African Burial Ground

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African Burial Ground National Monument by Rodney Léon
Duane Street
New York, September 2008

For all those who were lost
For all those who were stolen
For all those who were left behind
For all those who are not forgotten

“Rodney Léon, 38, a Brooklyn-born architect with the firm Aarris Architects of Manhattan, designed the monument, whose granite slabs rise in acute angles to enclose visitors in the hull-like Ancestral Chamber. An opening in the chamber, straddled by two reflecting pools, leads to a sunken circular court, where voices echo off of walls inscribed with symbols and scriptures. Down a spiraling ramp is the Ancestral Libation Court, the centerpiece. A map of the world, centered on West Africa, is carved into the floor in gray and black granite, along with the archaeological notations made from the 1991 findings. There also is a landscaped garden with seven mounds that mark the burial place of seven wooden crypts containing the remains.” (Nameless Are Memorialized at Old African Burial Site, The New York Times)