More to visit than pomp, ceremony and celebration
October, 2003 The Freedom Schooner Amistad will arrive in Boston on October 14th to great pomp and circumstance: sailing in to Boston Harbor accompanied by several tall ships and docking at Fan Pier, where it will be greeted by a band of young African drummers and state and local dignitaries. But the schooner’s stay will be about more than ceremony. Thousands of schoolchildren will tour the ship with their classmates, hearing the Amistad story as told by crew members in character. Many will also learn lessons from the AMISTAD America Inc. Voices of Freedom curriculum, which has been adapted to Massachusetts public school standards and distributed to many area educators. Neighborhood, campus and youth Conversations on Race will be held in Boston and in surrounding communities before, during and after the ship’s stay. Related art, historical and photography exhibits will be on display at the John Joseph Moakley Courthouse and workshops will be held on topics such as quilting, arts, history and culture. The Museum of Afro-American History & Suffolk University will present a three-credit graduate course in history for educators utilizing the Amistad Incident, and the museum will also bestow a Profiles in Courage Award to Amistad’s retiring captain, William Pinkney. “The vessel itself is a small pebble in a large ocean. But its capacity to send ripples of justice throughout the Commonwealth is only limited by our wills and imagination,” said Conference Minister & President Nancy S. Taylor. Taylor said the Amistad to Boston Host Committee has managed to put together a wide array of activities despite a difficult fundraising environment, in part due to generous in-kind contributions. “Our initial plans had to be adjusted. Some programs were turned over to other organizations for their sponsorship,” Taylor said. For example, the Mary Baker Eddy Library in Boston is sponsoring a Public Conversation on Race with Harvard University Professor Charles Ogletree. In-kind contributions include accommodations for the Amistad crew, given by the UCC-related Seafarer’s Friend, which has a Mariner’s House in Boston; $50,000 worth of advertising by The Boston Globe and a Web site donated by Wellesley Congregational Church member Bruce Dishman. “The generous offers of in-kind contributions makes my heart sing,” Taylor said. “This is proof of how very much everyone cares about the issues the Amistad points to: courage, justice, freedom and racial equality.” Return to United Church News front pageReturn to Massachusetts Conference home page |
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