The Winds of Change

A discussion curriculum for the Pro-Reconciliation Movement of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

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Objective: In celebration of the 200th Anniversary of the end of the slave trade, the Office of the General Minister and President, through the Reconciliation Commission, is encouraging congregations, small groups, or Sunday school classes to view the film, Amistad, and engage one another in dialogue using the discussion questions below. As part of our work to lead the church in the Pro-Reconciliation/Anti-Racism Mission Imperative, we have provided this resource and a list of additional resources. Our hope is that as we seek to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with our God, this dialogue will be an enriching experience to your faith journey and the beginning point of individuals and congregations seeking to be a movement for wholeness in a fragmented world.

Introduction: The movie Amistad is about the 1839 mutiny onboard a slave ship that is traveling towards the Northeast Coast of America. The movie speaks to the horrors of the slave trade and tells the story of brutality, racism, hatred, and victory. As the ship is crossing the Atlantic, Cinque, who was a tribal leader in Africa, leads a mutiny and takes his captors as prisoners. Cinque leads his people as they continue to sail, hoping to find help when they reach land. Instead, when they reach the United States, they are imprisoned as runaway slaves. They do not speak English, and it seems like they are doomed to die for killing their captors when an abolitionist lawyer decides to take their case, arguing that they were free citizens of another country and not slaves at all. The case finally gets to the Supreme Court, where John Quincy Adams makes an impassioned and eloquent plea for their release.

Format: We encourage you to watch the movie as a group and then participate in the discussion. You can purchase the movie through online retailers such as www.amazon.com or rent the movie through your local video rental store. You might consider breaking up into smaller groups for discussion and then have a large group dialogue sharing some of the common themes, struggles, and conversations that emerge out of your small group discussion.

Download the curriculum in PDF