Virginia Dedicates $9M African Landing Memorial To Honor First Enslaved Africans

The African Landing Memorial is a new Virginia memorial that pays homage to the first enslaved Africans who were forced into the state. Community members in Hampton, Virginia, were joined by state leaders to dedicate the African Landing Memorial Plaza. The site now marks where the first documented enslaved Africans were brought to Virginia over 400 years ago, 13 News Now reports. Africans who were taken from Luanda, Angola, first arrived at what has been identified as the original site of Point Comfort in 1619. According to reports, the ship São João Bautista was used to carry hundreds across the Atlantic. It is a painful reminder of the violence used to shape the nation’s history, but one that must be recognized in order to deepen the understanding of the effect that slavery had and still has on this country today. “It’s often said that you need story more than food to survive,” said Fort Monroe Authority CEO Scott Martin during the dedication event on April 24. “The descendants are with us today, the story is with us today… and when you sit out here at sunrise or sunset, you watch the land speak to you.” The plaza is inspired by the Sankofa symbol, which represents the philosophy of learning from the past to build a successful future, and it took $9 million to build. It is a pedestrian-only plaza that features Angolan granite and design elements. Wanda Tucker has traced her lineage to Isabella and Antony, two of the first enslaved Africans documented in Virginia, and to the…