Thank God for Toni Morrison, her writing, her vision, her expertise, her style and her manner. Needless to say Toni Morrison is a person extraordinaire.
Because of her gift as a writer we are able to take a glimpse of the inner mind of the African American People of Color, those once enslaved and the pain that was once endured. Perhaps we have a greater understanding of the pain which still endures after reading some of her works. Her prolific writing has allowed the world to become more enlightened if they so choose, and if they can listen and hear the heart beat of a people, a people tormented and who suffered so much and who continue to suffer because of the afflictions once endured.
I believe that some of the AAPC continue to endure this suffering because of a slavery that was so horrible that the remnants continue to haunt them even today. This bench and not a statue is very telling because to me it tells of a people who needed to rest before moving on, as did Rosa Parks on that bus in Montgomery, Alabama. A bench perhaps is a symbol of energy for a people tired who had been removed from their homeland, and also can be a symbol of a wait. To me it represents a magical strengthening agent, a ray of hope, a mark and a breath that would enable these slaves to regroup.
Perhaps it can be looked at as the AAPC's ancestry that tells of a rest that was needed in order to go forward with the most positive outlook that their spirit spoke to them about. A moment of rest on a bench at the right time can be like a waterfall, a spring, an oasis, a dream, an ocean, a water fountain, a pond, a stream, a fragrant flower, a shower, a flicker of light, a ray of sunshine, a melody or perhaps it symbolized the beginning of a birth where the spirit was telling them how to give birth to the movement that became their journey. And what better place to have this bench than at Fort Moultrie on Sullivan's Island in South Carolina, where it is said that 40% of the Africans that were brought to North America passed through.
http://www.wspa.com/spa/news/local/article/morrison_dedicates_sc_bench_in_memory_of_enslaved/6424/No matter what I believe this bench to signifies, at the very least it represents a pause before starting up again. Toni Morrison knows the significance of a bench, for this is no ordinary bench.
