they are currently), Tanzania(from July 1st) and South Africa.