Sierra Dennis
Our trip to the African Burial Grounds in New York was truly eye opening. We always hear about African slaves struggles but this museum provided detailed visuals and videos that gave us more insight into the history. One of my favorite quotes from the trip was “You may bury me in the bottom of Manhattan, I will rise. My people will get me. I will rise out of the huts of history’s shame,” stated October 4th, 2003 at a rally by Poet Maya Angelou. This quote was directed toward the men who were discovered the bones and in a way to silence the discovery, by throw bodies in the Hudson and other area, almost destroyed parts of our African history.
One interesting thing I found out while at the Burial Grounds was that when Africans arrived to America, they were still divided up into their 12 tribes. Divided, yet, they were able to co-exist and share their cultures. It was not until the Europeans arrived that they were labeled “Africans.”
Another statue that I enjoyed was the half finished pyramid that was on Broadway that has the quote, “For all those who were lost/For all those who were stolen/For all those who were left behind/For all those who were not forgotten,” on the side of it. They Burial Ground ranger explained that this pyramid was “not finished” because our ancestors had created the base, and it was our job, generation Y’s job, to finish the top, basically to continue what they had started, and fight through the struggle.
No comments:
Post a Comment