African Burial ground trip

Recently, freshman seminar went on a trip to The African Burial Ground in New York. The 3 hour drive on the bus made me very lethargic, but I still was awake enough to retain the information I saw at the burial grounds. What is the significance of such a place you ask? The significance of this place comes from slavery during the 1600s-1800s. This burial ground is related to the earliest slave revolts. At the time, New York had the most slaves per household. The ratio to Europeans to Africans was 5 to 1.This land was first used as common ground until the late 18^th century. Africans buried their fellow killed slaves in places like these. Those slaves were killed during the Revolutionary War and as a result of slave revolts. The burial ground contained a lot of artwork. One of my personal favorites was entitled “America Song” by Clyde Lynds. This was a stone carving that included fiber optics. It was finished in 1995 and is a tribute to the history of all people who strived for freedom. At night you can see the fibber optics emitting light across the sculpture. Under the sculpture is a poem that reads:

“I want to be free

Want to be free,

Rainbow’ round my shoulder

Wings on my feet”

This trip was very educational as well as enjoyable. There was a lot of history here that I previously did not know about