New York State Supreme Courthouse
The date is Wednesday, March 30th, 2016. Mitch, Robin, Sandy, and I arrived at Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall Station at 11:45 A.M. We had an interesting start to our field trip when I tripped up the stairs leaving the train station. When we finally surfaced to street level, there was a unique blend of smells being produced from the Halal and hot dog stands.The area had an official and authoritative vibe to it with surrounding government buildings including the New York State Supreme Courthouse and the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services building. It was a chilly 45 degrees outside with wind blowing, so we tried to hurry and find our destination with Mitch as our guide. We decided to start with the museum.
Only after circling the Ted Weiss Federal building twice, we were able to find the entrance to the museum. Prior to entering the building, a security guard asked for our reason for visit and checked our IDs. I noticed that the security guard compared my face with the photo of my ID twice, while for the rest of my group it only took one quick glance (maybe I should retake my driver’s license photo). Next, we were required to step through a scanner while our bags and personal belongings were checked. I observed that the two security guards took the entire procedure very seriously, carefully explaining what we had to do and what items could potentially trigger the scanner. Even though I had nothing to hide, I still felt somewhat nervous during the entire process. I was surprised to hear one the guards ask me to show them my laptop. After recovering all of our possessions and waiting an extra five minutes to double knot my shoes, we were finally able to see the exhibit.
Life-Size Representation of Burial Ceremony
Photographs from Excavation Site of Burial Ground
Percussion Musical Instruments
The first thing I noticed is that there is only one other person viewing the exhibits. Other than the occasional comments from the museum workers, the place was eerily quiet. The first exhibit we saw was of several mannequins positioned in a circle around what seemed to be a coffin. I was startled by how life-like these figures appeared. Even emotions of sadness and despair were accurately captured on the faces of these extraordinarily fabricated bodies. The next thing that I saw was the photographs of the remains of those buried in the grounds. I was disturbed by how many of those accounts were of children below the age of 5. “Child, 3-5 years; Infant or Small child; Infant 3-10 months.” The images, reminding us of our gloomy history, were very difficult to look at. The mood was more uplifting as my friends and I watched and listened to a video about aspects of African culture through a corded phone. I particularly enjoyed the portion of the video that highlighted the music of the communities. It had a heavy emphasis on the percussion instruments. We decided to conclude our visit to the museum, by taking a look at the gift shop. I was tempted to purchase some of the musical instruments, however everything was twenty-five dollars or more. I settled on an orange wristband that said “African Burial Ground National Monument” for two dollars.
As we were leaving the museum, I noticed a line of about thirty people had developed outside the building. The weather had become a more comfortable and sunny 55 degrees, with no wind. My first impression of the monument was how small it was. The surrounding skyscrapers seemed to encroach on the territory of the monument. The architecture of the monument was intriguing. One part of the monument was a prism-like shape that you could step inside of. The marble was smooth and cold to the touch. I was entranced by the quote written on the outside:
“For all those who were lost
African Burial Ground Monument
For all those who were stolenFor all those who were lost behind
For all those who were not forgotten”
World Map Portion of Monument
The powerful message was able to encapsulate and recognize all of those who were affected in four simple lines. The second part of the memorial had a spiral staircase surrounding a map of the world with a prominent view of South America and Africa. I had never seen a map like this before. It looked like North America and Asia were pushed to the side. An interesting detail about the image was that Australia and Antarctica were not present at all. Along the staircase were distinctive symbols that reminded me of hieroglyphics with a much deeper meaning. Some of the symbols reflected the different faiths such as Islam and Christianity, while others represented aspects of humanity such as understanding and wisdom. The symbols surrounding the map of the world seemed to reflect things or ideas that we valued as human beings.
I enjoyed the trip. It was my first time visiting this part of the city. Both the museum and the memorial provided heart-felt and thought provoking experiences.
