We Still Enjoy The Fourth of July

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.  Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.  Galations 5:1

When I was in school, I had never heard of Juneteenth.  I had always learned the Declaration of Independence which almost advertised "a happily ever after" notion.  I was not aware such a thing as Juneteenth even existed.  It wasn't until adulthood that I gained knowledge of most African American history via social media outlets and various Facebook pages dedicated to the study of African American history.

Juneteenth, June 19, 1865, marks the end of slavery in America.  The last slaves were freed in Texas meaning that is was almost 100 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776 stating all men are created equal.  That is clearly worthy of celebrating! Being that African Americans were not free on the actual "Independence Day," some choose not to celebrate it and that's okay.

 

Dragging late as usual, we finally made it out of our door to have a picnic at the park and enjoy the fireworks show together.  We celebrated family, life, and let's not forget food. We enjoyed our time together.  Shoot, my husband wasn't working. That's a celebration all in itself. 

We know our history and are still learning it.  We are woke.  We still enjoyed ourselves.

However, what I don't get is when others complain about the folks not celebrating (and vice versa).  I mean I totally get that too.  It's like you've been told a lie all your life or kept out of this secret that directly affects you. Now you have finally learned the truth, and it's upsetting.  Think of people in your life that have lied to you or kept something from you that directly affects you.

One thing about us as a people though, we looooove to tell people to get some knowledge and educate themselves.  It's like our favorite thing to do.

So being disrespectful and mad at someone for attaining understanding and knowledge of one's self and one's history is kind of ridiculous.

Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover up for evil; live as God's slaves.  Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor. 1 Peter 2:16

Whether you celebrate or not, that's up to you.  I can think of plenty of things to celebrate, one being the freedom of gaining knowledge.  I can celebrate all the things that God has freed us from.  I can celebrate the wonderful family that He's blessed us with ( even if those tinier ones are running me ragged).  I can celebrate life and I can do that all day, every day.  If one of those days is Independence day, then so be it. 

God (Please) Bless America.

2 Corinthians 3:17

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

The weekend with Rudy Bridges

In a previous post,What Are We Learning During Black History Month?, I talked about how we should make the effort to learn about black history all the time vs the one month out of the year.  Well, that's exactly what we started doing at our church.  After we had our Black History program in February, we've been continuing to learn about black history throughout the year.  We dress up as someone in history and have a "guess who" type thing, some people read or write poems,  and we'll do plays and skits. 

The message, of course, is to learn about your history and to not let the color of your skin hinder you from all that you can accomplish.  People back then might not have known how things were going to change but they had to believe that there was a higher power that was going to deliver them from the oppression and cruelty they faced.

Yesterday, I let Cate have a turn.  I'll admit I've been a little slack with getting more people involved but we are still going.  We decided to let her be Rudy Bridges.  I surfed the web for pictures and inspiration and saw these:

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I tried to take inspiration from the real pic but we didn't have a gray skirt or dress.  We ended up looking more like the picture on the story book but with pigtails.

 

So here we are!  Little Rudy Bridges! 

 

 She already had this little white "little house on the prairie" dress.  I actually love it.  My husband, not so much.  He says it looks like an old slave dress, especially in some pictures we took by an old railroad depot.  I thought it fit perfectly with what we were trying to do, so I'm glad we still had it.  I found one of my old pink cardigans to wear over the dress.  Despite it being too hot outside, she didn't complain.  The hubs wasn't crazy about those socks and shoes either. LOL.  Clearly, little Rudy Bridges didn't have on socks and open toe sling backs but we improvised.  I think we did pretty good.

She was escorted down the middle of the church by the ushers. ( The US Marshalls)  When she made it to front she sat her "school bag" down and read this from an index card.

"People were yelling and throwing things, but I didn't cry.  Mama told me to pray on the way to school to protect me.  Only one teacher would teach me.  I was the first black child to attend an all white elementary school in the south.  Who am I?"

She did very good.  She's shy like me so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. 

What I wish I had a picture of to show you was our Pastor dressed as Harriet Tubman.  Now that was sight, especially when she is always dolled up.  I couldn't take a picture because I was introducing the acts and didn't have my camera.  However, that was a good one.  We've had a lot of participation in the church and everyone had gotten really creative coming up with ideas.  We've had Michele Obama escorted by security, Thurgood Marshall,  Madame C J Walker, Gwendolyn Brooks and many more. I am currently working on a skit for the little rock nine.  Of course, most of us older folks know about these things but we need to educate the younger generations and also let them know that God was the one that created the vision in the people, led the people, and delivered them.

"Same God right now.  Same God back then!" 

 

 

 

What Are We Learning During Black History Month?

Fred Shuttlesworth,(1922-2011), was the pastor of the Birmingham, Alabama First Baptist Church who worked alongside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He organized the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights in 1956 and also helped head the movement to integrate Birmingham's schools, offices, and public facilities. This was my latest facebook status as I had declared to not only educate myself and family but all of my facebook world on the great African Americans in history throughout the month. I would highlight many of the achievements and accomplishments of African Americans throughout these glorious 28 days while we as a people celebrated our heritage and African pride.

And then, what? What happens when those 15 minutes of fame are up? Will we as a nation continue to strive and educate ourselves on the great discoveries, oppressions, and injustices of our people or will our interest wane as we prepare for the next more interesting cause or holiday? Probably the latter. I haven't posted a facebook black history status in 10 days, not that I haven't been gathering information, but simply because I had not had the "time." Why, there's the problem. We simply don't have "time" or so we think.

We seem to treat black history month as a distant passer-by rather than a crucial innate part of our own being. We tend to forget the arduous labor that black people had to suffer just to merely exist in society. We forget the sweat, the blood, and tears that they shed and are still shedding which we seemingly take for granted by our everyday nonchalance. Maybe if we didn't, we would take health more seriously, education more seriously, life more seriously.

And just what exctly does black history month teach our children? I've learned about Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks probably every year since kindergarten. Not that they were not astounding individuals and were blessed to have overcome such obstacles, but who else is there? What else is there? What are they learning not through the textbook but through our everyday behaviors and interactions with others. Look at black and white relationships today. Are some closer? Are we farther apart? Why? Are we bringing forth a positive image of African Americans and an understanding of our culture and heritage? We should really sit and ponder these questions and examine what we may be teaching the future generations, black and white.

Black History Month should not just be a month where you can find a surplus of movies on tv, co-starring or casting a host of African Americans actors and actresses. It shouldn't just be a month where we finally display an array of African American books on tables and classrooms shelves. It shouldn't just be this month where discussions are open and welcome. It should be an integrated, continued part of our lifestyles and our living, throughout our days and throughout all of our years. Because Black history is American history and the world wouldn't be the same without it.