We here at UCCEG will be celebrating Black History Month for the first three Sundays in February. This Sunday, February 5th, we will honor and remember The Amistad. One of the United Church of Christ’s four denominations was instrumental in freeing those on the Amistad and getting them passage back to Sierra Leone.
Ken Evans and the United Church of Christ in Putnam, CT offer this brief history of “The Amistad and the UCC Connection.” (http://Amistad Mission (putnamcong.com))
The Amistad was a slave ship, seized in 1839 by African captives, members of the Mendi tribe of Sierra Leone, who forced it to sail to the shores of Connecticut.
They were later freed from jail in New Haven by a U.S. Supreme Court decision and eventually returned to Africa. During their incarceration, the Africans were befriended by people of faith, who raised money to clothe and feed them, and rallied to their legal aid.
These individuals whose Congregationalist legacy is now part of the United Church of Christ. That original Amistad Committee continued to meet after the captives were freed and later evolved into the American Missionary Association, the first anti-slavery missionary association in the United States. That association is still alive and well as part of the United Church of Christ under the United Church Board for Homeland Ministries.
A replica of the Amistad serves as a floating classroom, its mission to shed light on such issues as slavery, freedom, cooperation, leadership, equality and human dignity. The Amistad message also calls attention to the issues of racism, bigotry, greed, injustice, and intolerance, which are the causes of so much violence in the world today.
The United Church of Christ is a founding partner of the Amistad America Project and helps raise funds for its educational mission.
Ken Evans
Black History Month is a time for us to reflect authentically upon the history of our black and brown brothers and sisters here in America. Part of this history means that we, as white people, need to acknowledge the harm done to our black brothers and sisters through centuries of slavery and institutional racism.
This is especially important now, when governors and states are denying Black Studies programs in high schools and colleges; when school curriculums for our children do not include slavery and the harmfulness of slavery, racism and lynching. We can not sweep this evil under the carpet and ignore it. If we do, we allow racism to continue to be institutionalized in our systems; we continue to allow harm to come to our black brothers and sisters
We must celebrate Black History Month. We must grapple with the harm caused by racism. We must celebrate our black brothers and sisters who stood for Justice, who worked to dismantle the systems of oppression. We must celebrate our black brothers and sisters whose spiritual gifts and leadership transformed, not only our hearts, but the heart of this country.
This is a powerful month. One that can continue to deepen and strengthen our commitment to ending the cycle of oppression that is racism.
This month, my Thursday blogs will grapple with racism, celebrate those who have led the struggle to dismantle this system of oppression. My Monday blogs will honor and celebrate the spiritual life of the Black Church: way of prayer, a spiritual leader, a black mystic, music, iconography, and more.
I hope through this series that God invites us to a deeper commitment to Justice.
