Captain Bill Pinkney , Master Emeritus of the Freedom Schooner Amistad presents the Amistad's Legacy - Confronting the Past; Transforming the Future.  Our new video "Connected" is intended to be a trailer for a longer documentary film utilizing many hours of footage that we captured in HD Video during the visit of the Amistad in Freetown in Sierra Leone. 

Watch in HQ (High Quality) on Schooner Amistad's YouTube Channel

After more than 16,000 nautical miles and two transatlantic crossings, the Freedom Schooner Amistad was hauled from the water at Mystic Seaport Museum on Thursday April 30th at 12:30 for critically needed repairs and a periodical, obligatory US Coast Guard inspection. The haul out was imperative to permanently repair a serious leak that first appeared while the schooner was visiting West Africa last year. Everybody was surprised how good Amistad's bottom looks after 25 month in the water including long period in tropics and winter in frozen Mystic River.

We invite you to come to Mystic Seaport within next two weeks - Take the advantage of unique opportunity of seeing two very different traditional wooden vessels on the dry - Schooner Amistad and Charles W. Morgan are hauled out right now.

The Board of Trustees, staff, and crew of Freedom Schooner Amistad join the national and global communities in honoring the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on the 80^th anniversary of his birth.  

As many commentators have noted, this celebration of Dr. King’s birthday has an added historic significance with the election and inauguration of America’s forty-fourth and first African American President, Mr. Barack Obama. 

AMISTAD America prides itself on the role of caretaker of the legacy of Sengbe Pieh and the Amistad captives turned freedom fighters, a legacy symbolizing a spirit of resistance and resilience. Similarly, as we reflect on the sacrifices, struggles, and successes of Dr. King, the message of his life’s work was one of resistance and resilience. He was a drum-major for justice, a man who spoke truth to power. A man who not only had a dream, but had a vision: a vision of an America where our children would one day be judged by the content of their character, not the color of their skin. The election of Mr. Obama, notwithstanding, much work is yet to be done to address the racial, social, and economic inequities existing in our nation and around the globe. Dr. King said, “…arm yourself to fight against injustice, for injustice anywhere, threatens justice everywhere”—a statement that continues to have resonance.  

Dr. King’s legacy remains a shining example and inspiration to us all.  On a personal note, as a child of 9 living in North Carolina, I had the honor of hearing him speak and shaking his hand. While I vaguely remember the exact words of his speech, I do recall feeling excited and uplifted as he said, “If you can’t be the moon, be a star…just be the best at whatever you are…”. 

AMISTAD America is committed to educating, enlightening, and encouraging the next generation to live up to the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr.  Happy 80^th birthday, Dr. King. 

Con Amistad,

Clifton Graves, Jr.

Vice President, Organizational Development and Community Outreach

I just can't believe that it is already one full year since Schooner Amistad sailed into Freetown Harbor in Sierra Leone. 

Anniversaries are usually good excuses to relive some events and look at them from a changed perspective. A quick reminder for those who have not followed Amistad's 2007/2008 Atlantic Freedom Tour: on June 21st, 2007, Amistad set sail from her homeport in New Haven, followed closely by media - BBC,  and here. (more links)

William "Bill" Pinkney, Amistad's first captain and now her Master Emeritus, noted to a reporter from New Haven Register that the idea of such a voyage by a re-creation of the original La Amistad, arose during the tall ships parade in New York City during the 1976 Bicentennial. "The dream has come," Pinkney exulted during a news conference on the Thursday before the Amistad  set sail. "This is the third leg," he said. The first was building the new Amistad in Mystic in 1999; the second was taking it to ports around America over the past seven years. "This time," Pinkney said, "we're going to the world."

And AMISTAD America went to the world....  While the schooner and her crew was plowing the waters of the Atlantic Ocean, the AAI staff was preparing the visits in Liverpool, Bristol, London, and Lisbon.

As the visit in Freetown was to be the longest, most important and logistically most challenging port stay during the whole Tour we have even established a temporary AAI office in Freetown.

Finally, after several adventures, Amistad made it to West Africa and on December 7th we had our "soft landing" in Freetown.

For some reason, Amistad's Atlantic Freedom Tour gained much more attention in the international media than in the US mainstream press. I am as baffled by that as I was a year ago...  It seems that there was not enough blood, sex, or scandal involved to get more publicity - maybe this is a hint how to lead PR efforts in the future... (This is the This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it private opinion - I will be obliged for readers' advice about how to bring more publicity to future Amistad voyages.)   

Amistad is now slowly recovering from her long journey, wintering at Mystic Seaport. New England in December is cold and the skies are gray. It is very interesting to read the articles and crew blogs posted a year ago and describing Amistad's visit in Africa. It brings me back to the tropical sun and amazing warmth of the people of Sierra Leone. Great memories to help survive another winter and stimulate hope for new exciting voyages of the Freedom Schooner Amistad in 2009.

Stay Tuned.