Freedom Schooner Amistad's visits in various ports often serve as a catalyst for local communities to have their own "Conversations On Race".   Amistad America is proud to provide a platform for that discussions.  One of the best examples is the legacy of Freedom Schooner Amistad's visits in Halifax, Nova Scotia - a city with it's own "inconvenient truth" in history.

Amistad will be visiting Cambridge in Maryland in October, for the very first time. From 1962 until 1967, Cambridge was a center of protests during the Civil Rights Movement. During this period, race-related violence erupted on more than one occasion, and the city was occupied for almost a year by the Maryland National Guard as a peace-keeping force. We hope that Freedom Schooner's visit there will inspire local community to follow Amistad America's motto: " Confront the Past - Transform The Future".

Halifax , Nova Scotia was the demarcation point of the African Americans who founded Freetown in Sierra Leone . Slavery was practiced for a brief period in Quebec and Nova Scotia as records indicate slave transactions as early as 1749. Overcoming a legacy of racial strife Halifax is now home to the Amistad Freedom Society of Nova Scotia, the Office of African Cultural Affairs and the Black Cultural Center of Nova Scotia.

Visiting Halifax and  Africville  at the end of July has become  an Amistad  tradition.  The current  visit  is  the third in a row  and  the Freedom Schooner and her crew feel already at home in Halifax Harbor.

Formerly the second largest slave ship port in England.  Strong ties to the trade and a legacy of racial tension.

Homecoming to New Haven,  Freedom Schooner's home port - Planned for the second half of June 2008.

London played a central role in the transatlantic slave trade as its financial institutions provided the capital to invest in the practice. In 1807 Parliament abolished the slave trade. The historic document is on display in Westminster Hall. The British Government officially supports the tour and will welcome Amistad into the country.

On record as the first European power to begin the systematic trade of Africans for purposes of slavery. Leader of the international trade until eclipsed by the British and then it resumed its leadership position after 1807..

Home of the original captives and the locations where they were returned in 1841.  The sister city of New Haven, CT, Halifax Nova Scotia and Hull, England.

Portland in Maine is a natural and frequent stop in the Schooner Amistad's Itinerary.  Docking at State Pier at historic waterfront brings always lots of attention tho the Schooner and the ship's crew feels at home there. Recently, the close cooperation with the Portland's Amistad Arts Collective makes The Schooner's visit even easier and more fruitful.  Visiting Portland means now visiting good friends.

February 15th, 2008. Due to the latest delays and the need to divert the vessel to Cape Verde the port visit in Dakar, Sengal had to be canceled.  More info will be provided ASAP. 

One of the centers of the African slave trade in the Caribbean to support its vast sugar plantations.  While the slave trade ceased in 1804, the continuation of slavery caused, in 1816, the largest major slave rebellion in the isle’s history.

... Charleston became more prosperous in the plantation-dominated economy of the post-Revolutionary years. The invention of the cotton gin in 1793 revolutionized this crop's production, and it quickly became South Carolina's major export. Cotton plantations relied heavily on slave labor. Slaves were also the primary labor force within the city, working as domestics, artisans, market workers or laborers. Many black Charlestonians spoke Gullah, a language based on African American structures which combined African, French, German, Jamaican, English, Bahamian and Dutch words. In 1807 the Charleston Market was founded. It soon became a hub for the African-American community, with many slaves and free people of color staffing stalls.