After 365 days & 14,000 milesFreedom Schooner AmistadConnecticut’s Flagship and Tall Ship Ambassadoris coming home to Long Wharf on June 21, 2008.
After 365 days & 14,000 miles
Freedom Schooner Amistad
Connecticut’s Flagship and Tall Ship Ambassador
is coming home to Long Wharf on June 21, 2008.
HOMECOMINGHOMECOMING
The Freedom Schooner Amistad sails the world as a symbol of freedom, justice and human cooperation among all races and religions. The message is founded on the telling of the Amistad Story where kidnapped Africans were set
free by a pro-slavery U.S. Supreme Court because black and white abolitionists work tirelessly to win their freedom.
On June 21, 2008 exactly one year to the day - Freedom Schooner
Amistad will return to its homeport of New Haven having completed a 14,000
miles long circumnavigation of the Atlantic Ocean as part of an international
commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the Atlantic slave
trade in the former British Empire (1807) and the United States (1808).
The voyage called the Atlantic Freedom Tour will officially continue this summer
with a tour of ports along the U.S. East Coast and formal ceremonies
in New York City and then a final ceremony in Washington, D.C.
Throughout the voyage, the Freedom Schooner Amistad and its crew and students aboard have worked with museums and educational outreach
programs to tell the history of the Slave Trade and to highlight the significant way
the legacy of that history reflects in today's social, political and cultural character.
The voyage included a special two-month stay in Freetown, Sierra Leone,
the original West African homeland of many of the Amistad captives.
This symbolic “homecoming” was a profound experience as the crew,
students, church organizations, non-governmental organizations and the
governments of Britain, the United States and the United Nations worked
together in a show of cooperation and the celebration of the Amistad's visit
in the name of peace and reconciliation after Sierra Leone 10-year-long civil war.
Please join the Amistad crew, staff and students
on June 21st at 9:30 am at Long Wharf Pier
for a public ceremony welcoming the schooner home.
Freedom Schooner Amistad’s Homecoming Celebration
June 21, 2008 - PROGRAM
The year-long, 14,000 mile international tour of Amistad America's Freedom Schooner,
marking the bicentennial
, demonstrates the international
significance of a story that unfolded here in Connecticut 170 years ago. The ship's
return will be marked by celebration and public discourse aimed at deepening our
understanding of the Amistad story, its legacy in American life and world history, and
the longer, larger struggle that is America's Journey of Freedom.
MORNING - Long Wharf, Amistad Dock - New Haven9:30-11:30
Morning Homecoming Ceremony & Events at Long Wharf Dock)
!· Choir from Immanuel Baptist Church
!· Welcoming New Haven Museum & Immanuel Baptist Church
!· Sounding of the horn (Digareedo)
!· Drumming/dancing begins - Michael Mills
!· Libation, with Donald George
!· Ship arrival - 10:00 am - solo Anthem “Lift Every Voice and Sing” by Baptist choir
!· Officials welcome of the ship by Mayor DeStefano, Sen. Toni Harp
!· Speaker # 1 Clifton Graves thanks, introduce crew, staff, trustees and statewide
stakeholders (New Haven Museum, Amistad Committee, CT Historical Society,
New London Custom House, Mystic Seaport, etc.)
!· Poet - Speaker # 2 - Ngoma
!· Historian - Speaker # 3 Unity Now: America's Journey of Freedom, by NHM
Director William Hosley
!· Immanuel Baptist Church /solo (Michael Acosta) (Old Man River and/or Saving
Grace)
AFTERNOON - Long Wharf, Amistad Dock - New Haven12:00-2:00 pm Freedom Schooner open for tours LATE AFTERNOON - New Haven Museum - 114 Whitney Avenue4:30-6:00 pm
Reception & Panel Discussion, Music & Film: New Haven Museum
“Rethinking the Meaning of Amistad: Conversation Marking the Freedom
Schooner's Homecoming & World Voyage” - In honor of the late Clifton Johnson
Confirmed Panelists: David Blight, Yale University, Kate Steinway, CT Historical
Society, Karyl Evans, Amistad filmmaker, Greg Belanger, Amistad America, Rev. John
Scott, Dixwell Avenue Church of Christ, Barbara Hudson, Founding Curator, Amistad
Foundation
“Traces Of The Trade” - short film presentation by filmmaker Katrina Browne
http://tomficklin.blogspot.com/2008/06/trade-winds.html
New Haven Symphony Orchestra Preview of 2009 Amistad orchestral commission
by George T Walker, Natalie Forbes
Other Features:
!Research Resources for African-American History at the New Haven Museum
!PowerPoint to get people looking and thinking about what's here
!Freedom Schooner Voyagers account and Travel Souvenirs on display
!Cinque Lives Here exhibition
Hor d'ouvres & Libations
of the abolition of the Atlantic slave trade in the former
British Empire (1807) and the United States (1808)
NEW HAVEN
Connecticut
Saturday
JUNE 21st
LATEST UPDATES:
amistadamerica.orgnewhavenmuseum.org
AMISTAD REVOLT - An Historical Legacy of Sierra Leone and the United States.
http://www.amistadamerica.org/content/blogcategory/177/201/
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