Fye, thanks for this forward, lest we forget.

Chi Jaama

Joe Sambou


>From: Fye Samateh <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Fw: [Network Africa Sweden] New York remembers its slaves
>Date: Mon, 6 Oct 2003 21:57:15 +0200
>
>New York remembers its slaves
>
>
>    By Jane Standley
>BBC New York correspondent
>
>
>The first of two days of ceremonies has been taking place in New York to
>re-bury the remains of more than 400 African slaves - which were discovered
>in Lower Manhattan 12 years ago.
>
>Some argued the remains should have been let lie
>The remains were found during excavation work for a government building and
>the ceremonies follow a bitter and often controversial struggle over what
>should be done with them.
>
>They are to rest in a permanent memorial.
>
>It is thought about 20,000 African slaves were buried at the site - a
>discovery which has thrown new light on the strength of the slave trade in
>New York in the 18th Century.
>
>The Boys and Girls Choir of Harlem punctuated the moving ceremony with song
>and there were prayers, eulogies and speeches from virtually every
>African-American dignitary in New York.
>
>Slaving centre
>
>This has been a politically - as well as an emotionally - charged project.
>
>Some activists say the remains should have been left undisturbed. Others
>believe a larger memorial should have been built over what was once known
>as
>the Negro Burial Ground, closed in 1794.
>
>City Councillor Charles Barron argues that they did all the hard work
>building New York and their descendants should now be compensated with
>reparations.
>
>"We built New York City," he told mourners.
>
>"We built... Queens, Brooklyn. Manhattan was forest. Your ancestors cut the
>trees down. Your ancestors built the roads and the bridges. Your ancestors
>built this economy."
>
>Information gleaned from the remains is being analysed by historians and is
>expected to reveal a great amount about the lives of slaves in the northern
>United States.
>
>Already the extent of the burial ground has proved that New York was the
>second largest slave-owning city in the country in the 18th Century and
>that
>many died from literally being worked to death in the construction and
>cotton-processing industries.
>
>
>
>
>Bro. Germaine G. Verdier
>Chairman
>http://www.vhi-sweden.org
>
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