Introduction
During work in New York City in the 1990s, the African Burial Ground was founded. About 15,000 Africans, mainly from the 17th and 18th centuries, are believed to have found their final resting place there. This cemetery serves as a sobering reminder of slavery’s dark history in America and the important role African Americans played in the development of the nation (Montagna, 2016).
Video Summary
The first video outing gives viewers a chance to explore the monument visually. It displays the site’s physical characteristics, such as its architectural style and surroundings. Even though there is no narration, just the visual aid, the video portrays all the territory and details of the monument (ACG Travel Videos, 2016). It was highly significant to the detailed drawings on the monument’s walls as a symbol of resilience and resistance.
The second video presentation explores the monument’s history, architecture, and significance. It provides information about the burial ground’s historical setting and sheds light on African slaves’ experiences (Montagna, 2016). It also discusses the monument’s design elements and construction steps and explains the purpose of its establishment as a national monument. Significantly, the video discussed the design challenges while constructing the monument (Montagna, 2016). It was important to see how these problems were addressed and how the original design was improved to a better version.
Reflection and Conclusion
Returning to the memorial walls, the main point that stood out from the presentation was that the text was hand-cut in the small stone shop. I would expect these kinds of operations to be executed using the technologies, but I believe that cutting it by hand adds value to the memorial. Furthermore, towards the end of the video, I started realizing that almost 2000 years ago, the city was the center of slavery (Montagna, 2016). This fact made me pause the video and search for more information about the events. That is why the memorial’s location is an excellent reminder to people about this shameful part of the history of the US.
References
ACG Travel Videos. (2016). New York, New York – African Burial Ground National Monument HD (2016). YouTube. [Video]. Web.
Montagna, D. (2016). African Burial Ground National Monument. WUWF. [Video]. Web.
