| Embodying the Soul of a Sailor |
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| Written by Bo Petersen -The Post and Courier | |
| Wednesday, 14 May 2008 | |
Ex-Executive Now Master of Amistad Replica
The old sea captain is a man in love.
Bill Pinkney strides down the dock, grabbing the newly arrived crew one by one in a massive bear hug. His eyes come back to the Freedom Schooner Amistad, its Douglas fir masts, its graceful, dark lines of iroko and angelique wood from Africa, live oak from South Carolina. This is his.
"I was with this boat when it was logs from places like Sierra Leone, up in Washington state, Lagos. The wood that came from Surinam. The keel came Guyana," he says. "I have splinters still in me somewhere from it."
The Amistad is a replica of the famous 19th century sailing ship commandeered in 1839 by captive Africans en route to being sold as slaves in Cuba. They would win their freedom in the United States and eventually return home to Sierra Leone.
It's in Charleston for Harbor Fest 2008 this weekend and will stay to take part in Spoleto Festival USA 2008 at the end of the month, during which an opera about the original Amistad odyssey will be performed. Pinkney is here with it.
He is "a 73-year-old ex-limbo dancer," he says playfully. He was the first captain of the replica when it was launched in 2000; today he is its master, its storyteller. He is descended from captured west Africans like the rice farmers who pulled loose a spike on that trade boat 180 years ago and pried off their shackles.
He has the rollicking manner of a sailor, swinging easily back and forth between humor and philosophy. His two favorite philosophers, he says only half teasingly, are Winnie the Pooh and Satchel Paige.
Pinkney is a former corporate executive who learned how to sail on treacherous Lake Michigan in a boat not much bigger than a bobber. He gave up corporate life in 1992 to take a 47-foot boat across the endless, merciless Southern Ocean, then around Cape Horn in hurricane-force winds and 25-foot seas. He became one of those singled-out firsters — the first black man to sail solo around the world.
Reach Bo Petersen at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or 745-5852.
Read the original article and more information about Charleston Harbor Fest published on May 14, in The Post and Courier
Comments
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written by Mohamed S. Kamara aka Laustinejay , May 17, 2008
Hi Friends, I'm Mohamed S. Kamara, a youth Coordinator of Artist United 4 Children and Youth Development (AUCAYD) www.aucayd.org.
i enjoyed working with the Amistad America as i was one of the heritage ambassador that was trained as interpreter to tell the story about slavery and the differences between the slave ship TECORA and the car-go-ship La Amistad which was used to carry vegetable along the cost. the training was organized and sponsored by Afrikasgem. As our organization Artist United 4 Children and Youth Development (AUCAYD) was part of the National Coordinating Committee (N.C.C.) we were opportune to participate throughout their visit to Sierra Leone 2007. We did a musical performance with two of our songs which was very great and excited. Marr Boyly was convinced and amazed and she joined us while performing. She gave us her comment ‘I so enjoyed meeting and seeing you perform in Freetown during our visit during the Amistad arrival. We have such great hope for your efforts to reach other young people who have had their lives disrupted by the war. We, Sister Cities Freetown/New Haven will be doing several projects to help the youth of Freetown. Keep up your good work and we hope to see you again soon. Mary' |
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| Last Updated ( Tuesday, 20 May 2008 ) |
Bill Pinkney is the former captain of the Amistad, and now its storyteller.
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Through our huge participations, we were able to interact with students aboard interaction and we will never forget to shot Amistad Freedom... Amistad Freedom.
Thanks
JAH bless.