By Dan Murphy
Fresh off welcoming the tall ship Kalmar Nyckel to the Yonkers Pier, the replica ship Amistad docked sailed up the Hudson River and docked in Westchester’s largest city September 7-8, offering free dockside tours, and a sunset sail.
For those who don’t know the story of the Amistad, or who have not seen the Spielberg movie of the same name (a must watch), in 1839, Mende captives from Sierra Leone took control of the ship, the Amistad. Unable to navigate back to Africa, the ship was captured and towed into the port of New London Harbor in Connecticut. The Mende were faced with slavery or execution, and their cause was taken up by many residents throughout Connecticut. U.S. Circuit and District courts ruled in favor of the Mende. This case was then appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court and in 1841 this court agreed with the lower court decisions and the Mende captives were ordered freed.
The case of the Mende was argued by former President John Quincy Adams, and the movie’s main character is a Mende named Cinque. The role that Connecticut and its citizens played has been told and retold over the years, and in 1999 a new organization was formed and a replica of the Amistad ship was built in Mystic, Connecticut and launched in 2000. That organization went into receivership in 2015, and an Advisory Committee was formed to consider the future of the ship.
Discovering Amistad, https://discoveringamistad.org/ was formed to help ensure that the story of Amistad is not forgotten. The ship’s sailing into Yonkers is another step in the journey to make sure that this story that must be told until it is known by all, and to understand that we must learn from our history in order to create a brighter future.
Amistad Captain Rose Witte and her crew were welcomed to Yonkers. A large crowd of visitors climbed aboard, including Kisha Skipper, Chair of the County Committee to Recognize 400th Anniversary of Enslaved Africans, and Bob Walters, former Science Barge Captain, who helped land the Amistad in Yonkers and has always been a driving force to preserve and expand the offerings at the Yonkers Pier.
