oldsoul
10-06-2007, 12:40 PM
African Burial Ground memorial opens
http://whgbetc.com/african-burmon.jpg
More than two centuries after former slaves and freed blacks were buried and forgotten and 16 years after the rediscovery of the African Burial Ground in Lower Manhattan, a memorial was dedicated in an elaborate ceremony at the site. Officials, including Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Sen. Charles Schumer, Lt. Gov. David Paterson, and Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne joined poet Maya Angelou and actors Sidney Poitier and Avery Brooks as the monument's opening was celebrated with speeches, spirituals and the rhythmic thumping of African drums. "For 200 plus years they lived in a state of historical invisibility, removed from the consciousness of the people of New York," said Howard Dodson, director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and one of the organizers of the memorial. "This monument, dedicated on this day, says to all who will listen and all who will come that the day of historical invisibility is over, that we will not be denied our place in history."
...The burial ground, including more than 400 sets of remains, was rediscovered in 1991 during excavations for a federal building. It was designated a New York City Historic District and a National Landmark in 1993. An additional 15 to 20,000 enslaved and freed Africans were buried in the blocks surrounding the site....
The rest: African Burial Ground Memorial (http://whgbetc.com/african-b-g-mem.pdf)
http://whgbetc.com/african-burmon.jpg
More than two centuries after former slaves and freed blacks were buried and forgotten and 16 years after the rediscovery of the African Burial Ground in Lower Manhattan, a memorial was dedicated in an elaborate ceremony at the site. Officials, including Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Sen. Charles Schumer, Lt. Gov. David Paterson, and Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne joined poet Maya Angelou and actors Sidney Poitier and Avery Brooks as the monument's opening was celebrated with speeches, spirituals and the rhythmic thumping of African drums. "For 200 plus years they lived in a state of historical invisibility, removed from the consciousness of the people of New York," said Howard Dodson, director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and one of the organizers of the memorial. "This monument, dedicated on this day, says to all who will listen and all who will come that the day of historical invisibility is over, that we will not be denied our place in history."
...The burial ground, including more than 400 sets of remains, was rediscovered in 1991 during excavations for a federal building. It was designated a New York City Historic District and a National Landmark in 1993. An additional 15 to 20,000 enslaved and freed Africans were buried in the blocks surrounding the site....
The rest: African Burial Ground Memorial (http://whgbetc.com/african-b-g-mem.pdf)