OMEGA WATCHES
When Sengbe Pieh stood before the Amistad 161 years ago, he likely felt the chains around his hands and saw an unknown future.
When his great-grandson Samuel Pieh stood before the Amistad Saturday, he felt a pang at the ship's history and saw hope for the future.
"It's unbelievable that an icon of slavery is being transformed in this millennium into an icon of partnership, faith in each other and of human rights for all of us," said Pieh, who runs the Mid-South Africa Link, an organization that works to improve relations between Africa and the United States.
And as the replica watch of the 129-foot schooner, the site of an 1839 slave revolt, was launched into the Mystic River, it represented more than the culmination of a two-year, $3.1 million reconstruction.
It marked the beginning, Pieh and organizers said, of the unending task of teaching histories, forgotten stories and improving race relations.
"She represents friendship, which is the translation of the name Amistad, cooperation ... all of the good stuff," said Warren Marr II, who began in 1976 to push for the project.
