Crowd Celebrates Black History Month at African Burial Ground National Monument

More than 200 people spent a few hours at the African Burial Ground National Monument at 290 Broadway on Saturday, Feb. 22, to celebrate the African-American heritage of New York City.

The largely joyous and often inspiring event, officially titled the Second Annual Lower Manhattan Black History Month Celebration, was co-hosted by Assembly Member Charles D. Fall, Council Member Christopher Marte, and District Leader Mariama James.

Kicking off at around 11:30, the day’s program, which was held in the building’s handsome atrium lobby, began with a libation ceremony consisting of three Black men playing percussion instruments and watering a small plant. This was followed by one of the men offering an interesting discourse on the importance of “AI” not as “artificial intelligence” but rather Ancestral Intelligence, stretching back to Africa and continuing through life in bondage and freedom in America.

A performance of the National Black Anthem, the Pledge of Allegiance, and remarks by Supervisory Park Ranger Ramon E. Mangual followed, as did words from Charles Fall. The son of immigrants from Guinea, Fall is among the most interesting—and least known—of the city’s politicians, a fact having more to do with the bounds of his district, which includes the south shore of Staten Island and a bit of Brooklyn, than with his qualities of thought.

Straus News was impressed when he was a proud, American-flag-carrying Grand Marshal of the Lower Manhattan Historical Association July 4 parade.

The first of the day’s award presentations came next with New York State Assembly Member from Queens Alicia Hyndman; Battery Park City Authority member Tony Kendall; Richmond County Public Administrator Edwina Martin; and Marcia I. Sells, of the Swans of Harlem dancers, all being honored.

Each gave substantive speeches, with an aside by Martin, a graduate of NYU Law School, especially striking: that with only 8 percent of law students being Black, she might be an endangered species. Martin also won the press section’s unofficial “best dressed” award, resplendent in a zebra-print dress, pearls, and a broad-brimmed black hat.

Senator Charles Schumer made a cameo appearance during the awards and was in good, jovial form, as was surprise guest Assembly Member Harvey Epstein, who hopes to bail on the second half of his two-year term in Albany to stay local to serve on the City Council, one of a half-dozen candidates vying to succeed term-limited Carlina Rivera.

The drum line from St. Philips Baptist Church of Staten Island performed next, the snare drums especially ricocheting loudly off the walls and windows.

Next came more awards, with a clean-shaven Christopher Marte introducing honoree Lorraine Dimson, director of the Southbridge Towers Senior Center and the Mariners Temple Baptist Church. Dimson, who’d recently suffered a stroke but was now walking, was visibly moved, and her words in turn moved many, including her multi-ethnic senior friends from Southbridge Towers, which is directly across from the South Street Seaport, who were also present.

Musical performances from members of the youth arts group Dorill Initiative (singing) and Young Citizens Artists (history-themed rap) followed, as did remarks from District Leader Mariama James and the presentation of two more awards, to former Congressman Charles Rangel and the Harlem Hellfighters, 369th Infantry Regiment, the latter again highlighting that Black America is America, patriotism included.

Closing remarks from Charles Fall rounded out the long but rewarding program, after which many made for the bathrooms before making a procession to the burial ground and enjoying food and refreshments.