Celebrate Black History

      There is a story of one man’s son who died fighting the Taliban in Eastern Afghanistan. When asked how he felt about his son’s death, the man said with tears in his eyes “If we are going to enjoy our liberty in this country, I guess I have to be willing to let go of my son so that all of us can be free. This month of February is the month this nation celebrates our heritage. February is the month where we identify many great Black Americans who have given up their freedom, their independence and their privileges so others can have them. Please don’t let their sacrifices be in vain. Talk to your children about Louis Armstrong, Booker T. Washington, Thurgood Marshall, Barbara Jordan, Langston Hughes, Jesse Jackson, Ella Fitzgerald, Charles Drew, Jesse Owen, Maya Angelou, Alex Haley, Colin Powell, Sidney Poitier, Oprah Winfrey, Jackie Robinson, Madame C.J. Walker, Vanessa Williams and Mary McLeod Bethune.


       Use this month to educate your children and give them insight as to why they now have liberties and freedom that their great grand-parents could have only dreamed of. Don’t forget slavery just ended 147 years (3+ generations) ago, segregation in school 59 years (1+ generation) ago, segregation in restaurants, movie theaters, drinking from different water fountains, riding different planes, etc. just ended during that same period. What would happen if we still had to get up for Whites when buses were crowded? Or had to eat in different restaurants, or even only ride on the back of the plane. Truth is, we’ve come a mighty long way, and will not be able to move forward unless we educate our children to the perils of our forefathers, but also through their faithfulness how the mighty hand of God saved them, and brought about this change. Let us learn from those in Old Testament times who forgot to tell their children about the goodness of their God (Ex 1:8), so that through their mistakes we won’t have to relive their plight.

      Celebrate your freedom this month by not sitting on the back of the bus (this would be disrespectful to Rosa Parks), not calling each other “Nigga” (this keeps the “Masta’s” degrading and humiliating dialect alive in the lives of the one’s it was meant to destroy-i.e.- we now tear down ourselves) and value your education (9 Black high school students had the courage to attend Central High in Little Rock, Arkansas thus integrating that school and giving Blacks the same opportunities to learn as Whites students).

       Let’s move the bar forward, not backwards, by how we conduct ourselves and how we teach the younger people about our rich history. Glory to God for these indescribable gifts “For there is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Gal 3:28).

Celebrate Black History month- A great history, for a great people, which is to be honored and praised!

Pastor Kirkland A. Smith