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| Paul Bryant-Smith |
The name “Amistad” graces Amistad United Church of Christ in Hartford and the Chapel at the UCC’s national offices in Cleveland, and it is no wonder. In 1839, our Congregational forebears organized to defend 53 African captives from the modern Sierra Leone who had escaped from their captivity aboard the Spanish cargo schooner La Amistad, and lived one of the foundational stories of social justice work for our United Church of Christ. The Freedom Schooner Amistad, built at Mystic Seaport with partial funding from the United Church of Christ, continues the civil rights legacy of our denomination and does so proudly, flying the UCC flag alongside the Stars and Stripes and the national flags of her diverse crew.
On June 21, 2007, the eve of General Synod 26, UCC members from around the country, including the Rev. John Thomas and members of the Executive Council, gathered at New Haven’s Long Wharf for the kickoff celebration of the Freedom Schooner Amistad’s Atlantic Freedom Tour. The Freedom Tour celebrated the 200th anniversary of the Wilberforce Declaration of 1807, by which Great Britain outlawed the international slave trade, and the U.S. Congress’ 1808 Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves. The tour, covering more than 14,000 miles, involved crewmembers and college students from several countries and took the schooner to a variety of major ports with historic links to the international slave trade.
UCC Members Essential to the Success of the Freedom TourAccording to Gregory Belanger, President and CEO of Amistad America, the UCC was “indispensable” to the Freedom Schooner Amistad during her 2007-2008 voyage around the Atlantic. UCC members, churches, and conferences contributed $76,000, much of it in response to a special appeal in the fall of 2007. “If the [UCC] had not helped us at that critical juncture, I do not know how we would have been able to execute that program in Sierra Leone,” he said.Food and water were quite expensive during the African stay, which was further extended by required repairs to the vessel. Expenses associated with crew exchanges aggravated the situation, and when Amistad America called for help, the Connecticut Conference answered with a short-term, no-interest loan. “That support was a godsend,” said Belanger, “and we’re extremely grateful. And it came at just the moment when it was most needed.” For Belanger, the visit to Sierra Leone was a critical affirmation of the schooner’s mission. It was a momentous event for a people recovering from a civil war, and the first visit of its kind following the installation of the nation’s first elected government after the conflict. The Amistad’s visit symbolized both the message of freedom and the peace-making commitment of the UCC, a message affirmed by the thousands of Sierra Leoneans who stood in the sun to visit the Freedom Schooner. |
At Long Wharf on June 21, I cast off Amistad’s dock lines and waved goodbye as the schooner began her voyage to Halifax, Nova Scotia. From there she sailed on to Liverpool, Hull, and London, England to celebrate the passage of the Wilberforce Act; and to Lisbon, Portugal, once home to the slave trade with Brazil.
Amistad had her African homecoming when she arrived in Freetown, New Haven’s sister city, on December 7th. The people of Sierra Leone celebrated the schooner’s arrival with drumming, dancing, speeches and a torchlight parade through the streets of the nation’s capital. Amistad remained in Freetown, where I joined the crew, for more than two months, welcoming thousands of people aboard and completing much-needed maintenance, while the crew had time to explore the country and get to know many of the local people. When she left Freetown in February, Amistad had acquired three new Sierra Leonean crewmembers.
After a rough passage, beating into the trade winds, we arrived in the Republic of Cape Verde, where we visited several islands, were feted by the Ministry of Tourism and given a luxurious tour of the main island of Santiago, met with many dignitaries including the President and the Prime Minister, and hosted an astonishing number of schoolchildren.
I left Amistad and flew home on the day she sailed back across the Atlantic for Barbados, where she stopped in Bridgetown, recalling the enslaved Africans who enriched the former British colony by working on the sugar plantations. The schooner then traveled back to the U.S., making landfall in Charleston, SC, where she was escorted into harbor by a flotilla of other traditional sailing vessels participating in Charleston’s Harborfest.
I rejoined Amistad’s crew just in time to sail her back into New Haven harbor, exactly one year after her departure. Though Amistad’s great journey is done, her work continues. Amistad is now making her way to Washington, DC, where she is to be hosted by the Congressional Black Caucus, then she’ll travel up to Baltimore before returning to New York City in late October. As she travels, Amistad will show the UCC’s colors, quite literally, to the world.
Rev. Paul Bryant-Smith is an ordained minister in the UCC, most recently serving in northern New Jersey. He sailed with the Amistad during his sabbatical.
