New Haven Independent

“We are here not just to celebrate,” Sierra Leonean Donald George (pictured) said in a libation before a festive welcoming Long Wharf crowd Saturday, “but to remember how the 53 brave Sierra Leoneans fought with their own hands for their own freedom, but not forgetting the help of the people of Connecticut to gain their freedom.”

The schooner is a replica of the boat on which 53 Africans being sent into slavery in Cuba in 1839 mutinied and tried to sail home, but ended up on the shores of Connecticut. They eventually won their freedom in a landmark civil-rights before the U.S. Supreme Court, then sailed home to what is now Sierra Leone. The replica sailed this year to Sierra Leone and back.

Greg Belanger (pictured in a moment of reflection, as the shipped docked) is CEO of Amistad America, the New Haven-based organization that oversaw the building of the ship and its continuing operation. He said it was an extraordinary trip. The crew, including groups of college students who each crewed for a few months, learned a great deal. “We also felt very proud to represent both Connecticut and the United States,” he said, “especially when we sailed into Freetown, Sierra Leone. This is for them a symbol of freedom and hope; they call it Sengbe’s boat [after Sengbe Pieh, the leader of the Africans]. For us to sail it in, was an honor for us and a privilege.”

After the schooner docked Saturday, crew members lashed the gangplank in place.

Then George (pictured at the top of the story), a Sierra Leonean member of Amistad America, the organization that built the boat and planned the voyage, made his libation to thank the gods for the safe return of the ship and crew.

George poured a little water out of a bowl onto the dock after each prayer, including the following one, which drew chuckles from the gathered crowd: “We want to thank you for bringing the crew, the staff, and the $3.5 million property owned by the state of Connecticut [the ship] back safely to New Haven, which is our home port.” Click here to listen to the entire prayer.

Amistad America Director of Education Clifton Graves (pictured) led people in a lively chant: “When I say Amistad, you say freedom!” Click on the group’s website for the ship’s log and all the ports it visited during its year-long voyage.

The choir from Immanuel Baptist Church set the tone of the celebration with a joyful song.

Then Michael Mills (on the left in photo) and his band of drummers took their places on the dock to welcome the schooner and her crew back into the harbor.

Ship’s captain emeritus Bill Pinkney, who favors nautical whites, put his hand to the practical matter of handling one of the ropes as the ship sailed in.

The crowd that turned out on Saturday (including Mayor John DeStefano, U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro and state Attorney General Dick Blumenthal) was smaller than the one that wished the Amistad bon voyage a year ago, but just as enthusiastic, and the sky was just as blue and the day as perfect as the June 21 one year ago that sent the Amistad on its historic voyage.

Click here for more from Tom Ficklin on one of the day’s participants.