Kunta Kinte-Alex Haley Memorial

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The Memorial is dedicated in particular to those of our African ancestors whose names, unlike Kunta Kinte’s, have been lost to the ages. It is also for all individuals – African, Asian, and European – who were enslaved in the New World and whose unpaid labour created the nation’s ascent to power. It is also dedicated to their descendants, who seek to build a country that embraces ethnic diversity while maintaining a sense of fraternity, mutual respect, and understanding.
Almost one million people visit the memorial each year. Alex Haley, sadly, did not live to see it finished.
This memorial is the only one in the United States that honours an enslaved African’s real name and location of arrival. It depicts Alex Haley’s goal for national racial reconciliation and healing in word and symbol, and it represents the triumph of the human spirit in difficult times via Kunta Kinte and his successors.
The Memorial includes a sculpture of Alex Haley reading to three youngsters of various ethnic backgrounds from a book on his lap. He relates the narrative of his family and the Annapolis port, which serves as a metaphorical Ellis Island for African Americans, as he spreads his hand toward the Chesapeake Bay.

History Kunta Kinte-Alex Haley Memorial

The Alex Haley sculpture group, the Compass Rose, and the Story Wall are the three separate components of the memorial. The first shows Haley reading from a book on his lap to three children of various races who are seated in front of him. The adjacent Compass Rose is a 14-foot-diameter granite sculpture with a bronze inlaid compass and a global map aligned to true North, with Annapolis at its centre. The Story Wall is the third element, which runs along the retaining sea wall on Compromise Street. It’s a collection of ten bronze plaques atop ten markers, each with a quote from Alex Haley’s book. To illustrate the significance of each quote, there is text and distinctive pictures accompanying it.
From 1979, when Alex Haley’s best-selling storey prompted discussions about its placement, to June 12, 2002, when the final phase of the Kunta Kinte-Alex Haley Memorial was dedicated, the slogan “A Luta Continua” (Portuguese: “the struggle continues”) refers to the 23 years of challenges that went into erecting this memorial. The first commemorative plaque erected on the location in 1981 was allegedly stolen by the Ku Klux Klan in just 48 hours! The theft made headlines around the world, but the plaque was never found. Annapolis residents contributed funds and replaced it two months later.

Kunta Kinte-Alex Haley Memorial Location

Address: Annapolis, MD 21401, United States
https://www.annapolis.gov/584/Kunta-Kinte-Alex-Haley-Memorial

The Kunta Kinte-Alex Haley Memorial is located at the historic Annapolis City Dock.
The Story Wall, a series of ten markers topped with bronze plaques that line the retaining sea wall on Compromise Street, is located next to the statues. Each plaque includes a phrase from Alex Haley’s book Roots, which tells the account of his family’s voyage. Text and distinctive imagery accompany each quote, explaining and illuminating its meaning. The ten plaques together demonstrate how the specific tale of one African’s trials and the accomplishments of his descendants has universal resonance and meaning for us all.
The Compass Rose is located across the street from the sculpture group, next to the Market House. It has a bronze inlaid compass and a map of the world aligned to true North with Annapolis in its centre, and it is fourteen feet in circumference. Special lighting and seating surround the Compass Rose. Several web cams are also being put at various vantage points across the city to enable continuous on-line visual access to the site from anywhere in the world. The Memorial and the meaning of each of its components are explained at a nearby information display stand.