'I'm hoping for my freedom' p.8
Dublin Core
Title
'I'm hoping for my freedom' p.8
Description
" OAKLAND, CA- A black South African teenager in search of freedom was in an Oakland jail Sunday, seeking asylum in American after three months at sea as a stowaway on two merchants ships.
“I’m hoping for my freedom,” said Patrick Mtoto, 19, held on suspicion of entering the country without inspection papers.
An organization called East Bay Sanctuary Communities sought to set up a hearing for him with the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
“I knew when I came to America, things would be better for me,” he said, “ In America, there is freedom for everyone.”
A native of Kayo, South Africa, Mtoto was arrested on the Fourth of July, hiding under pilings at a pier in Martinez, Ca, where he swam after jumping from a Norwegian-owned oil tanker late Thursday.
The Tanker had plucked Mtoto from the Atlantic 28 days earlier, during its crossing from Spain to the Tosco Refinery in Martinez.
“I wanted July Fourth to be independence day also,” Mtoto said.
He moved with his mother from Kayu to the Ivory Coast when he was 10, Mtoto said. When his mother died five years ago, he tried to find work in the city of Abidjan.
But without documents, including passport or identification, Mtoto could not find work and was frequently in trouble with the police, he said.
He decided to flee to Europe or America and hopped a French- bound freighter. But once at sea, he was discovered and the captain kept an eye on him.
When the ship arrived in France two months later, he locked Mtoto in a cabin and refused to let him off the vessel.
"I was confused,” Mtoto said, "I didn’t know what to do.”
When the Ship began its return to Africa, Mtoto was allowed out of the cabin. He stripped to his underwear in the middle of the night and jumped overboard with a life preserver.
“I was swimming to get to shore. I knew it was a risk but I didn’t want to go back.”
Mtoto spent about five hours in the numbing water of the Atlantic when a tanker bound for Martinez picked him up. “I told them my problem,” he said, “and I felt very good to be rescued.”
He was allowed to work on the ship, but when it pulled into California waters he determined to not make the same mistake he had in France.
He jumped overboard before the ship docked and hid under a pier until a Tesco employee reported him.
Contra Costa County sheriff's deputies made the arrest. UPI"
“I’m hoping for my freedom,” said Patrick Mtoto, 19, held on suspicion of entering the country without inspection papers.
An organization called East Bay Sanctuary Communities sought to set up a hearing for him with the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
“I knew when I came to America, things would be better for me,” he said, “ In America, there is freedom for everyone.”
A native of Kayo, South Africa, Mtoto was arrested on the Fourth of July, hiding under pilings at a pier in Martinez, Ca, where he swam after jumping from a Norwegian-owned oil tanker late Thursday.
The Tanker had plucked Mtoto from the Atlantic 28 days earlier, during its crossing from Spain to the Tosco Refinery in Martinez.
“I wanted July Fourth to be independence day also,” Mtoto said.
He moved with his mother from Kayu to the Ivory Coast when he was 10, Mtoto said. When his mother died five years ago, he tried to find work in the city of Abidjan.
But without documents, including passport or identification, Mtoto could not find work and was frequently in trouble with the police, he said.
He decided to flee to Europe or America and hopped a French- bound freighter. But once at sea, he was discovered and the captain kept an eye on him.
When the ship arrived in France two months later, he locked Mtoto in a cabin and refused to let him off the vessel.
"I was confused,” Mtoto said, "I didn’t know what to do.”
When the Ship began its return to Africa, Mtoto was allowed out of the cabin. He stripped to his underwear in the middle of the night and jumped overboard with a life preserver.
“I was swimming to get to shore. I knew it was a risk but I didn’t want to go back.”
Mtoto spent about five hours in the numbing water of the Atlantic when a tanker bound for Martinez picked him up. “I told them my problem,” he said, “and I felt very good to be rescued.”
He was allowed to work on the ship, but when it pulled into California waters he determined to not make the same mistake he had in France.
He jumped overboard before the ship docked and hid under a pier until a Tesco employee reported him.
Contra Costa County sheriff's deputies made the arrest. UPI"
Creator
N/A
Publisher
Baltimore Afro-American (1893-1988)
Date
1986-7-19
Collection
Citation
N/A, “'I'm hoping for my freedom' p.8,” African American Fourth of July, accessed April 30, 2024, https://africanamerican4th.omeka.net/items/show/277.