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Captain William Pinkney was the first Black man to sail solo around the world via Cape Horn, sailing 27,000 miles in a 22-month-long voyage, taking the southern route around the five great capes, through waters considered to be the most dangerous on the globe. In November 1998, he embarked on a second trip, setting sail from the Caribbean on an historic voyage to retrace the "Middle Passage" slave trade routes used during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. |
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Pinkney has also been involved in a corporate-sponsored enterprise that became a "floating classroom" for thousands of American schoolchildren. A charismatic, naturally gifted speaker and storyteller, Pinkney is now inspiring audiences nationwide with the story of his two remarkable voyages and their application to business and day to day living.
Pinkney's five-month-long Middle Passage Voyage took him, his three-person crew, and a rotating group of American schoolteachers to six countries: Puerto Rico, Barbados, Brazil, Ghana, Senegal, and the United States. They traveled together on his 80-foot sailboat, and the teachers on board created hands-on teaching materials for schools across America.
Pinkney's Middle Passage journey was also a journey of personal discovery. At the core of his quest was to visit those African countries from where his slave ancestors left in chains, most never to return. "I'm a descendant of those who came in the hold...now having ascended to the wheel," says Pinkney. "I think...getting on an airplane and flying to Senegal, flying to Ghana, it's not the same as taking an ocean voyage knowing that the waters over which you pass contain the bodies of those who refused to leave the continent, and found the only way out was to go overboard."
This sailor-author-adventurer Bill Pinkney continues to carve out his role in history. Pinkney continued his voyages as Master of the Freedom Schooner, Amistad. The vessel is a reproduction of the 129-foot ship and was built in Mystic, Connecticut as a tribute to the African captives who revolted for freedom, which they eventually won in a legal battle in the Supreme Court. The vessel is also as a floating classroom for the African-American history, maritime studies and human rights. After captaining the ship since its launch in 2000, he retired from the helm in November of 2003 to write and speak of his adventures and the lesson they have taught him.
After several years of writing and reflection, Pinkney has released his autobiography "As Long As It Takes: Meeting the Challenge." The book details his life from growing up in Chicago's "Bronzeville", to his careers with the Navy and Revlon, and to his decision to leave it all behind and become only the fifth American to sail around the world solo via the five Capes in the Southern Ocean. Poet and Author Dr. Maya Angelou writes; "As Long As It Takes has it going on! It is a travel book of the first order. It is an inspirational book to compare with any on the market today. And finally, and probably at its most charming, it is a delightful autobiography" Bill Cosby provides the introduction, and notes that "Bill Pinkney is one the most important Americans." The book is an inspiring work about following your dreams with commitment and perseverance. |
