A Sentinel to the Past

Working on my capstone project for my interactive media writing course I braved the snow and icy winds to run next door to New Haven’s City Hall building to take some photographs of the Amistad Memorial. Standing in the swirling snow I wondered what the captives from the tropical country Sierra Leone thought of their first snow storm and the variability of Connecticut’s weather. I can’t imagine spending several years in a 19th century jail, in a strange land, and most likely without light, heat, or hope.

The audio script I composed for this week’s project sums it up

- Narrator - The Amistad Revolt New Haven’s most lasting legacy Standing in front of city hall and as a sentinel to the past The Amistad memorial embodies the desire of enslaved people everywhere WITH THE PLEA “Make Us Free” This memorial tells the story of captured slaves who, in the late Eighteen thirties, were tried for murder and piracy in New Haven’s Federal Courthouse But, the only story they had to tell was that they just wanted to go BACK home