Reflection On The African Burial Ground

Located at 290 Broadway in Manhattan is a national monument that features an extraordinary memorial endorsing and conveying the story of the African Burial Grounds. This finding was noted as one of the most important archaeological discovery of the 20 th Century. The African Burial Grounds have been overlooked for many years until 1991 during the construction of a federal office building. However, protestors rejected the destruction of the sacred land and proposed a traditional African burial ceremony to take place, and all African bodies were reburied on the site. Community activists assembled to preserve part of the burial ground and celebrate African history and culture in New York City.

I visited the African American Burials Ground memorial site and

I visited the memorial ground with my African American history professor and my classmates. The building has incredibly tight security because it is a federal building and we had to go through the screening process. I was happy that the museum was free. The memorial is a very beautiful and powerful reminder of those who suffered tremendously in our collective American history. There are two parts, the burial ground monument and the museum. After getting inside I waited for my other classmates to get in as the checking process was taking longer. I had a small glimpse of the inside of the museum. We had very little amount of time, so I wanted to utilize it. The interpretive center is well done with information. There were pictures, portraits, statues of African American people doing their daily chores along with the description, quotes, a wide area just for people to share their comments. The inside of the museum is not that big. Once I walked inside with my classmate we found nothing, so we came back to the main entrance. After everyone went in we all gathered in a small room to see a video. Now the video is a must see. First I thought the video would be boring, but it