Every once in a while you stumble upon information or meet someone who introduces you to a whole new world of adventures and opportunities. I can truly say this is true when I met Veronica Dodson at a mutual friend’s birthday celebration in March in Oakland, Calif.
Through a casual conversation, I learned that Dodson left her everyday 9 to 5 work life behind to follow her passion, sailing. She was introduced to the sport by an ex-boyfriend who took her out on his boat on their second date. Every since then, she has been hooked. She is currently helping to organize the 13th Annual Black Boaters Summit that will take place August 7 – 15 in the U.S. and British Islands. I was more than pleasantly surprised to learn that since 1997, Captain Paul Mixon, who lives one city over in Alameda, has been taking African-Americans from all over the country on this water getaway that includes five nights on a yacht and three nights on land at the Westin St. John. All with African-American captains, which include women, at the wheel.
From here, Dodson introduced me to Captain Mixon who has been sailing for over 40 years. He was introduced to sailing by a friend in Chicago who took him out on the water one day. That experience led to lessons and certifications and eventually he quit his job as a salesman, bought a boat and sailed the waters with his wife for three years.
When you meet Captain Mixon, he fits the laid back, “Life is Good,” sailor perception that I have always had. Not a care in the world. His love of the sailing has really propelled him to reach out and engage more African-Americans who continue to be absent from the sport. When looking at ways to do so, he noted that there is a strong relationship between those who ski and those who sail. Usually one leads to the other. So he was worked with the National Brotherhood of Skiers to cross promote sailing among the organization’s ski clubs.
Around this time, both Dodson and Captain Mixon invited me to attend the Strictly Sail Pacific Show in Oakland. The organizers of the show wanted to include more people of color and therefore was working with both of them to host a Diversity in Sailing workshop on Sunday, April 18.
Myself along with six other friends enjoyed an hour long sail that afternoon before heading over to check out the workshop. Feeling like I had enough information to truly bring this story to Cuisine Noir readers, I learned more that got me even more excited.
Attending the workshop was Captain Bill Pinkney who is the first African-American to sail around the world by himself. His journey that started in 1990 lasted 22 months. In addition, imagine spending 65 days at sea alone with nothing else in sight but water. Talk about some “me” time. But he did it was ease. Captain Pinkney has been sailing for over 50 years and like Captain Mixon is also originally from Chicago. He noted that similar to skiing, many African-Americans will say “we don’t do that.” But yes we do and we do it well.
He goes on to recommend the book, Black Jacks: African American Seaman in the Age of Sail by W. Jeffrey Bolster for additional history. In addition, he mentions Rear Admiral (Retired) Anthony Watson who is the first African-American in the Navy’s submarine force history to be promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral. This 31-year veteran commanded nuclear submarines at sea. Not bad for a young man from Cabrini-Green, a former housing project in Chicago.
Speaking of Chicago. There apparently is something about this city and sailing which is also the neighbor of the suburb where I grew up. During the diversity workshop, we were shown a video and who appears on the screen? No other than one of my favorite actors, John Amos. I grew watching Amos play James Evans on the 70’s hit Good Times which featured a family from where… you guessed it, Chicago. A native of New Jersey and former social worker, Amos has had an amazing acting career over the years. In addition, he has been sailing for over 30 years. He also was introduced to the sport by a friend in Malibu and today owns his boat, Halley’s Comet, which is currently in La Plaza, Mexico.
He is the founder of the Halley’s Comet Foundation (www.halleyscometfoundation.org) which is an organization that uses sailing as a means to teach kids teamwork, self-worth and building a vision for success. I was excited to learn about his current project, Gangs at Sea, which introduced sailing to adversarial gang members over three days and in the end truly transformed their lives. The show should be hitting a network sometime this year.
I just had to ask about any additional projects and he mentioned another one that is just as important. During a trip to D.C., he met some of our forgotten African-American heroes who fought in the Battle of Iwo Jima. Conversations revealed that their contributions and the lives lost are not documented in any way during this part of history. His goal is to capture their stories so that no… they will not be forgotten.
Lastly, I got an exclusive insight that a Good Times reunion is in the works. The project is being spearheaded by his daughter Shannon Amos who is also in the entertainment business. I can hear the song now and better make sure I know the words as Dave Chapelle proved that many of us don’t.
Wow. After speaking to each and every one of them about their love for sailing, I am so glad that there are such good times to enjoy and share when at sea.
To learn more about the 2010 Black Boaters Summit and how to be a part of the fun, visit www.blackboatersummit.com. You don’t have to know how to sail or swim, just how to have a good time.
