All this week, NY1 is marking Black History Month with a look at sites of historical significance to the city’s black communities. A new site — a monument at the United Nations — remembers victims of the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Our Cheryl Wills reports.
Harrowing scenes from the movie "Amistad" depicts kidnapped men, women, and children from West African villages who were part of the Transatlantic Slave Trade from the 15th to the 19th centuries.
A permanent memorial resembling a slave ship stands tall on the plaza of the United Nations. It’s called the Ark of Return, and it was created by Brooklyn architect Rodney Leon.
"One one of the things that I learned from my mother and my family is the tremendous pride that we as Haitians feel about our history and our legacy in the fight for freedom," Leon said.
Jamaica's U.N. Ambassador Courtenay Rattray says he’s proud that his country initiated the move to create the memorial in 2007.
"The history of the Transatlantic Slave Trade is still not widely known amongst many peoples of the world," Rattray said. "So we want this to serve as a focal point for educating people about that period of history."
The memorial reflects the triangular routes from West Africa to the Americas and back. U.N. Staff Member Jean Victor Nkolo says the Ark of Return is popular with tourists.
"This is the most likely the most visited monument of the United Nations," Nkolo said. "A lot of people come here and they are so easily attracted by this monument, by the black granite from Zimbabwe [and] by the marble.
This Ark of Return marks its first anniversary next month, coinciding with the U.N's 70th anniversary.
Leon says this haunting figure is by the people, for the people.
"The idea behind the Ark of Return is to establish a space in this memorial for people to then return to a place — both psychologically and emotionally — back to whence they came from," Leon said.