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NYC is steeped in Black history but the average New Yorker is perhaps unaware of some of the history they pass every day. New York’s role in slavery is often overlooked and so the city council is in the process of developing this awareness.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation, which helps prevent the erasure or destruction of historic sites, has stated that three of the 30 grant recipients from its African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund are located within the city. This year $3 million in grants has been provided across the States, and these will support sites that represent Black life in America. The three in the city are the New Amsterdam Musical Association in Harlem, Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx and the Lefferts Historic House in Brooklyn.
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The New Amsterdam Musical Association is the oldest black-founded musical organization in the U.S. It was founded in 1904 and has provided support to black musicians ever since.
Woodlawn Cemetery is where Nobel Peace Prize awardee Ralph Bunche, entrepreneur Madam C.J. Walker and the Tuskegee Airman and war hero Ivan Bynoe were buried. The grant would fund the development of a tour highlighting the notable black individuals buried there.
And lastly, the Lefferts Historic House is an 18th-century farmhouse that enslaved over 25 people—men and women.
On top of this, the state lawmakers are also moving forward with a commission designed to study the possibility of reparations for the descendants of enslaved New Yorkers.
So many of these important sites go unnoticed in our bustling city but we all must recognize these locations for the significance they carry.