Saturday, April 3, 2010

African Burial Ground


i went to the African Burial Ground yesterday. its located in lower Manhattan (close to the Brooklyn Bridge stop on any of the green trains if you're ever in the area...) and has a monument and a small museum.

its interesting. until a few months ago, i had no idea about this. apparently, in 1991, construction workers breaking ground found human remains under the earth and reported it to the authorities. they eventually found thousands of enslaved Africans (from newborns to elderly) that were buried in wooden coffins engraved with Adinkra Symbols and Kente cloth.
the racist bastards that were trying to erect some sort of business building there were going to go forth with the building when people began protesting, marching, and petitioning. now theres a monument and a small museum. all the bodies that were exhumed were given a proper burial after they were disturbed lay beneath the monument. theres 7 vaults that house 60 bodies each.

i was thinking...if this was an African Burial ground that enslaved peoples buried their dead in, isn't it probable that the buildings and the roads surrounding the monument are laid over other graves? probably. maybe eventually they'll speak too.

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