Inspired by Alex Haley’s 1976 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, “Roots: The Saga of an American Family,” the Kunta Kinte-Alex Haley Memorial has multiple connections to the location where it resides at the City Dock in Annapolis, Maryland. Commemorating the spot where Kunta Kinte set foot on American soil, it is dedicated to all of the African Americans’ who went on similar journeys and have had their names lost to history, highlighting what kind of an impact an imaginative monument can enable.
From Marker to Memorial Plaza
Alex Haley’s 1976 novel Roots won national acclaim for telling the story of Kunta Kinte, an 18th-century African who was sold into slavery and transported to North America. In 1979, a group of Annapolis citizens began an effort to celebrate the spot of Kunta Kinte’s fictional arrival in Annapolis that was part of the novel. Led by Carl O. Snowden, the group approached the Annapolis City Council to discuss placing a memorial in honor of Kunta Kinte at the Annapolis City Dock, which resulted in the installation of a marker that was stolen within 48 hours of being placed. This development drove a process by the Kunta Kinte-Alex Haley Foundation to create the Kunta Kinte-Alex Haley Memorial. By 2002, the final phase of the memorial was dedicated.
Designed by nationally African-American sculptor Ed Dwight, the memorial is comprised of the Alex Haley sculpture group, the Compass Rose, and the Story Wall. The sculpture group features a statue of Haley telling the story of his ancestor to new generations. The Compass Rose contains a map of the world, oriented to true North, with Annapolis at its center. The Story Wall is comprised of granite-framed markers that contain messages designed to encourage reconciliation and healing from a legacy of slavery, ethnic hatred, and oppression. These messages have a direct connection to the story told in Roots.
Conferences and events take place at the memorial on a regular basis, with contributions that can be made through Foundation-sponsored programs and ceremonies. An essential element of guides and maps of Annapolis, the Kunta Kinte-Alex Haley Memorial has become a landmark for the community thanks to an imaginative approach to commemorating the landing of enslaved Africans in what would become the United States.
A Legacy of Forgiveness, Perseverance, Dedication and More
The Kunta Kinte-Alex Haley Memorial is seen by nearly 1,000,000 visitors every year, highlighting the impact it has made on both residents and visitors. Allowing people to engage with the piece in so many different ways has enabled audiences to imaginatively connect with concepts like forgiveness, perseverance, family, servitude and dedication, all of which are as timeless as they are essential to entire communities.
