It was a cool late winter afternoon.  The decorative white lights on the tree-lined main street began to illuminate the quaint town of Madison, Connecticut. I walked into a small arts cinema with my mom to watch the film “Amazing Grace.”  I walked out inspired, excited to sail to England to commemorate the events that led to England’s abolition of the Transatlantic Slave Trade and contemplative about the work of Wilberforce.  Obviously the film was embellished to please viewers, but the power of the abolition movement, the dedication of those involved, and the impact that reverberated throughout history touched me.

Some months later we are aboard Amistad, making our way to England and West Africa after a lot of shore-side work in Connecticut to make this voyage possible. Students and crew are reading and presenting on the book “Burry the Chain” which delves into the events in England that led to the abolition of the Transatlantic Slave Trade.  The book examines the actions of Equiano, Wilberforce, Clarkson, and other key players. One evening, while this book was the focus of the academic work onboard, I stood bow watch as two students sat on the fore deck, reading and discussing “Burry the Chains.” One was excited at learning how Sierra Leone received its name.  The other piped in with what he found interesting.  As the sun set I was struck again with the weight of what we are doing onboard.  The Amistad story touches upon both the worst and the best of humanity: the atrocities of the slave trade and the power of a group of people working together.  The simple desire of a few people to be free, people who acted, set in motion a chain of events that eventually led to the building of this vessel.  We now sail in the memory of the Amistad Africans.  We honor them by being a living community engaged in the lessons of working together to sail this boat across the Atlantic while diving into the painful history of the slave trade and shaping what our contributions to the future might be.  We sail to England on Amistad’s first transatlantic voyage.  We sail to commemorate the abolition of the slave trade.  The original La Amistad was probably still different trees in the ground when Wilberforce was campaigning and Clarkson and Equiano were traveling around England to raise awareness and gather testimonies.  However, years later, the work that they did and the results they achieved helped to lay some of the ground work for the defense of the Amistad Africans, who, by the nature of the acts that abolished the Transatlantic Slave Trade, were free.
 
As we discussed “Bury the Chains” a few of us deconstructed some of our admiration for Wilberforce and others by learning a bit more about them, and some of their actions that might have resulted from them being products of their time.  However, the larger message of the book still conveyed the years of work and the cause that a small group of people dedicated their lives to and the results they actually achieved.  It is a reminder, as is Amistad, that if individuals do not act for whatever moves or inspires them, then change only happens by accident.  If, however, people find their passion and realize their place in shaping the world the possibilities are as open as the vast ocean that surround us. 

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