In 1991, as crews broke ground on a new federal office building in lower Manhattan, they discovered human skeletons. It soon became clear that it was the oldest and largest African cemetery in the country. The federal government was ready to keep building, but people from all over the African diaspora were moved to treat this site with dignity, respect, and scientific excellence. When bioarchaeologist Michael Blakey took over, that's exactly what they got. But it wasn't easy.
Credits
Host: Alexis Pedrick
Senior Producer: Mariel Carr
Producer: Rigoberto Hernandez
Associate Producer: Padmini Raghunath
Audio Engineer: Jonathan Pfeffer
“Innate Theme” composed by Jonathan Pfeffer. Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions.
Resource List
Archaeology under the Blinding Light of Race, by Michael Blakey
African Burial Ground Project: Paradigm for Cooperation? by Michael Blakey
The African Burial Ground in New York City: Memory, Spirituality, and Space, by Andrea E. Frohne
The African Burial Ground: An American Discovery, documentary film by David Kutz
Reassessing the “Sankofa Symbol” in New York's African Burial Ground, by Erik R. Seeman
The New York African Burial Ground Final Reports, by multiple authors
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