My trip to the African Burial Ground started at 4:30 am on Saturday October 25. We arrived at the bus around 5 am, but we did not get to leave on time because our bus was having some “technical difficulties”. After a while our bus finally left. When we arrived at the burial around Dr. Carr performed a ceremony paying homage to all those who died to make our lives possible. We then had a speaker talk to us about the history of the memorial and all the trials and tribulations that the community went through to make the burial ground possible. The burial ground was discovered in 1991, when construction workers were trying to build a new federal building. After the discovery the workers wanted to continue construction, despite the discovery. The local black community along with some politicians pressured the national government to do something about it. The memorial was then made to honor the bodies of our ancestors. The speaker then told us about the meaning of each symbol on the memorial.
We then entered the museum and watched a movie that explained how slaves lived in New York during that time. Surprisingly, I really enjoyed the movie and found it very informational. After the movie, we got to tour the rest of the museum that included: pictures of the bones discovered, African jewelry, statues, and artwork.
Overall, I did enjoy the trip and I appreciated the rich history. The only part of the trip that I really did not enjoy was that our bus driver did not know how to get back to D.C. so ended up driving around NYC until she figured out the directions. My suggestion is that all buses should have GPS devices. Before coming to Howard, I attended a predominantly white school, where black history was not really taught. I haven’t been at Howard for even a year yet and I feel like I have learned a lot about black history. I feel very fortunate that I was able to go on this trip.
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