Spot on! And just to capitalize that
The Signare women (mixed mullatos) of Senegal also played a role in the Trans Alantic slave trade
One of the most popular and powerful groups of mulattos in history will forever be the Signares. The name identifies French-Senegalese women who became rich, powerful and unstoppable in places like Goree Island and the city of St Louis on N’Dar island in Senegal. Western traders at a point had to pass through them to trade in commodities and slaves, buy land and even marry.
The word signre originally came from the Portuguese word Senhora which literally meant married woman. This was a befitting name because many of them were strategically married to powerful white men. An article on the Smithsonian explains that the Portuguese term later became Signare which they describe as a hybrid French and Portuguese word.
The Signares in Senegal gained huge popularity between the 18 and 1900s for their closed network. They formed some sort of society that was hard to enter. Many of these women were daughters of white merchants but primarily gained their status by marrying white traders and plantation owners who left them plenty of property and connections. Beautiful black women managed to become Signares if they also lawfully married rich white men and had children with them.
The Signares were highly respected among all social classes and by the 19th century many of them owned slaves and played a huge part in the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade even years after it was abolished. At a point, they had more power over lands and people than the crowns of various countries such as Britain, Portugal and France. Several Signares were exiled or killed by various crowns to lessen their power
The infamous "house of slaves" port in Goree Island these women were in control of that port