African Burial Ground

Going to see the African Burial Ground in New York City was a unique experience for me as well as the whole freshman class in my opinion. When we arrived there, we poured libation to our ancestors buried within the seven mounds, each containing 60 bodies. We poured to many things in African American tradition, for example Those who came before us, those who come after us, the rising of  the sun, and the slaves who toiled to get us where we are today. The second libation we poured was a mixture of Atlantic Ocean water and sand from El Mina, one of the caves where the first humans emerged in Africa. I learned that often, before being taken away from their homeland, that many Africans would eat dirt in order to maintain that special connection to Africa, the motherland. The burial ground itself, which first documented use is 1712, was used until 1991. Sonny a strong leader, organized the people of New York to a mass protest to the defiling, and building over the land. In the end, even though there was only a compromise, because of Sonny, we succeeded in getting that burial ground memorial there today. Part of the memorial was an unfinished pyramid, in which we, the present generation, are tasked with finishing. Inscribed on it were the words "For all those who were lost, for all those who were stolen, for all those who were left behind, for all those who were not forgotten." Our guide, part African himself, described each of the 21 Sankofa symbols. Seven for the describing the deity, seven for worshiping the deity, and seven describing family values. The one I have heard about before is the heart inscribed on the pyramid, which he also said is depicted as a bird moving forward, while also looking back.