This past summer I hopped on the Chinabus and made my way back home, to New York City. I had spoken to brother Rasul on several occasions about the African Burial Memorial. It took me some time to process that New York had slaves. I always believed that my home was the place that enslaved brothers and sister fled to.
What follows is a brief discussion about this special place. My thoughts are in bold italics and Brother Rasul's are in regular typeset. I hope each of you will take your family and friends and learn about this part of history.
What follows are my personal observations and are not necessarily reflecftive of the positions of the National Park Service. While I am a volunteer there, I am speaking here for myself, not for them.
I am deeply appreciative of the opportunity they have afforded me to honor the ancestors through my efforts, but I am a spokesperson for myself alone, not for the National Park Service.
I am deeply appreciative of the opportunity they have afforded me to honor the ancestors through my efforts, but I am a spokesperson for myself alone, not for the National Park Service.
1. How did you first encounter this memorial?
nomenclature: the burial ground, the national monument, the memorials - city memorial in Foley Square, Triumph of the Human Spirit, and the federal memorial, The Ancestral Libation Chamber Memorial dedicated the weekend of October 6Th. We have since seen some 40 thousand visitors to the monument.
In 1991, when it was discovered by the African Descendant community what had been uncovered by the government and what disrespectful treatment was being afforded the discovery, the burial ground became a focus of action for the descendant activist community and word went out urging folks to attend the regular protests, ceremonies, and commemorations that were being conducted to support the elders who were leading the fight to halt the exhumations and the construction and assure proper respect for the remains of the ancestors.
Like many others, as my work schedule permitted, I visited the burial ground to lend my support. After the initial success and the dispatch of the remains to Howard for study, I assisted the government funded Office of Public Education and Information, both as a volunteer, at their various educational events, and as a volunteer consultant in automating their mailing list.
After the return of the remains from HU and the subsequent designation of the burial ground as a national monument, I began to volunteer as a docent, giving tours of the monument and the art work commissioned for the burial ground. I have been giving a tour of "Old Manhattan and its African Past" for many years, and the burial ground was a logical involvement for me, especially after my retirement.
nomenclature: the burial ground, the national monument, the memorials - city memorial in Foley Square, Triumph of the Human Spirit, and the federal memorial, The Ancestral Libation Chamber Memorial dedicated the weekend of October 6Th. We have since seen some 40 thousand visitors to the monument.
In 1991, when it was discovered by the African Descendant community what had been uncovered by the government and what disrespectful treatment was being afforded the discovery, the burial ground became a focus of action for the descendant activist community and word went out urging folks to attend the regular protests, ceremonies, and commemorations that were being conducted to support the elders who were leading the fight to halt the exhumations and the construction and assure proper respect for the remains of the ancestors.
Like many others, as my work schedule permitted, I visited the burial ground to lend my support. After the initial success and the dispatch of the remains to Howard for study, I assisted the government funded Office of Public Education and Information, both as a volunteer, at their various educational events, and as a volunteer consultant in automating their mailing list.
After the return of the remains from HU and the subsequent designation of the burial ground as a national monument, I began to volunteer as a docent, giving tours of the monument and the art work commissioned for the burial ground. I have been giving a tour of "Old Manhattan and its African Past" for many years, and the burial ground was a logical involvement for me, especially after my retirement.
2. What impact has working with the African Burial Memorial had on you?
Impossible to truly assess. It has been a profound turning point in my life. It has set me on one of the steepest learning curves of my intelectual life and on a spiritual journey that has only just taken its first baby steps. I have embarked on a literary challenge that is testing my craft in new and expanding directions.
The Burial Ground has become a focus for my retirement. There is the time there doing tours, the time spent reading, digeting, considering and learning new things about Manhattan and its African past, the efforts to capture the voices of African New Yorkers in my poem-becoming multi-media-performance-piece, and the persuit of the spiritual understanding I am being offered - all this and much more that I don't even have words for.
Can you recall how it has affected others?
The reactions vary, from surprise at all that visitors have not known before, to appreciation for the recognition and acknowledgement the ancestors are receiving, to a profound sorrow at the circumstances of early African Manhattanites. The many students of every age leave with an understanding of their history, Euro and African descendant alike, that was not previously available to them. The affect on them will only become evident as they become adults and we see the real impact of what they have learned on their committment to justice and peace.
There are those in the African descendant community who harbor deep disapointment that the sacred ancestroral grounds are not under the control of the African descendant community. The government building and the present federal memorial area should not, these elders suggest, have been built on at all, but the grounds should have been preserved as a completely undeveloped green space with signage.
While I respect and understand their position, I think that the educational potential of the monument as a national monument, with its visitors center and memorial, offer a greater educational opportunity, one that would be understood by the ancestors whose remains we honor.
3. How frequent do tours take place?
The visitors Center is currently housed within the Federal Building at 290 Broadway open from 9 to 5, Monday through Fridey, except on Federal holidays. There is a 25 minute video available and a walking tour of the commemorative art work in the lobby of the building on the site as well as of the memorial. Sometime in 2008, we will see the opening of a new visitors center in teh 290 building that will have its own enterance and allow us to be open 9-5 every day except major holidays.
Currently, there is a Park Ranger available at the memorial to provide tours of the The Ancestral Libation Chamber Memorial 9-5, every day except major holidays.
Group tours can be arranged by visiting the official National Park Service burial ground web site at http://nps.gov/afbg. Tours can be arranged for Monday through Friday, 9 to 5 or at other times, by special arrangement. Off site presentations can also be arranged. The current visitors Center can only accomodate 30-45 people at a time for a presentation of the video about the burial ground and I recomend that groups plan a visit of 90 minutes to two hours to fully benefit from the monument's resources. When the new visitors center is opened next year, we will have facilities to accomodate larger groups.
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