"Written by U.S Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit Judge Denny Chin's team, and narrated by the judge and his wife Kathy Hirata Chin, the program used historical legal documents to dramatize the events of the Amistad and shed light on how the case fit into the wider fight for the abolition of slavery and civil rights movement."
"A cast of lawyers and judicial staff brought the Amistad narrative to life, beginning in 1839, when captives from Mendeland in present-day Sierra Leone were kidnapped and illegally sold in Havana, Cuba. While being transported to Cuban plantations, the Africans broke their irons, killed the captain, and commandeered the schooner Amistad in an attempt to sail back to Africa. After two months at sea, the vessel docked on Long Island Sound, and was captured by the U.S. Navy, sparking a legal battle over whether the captives were property or free people."
"You've seen the Spielberg version; tonight you'll experience the Chin version, Renwick said, which takes us through the legal proceedings that continued to the Supreme Court on the absurd question of whether the Amistad Africans were property or whether they were free people."
An Appellate Division, First Department historical reenactment commemorated Black History Month by dramatizing the U.S. v. Amistad legal proceedings at the First Department courthouse. U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Denny Chin's team wrote the reenactment, and Judge Chin and his wife Kathy Hirata Chin narrated using historical legal documents. Presiding Justice Dianne Renwick introduced the program and contrasted it with Spielberg's film, framing the case as a legal contest over whether the Amistad Africans were property or free. The reenactment followed the 1839 kidnapping of Mende captives, their revolt aboard the schooner Amistad, capture by the U.S. Navy, and the federal court battles culminating in the 1841 Supreme Court decision that the Mende were not slaves under Spanish law.
Read at www.amny.com
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