Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource "Voices That Must Be Heard" Articles Description An account of the resource The Independent Press Association (IPA) translates articles from the ethnic press (when necessary) and distributes them via web and fax newsletter to mainstream and ethnic press, government offices, nonprofits, and interested individuals. Voices That Must be Heard was designed by the Independent Press Association staff in New York City in response to the horrifying events of September 11. After Sept. 11th, Voices focused on the South Asian, Arab and Middle Eastern communities in New York. Since February 2002, the project has expanded, selecting articles from the broad range of ethnic and community newspapers throughout the city. Here, the Archive has preserved the Voices collection from its inception until November 2002. VTMBH Article VTMBH Article: Edition 39 VTMBH Article: Article Order 1 VTMBH Article: Title Rebuilding Ground Zero VTMBH Article: Author Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr. VTMBH Article: Publication Harlem Times VTMBH Article: Original Language English VTMBH Article: Translator VTMBH Article: Section edits VTMBH Article: Blurb The raging wrangling over what to do with the apocalyptic site of the razed twin towers of the proverbial World Trade Center (WTC), recalls another significant debate which, for obvious reasons, has transpired almost without the public attention, decibel and outrage. And here, we refer to the controversy over the Old Negro (or African) burial ground in Lower Manhattan. VTMBH Article: Keywords VTMBH Article: Body The raging wrangling over what to do with the apocalyptic site of the razed twin towers of the proverbial World Trade Center (WTC), recalls another significant debate which, for obvious reasons, has transpired almost without the public attention, decibel and outrage. And here, we refer to the controversy over the Old Negro (or African) burial ground in Lower Manhattan. The latter, an institutionally segregated cemetery, harbored the remains of largely enslaved diasporic Africans dating from 18th century New York. At the time of its creation, the Old African Burial Ground was <i> terra incognita</i>a no mans land in the sense of the historical fact that the primal non-native and non-Caucasoid builders of colonial and post-colonial America were not regarded as part of mainstream society. Consequently, African-American leaders and scholars have had to mount a vigorous campaign for the salutary preservation of the sacred Gods acre. Not very long ago, some top officials in state and federal governments decided that the need for more office space superseded the psycho-religious and moral need of preserving the African Burial Ground. In the end, a tad of guilt, rather than sanity or consciousness, prevailed, and the powers that be decided to set aside a piddling sliver of this sacred space as a memorial for our ancestorsthe bulk of the cemetery was summarily bulldozed, and the remains of our ancestors brazenly desecrated. It was almost as if someone had concluded that the Jewish holocaust in the heart of Europe had outlived its usefulness as prime grist for scholarship and mnemonic preservation, thus necessitating the casual demolition of Auschwitz, Dachau, and other such sacred spots and landmarks. Interestingly, in the aftermath of the World Trade Center carnage, there is heated debate over what to do with the 16-acre (or 11 million square feet) of commercial space destroyed in that fateful event. For instance, New Jerseys Gov. James McGreevey was recently quoted by the Daily News as asserting that he would want nothing short of equal participation with New York Gov. George Pataki over the final decision regarding the destiny of the WTC site. It may, significantly, be recalled that both New York and New Jersey have equal control over the running of the Port Authority, which legally owns the WTC site, as well as our metropolitan airports, including JFK. Indeed, nobody has any qualms about memorializing the victims of the WTC carnage, for it was a global tragedy of multidimensional proportionsin terms of commerce, culture and race. What is more, the manner in which this tragedy was induced also craves unreserved public attention. It is also true, however, that what is good for the goose is equally good for the gander. The grim experiences of slavery undergone by the people interred in the Old African Burial Ground was as violent as both the WTC carnage and the Jewish holocaust. Thus, any attempt to deprecate any one of these three events equally deprecates all. For doesnt the very Constitution of the United States of America, as well as the latters Declaration of Independence, intimate the fact that no human life, regardless of race or socioeconomic and political status, is of less value than another? And dont we hold these truths to be self-evident that all humans are created equal, and endowed with the sacred right to mnemonic recognition and celebration? Alas, we witnessed the same moral short-shrift accorded Malcolm X vis-à-vis the Aubudon Ballroom episode. In the latter instance, Columbia University assumed legal ownership of that tragic historical landmark and decided that the full and unstinted preservation of the memory of the slain globally renowned civil and human rights champion was far less significant than the imperious cause of modern science and the pocketbook. Some of us picketed and vigorously demonstrated against the summary desecration of the memory of Malcolm X and the African-American community and lost big time. In the end, a grudging compromise that redoled and reeked more of an insult than respectable concession left Malcolms memory with an ugly metaphorical façade. It was almost as if the rest of America had communicated, in no uncertain terms, to the proverbial darker kin that our very lives and collective memory were not half as significant as we had presumed or fancied. There is a saying that just because our food supply system has been contaminated does not mean that we, as a society of individuals, stop eating. If we do stop eating, the end result is quite obviouswe shall quickly vanish off the face of the earth, and there would be no society at all to talk about. Likewise, the fact that hundreds of thousands of people perish annually through air, water, road and subway accidents should not prevent us from travelling. After all, doesnt the adage exhort, Nothing ventured, nothing gained? In all likelihood, were the victims of the WTC carnage alive, they would be going about their normal activities with the rest of us. By all means, people, let us mount a memorial for our lost relatives, friends, neighbors and compatriots. Needless to say, let such mnemonic monuments reflect what we have done for other members of our society who perished through similar violent circumstances. For in the end, what is good for the goose, as aforementioned, is equally good for the gander; better still, there are no special or super-people this side of the universewe are all Gods children, all sisters and brothers. VTMBH Article: Line Breaks 1 VTMBH Article: Date 2002-10-05 VTMBH Article: Thumb VTMBH Article: Article File VTMBH Article: Hit Count 103 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Rebuilding Ground Zero 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. unknown Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. article Original Name The original name of this item. The raging wrangling over what to do with the apocalyptic site of the razed twin towers of the prove Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-10-05