(Newser)
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Concealed for centuries beneath what are now Manhattan skyscrapers, a burial ground uncovered in 1991 teemed with life today as a ceremony honoring African and African American people and their histories marked the dedication of a $50 million granite memorial. "Now we have an opportunity to right some of the wrongs of the past," said the monument's designer.
Closed for some 200 years, the burial ground came to light during construction in 1991; the long-delayed project will eventually include a museum, the Daily News reports. Actors Sidney Poitier and Avery Brooks attended, according to Newsday, and Maya Angelou brought the crowd to its feet with a spoken-word piece re-creating a slave auction.
