National
Old African-American Celebration Given Second Life in New York
The NYC African Burial Ground memorial. (The All-Nite Images/Flickr/CC BY-SA 2.0)
Sebastien Malo, REUTERS
NEW YORK (Reuters) — An African-American celebration called Pinkster dating back to the 17th century is enjoying a quiet revival in New York, giving the city a fresh glimpse at the largely ignored contribution that black colonists made to America’s emerging culture.
Considered the oldest African-American holiday, Pinkster was virtually unknown to generations of New Yorkers until three years ago when a group of black history enthusiasts decided to resurrect it.
The festivities, now an annual event, take place this weekend in lower Manhattan at the site of a colonial-era African-American burial ground that itself was almost lost to history until unearthed during a 1991 construction project.
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