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Howard Student Sails the Sea on Amistad Replica

By Lorinda Bullock
Black College Wire

To Howard University junior Amir Lee, the eyes and souls of the captives of slavery reside in the 400-year-old wood taken from the strongest trees in Sierra Leone.

This "very spiritual" wood, (Iroko) was taken to create a replica of the historic ship, the Amistad. From July to December 2002, Lee and 12 other crew members were responsible for maintaining and sailing the 129-foot-long, 26-foot-wide ship weighing 140 tons, in addition to making presentations before thousands in 14 cities along the East Coast, from the home port of Mystic, Conn., to the Gulf of Mexico.

The 20-year-old television production major would start the day at 5:30 a.m. and not finish his numerous duties until as late as 9 p.m.

His training in West Palm Beach, Fla., prepared him for the worst. "It was grueling work," he said. "There were no showers, roach-infested bathrooms. This was all new to me. No electricity, and I was coming all prettied up, straight off of Howard's campus."

After two long days of stripping varnish, greasing, and cleaning out mildew, his hard work paid off and he was chosen for the crew.

Ben Bush Amir Lee

Lee first heard of the program through a friend of the family who worked for Amistad America Inc., the organization that recreated the ship and conducts programs "to promote the legacies of The Amistad Incident, keeping the legacy of The Amistad Incident of 1839 alive for generations to come," according to the amistadamerica.org web site. Its other missions include promoting understanding among races and honoring the memory of the millions who were affected by the transatlantic slave trade.

Those who think they know the story of the Amistad from Steven Spielberg's 1997 film will be surprised that there were 49 men, 3 girls and one small boy on the ship -- not the greater numbers the movie portrayed. The 53 captives were kidnapped from West Africa and then sold into slavery in Cuba.

After being illegally purchased, they were forced onto the Amistad. Sengbe Pieh, also known as Joseph Cinque, led a revolt on board. The mutineers were eventually captured and awaited trial in Connecticut.

There the captives waited for two years, and former president John Quincy Adams, so moved by a letter from Cinque, argued on their behalf. In 1841, they were allowed to return to Africa, making this the first civil/human rights case where blacks and whites came together for freedom, according to Lee.

That was the short version. "The story I just told," he said, "that would have to be repeated every three minutes to 30 people. We would wake up every morning and tell that story literally to 4,600 children and talk to about 600 people in the afternoon."

On top of telling the story over and over, the crew endured many dangerous and difficult nights on the sea before arriving at a particular city. The boat could be tossed about in swells as tall as 15 to 20 feet, and thanks to gravity, cause their bodies to levitate. Peaceful sleep was rare.

"There were times our bodies were so weak, we could do nothing but lean on each other," he said of his "family." But despite the rough nights they might have had, Lee said the crew still gave its best to the ship's visitors. "We looked crazy, but we put on the shirt, the hat and smiled," he said. "That job was about serving - serving the world."

Lee had a number of duties on the schooner to help keep it afloat. "I was an educator, a Maritime fellow [the first], video documentarian, a sailor and safety officer, checking all of the safety aspects making sure they followed all of the guidelines set by the U.S. Coast Guard to keep the ship going."

Lee's journey wasn't just about storms and hordes of curious children. During his free time he skateboarded, read, visited museums and enjoyed banquets with dignitaries and mayors of the cities they visited. Oh, there was "a lot of karaoke," he said. He also kept a journal with sketches of places he saw, such as Martha's Vineyard.

Coming back to school was just as difficult as heading out to sea, but Lee took what he learned from his sea experience and applied it to his life. For the first two weeks back on land, he would continue to wake up at 4 a.m., starting his days as he would on the ship.

Lee said that he has more confidence and is more task-oriented thanks to his experience, and said he intends to return to the sea when he graduates. "My heart is at the sea," he said. "You really miss that adventure, the opportunity to see a new environment every week."

The greatest joy Lee got from his journey was educating people, he said. "The excitement in their eyes, that meant a lot to me," he said. "It let me know what I did was for a greater cause."

Lorinda Bullock is a student at Howard University who writes for The District Chronicles. She can be contacted at .

Posted May 21, 2003