Black churches/Black History libraries

" ...where is a better place for Our children to learn to appreciate scholarship than the Black Church?"

Dear friends,

Black churches need to play a strong role in Our community building. The Black church is the oldest institution that We have. Beginning in the holds of enslavers' ships through chattel slavery, manumission, and the series of freedom movements that have led up to this point for African Americans, the Black church has been there.

Unfortunately, too often today, Black churches seem to betray the mission of Our predecessors. There are far too few activities that deal with Our liberation, such as church folks freeing captive workers (so-called slaves) during chattel slavery to helping out with marches and breakfast programs and such as they did in the Sixties and Seventies, and helping to lead the fight against apartheid in the Eighties. Too much concentration is on “being saved” and using the word “God” in every other sentence as some type of password. Many folks are even using religion as a narcotic - like heroin or cocaine; a common refrain from them is: "I'm high on Jesus!". (Please remember, Our spirituality should be a vitamin - not a drug.)

Also, having “fellowship” is another term that is being bandied about these days. I went to a church, quite recently, whose Sunday program sheet read at the bottom, after the hymns and prayers listed: Worship ends, Service begins. Unfortunately, and shamefully, this was not in a Black church.

Black preachers must imitate the life of the historical Jesus who fed the hungry and healed the sick - physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. The latter did not just sit around and pray. He "worked" for change. During 1963, in his now famous Letter From Birmingham Jail, Dr. Martin Luther King wrote, in part:

"There was a time when the church was very powerful in the time when the early Christians rejoiced at being deemed worthy to suffer for what they believed. In those days the church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society. Whenever the early Christians entered a town, the people in power became disturbed and immediately sought to convict the Christians for being "disturbers of the peace" and "outside agitators"' But the Christians pressed on, in the conviction that they were "a colony of heaven," called to obey God rather than man. Small in number, they were big in commitment. They were too God-intoxicated to be "astronomically intimidated." By their effort and example they brought an end to such ancient evils as infanticide. and gladiatorial contests. Things are different now. So often the contemporary church is a weak, ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound. So often it is an archdefender of the status quo. Far from being disturbed by the presence of the church, the power structure of the average community is consoled by the church's silent and often even vocal sanction of things as they are.
But the judgment of God is upon the church as never before. If today's church does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church, it will lose its authenticity, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning for the twentieth century. Every day I meet young people whose disappointment with the church has turned into outright disgust.

Perhaps I have once again been too optimistic. Is organized religion too inextricably bound to the status quo to save our nation and the world? Perhaps I must turn my faith to the inner spiritual church, the church within the church, as the true ekklesia and the hope of the world. But again I am thankful to God that some noble souls from the ranks of organized religion have broken loose from the paralyzing chains of conformity and joined us as active partners in the struggle for freedom, They have left their secure congregations and walked the streets..."

While Dr. King's "letter" was largely directed towards white/European American clergy, today, these words, very much, apply to most African American clerics across the nation, as well. That is a fact that should bring a feeling of shame to many who call themselves ecclesiastics. The Black Church has the power to change things! It is not up to "God" to make this world better. After all, if it is, then why does "He" need clerics

At any rate, Our church facilities should be open to Our youth, so that they can study Our history (with no membership or attendance at the particular church required). Resources like the great Charles Blockson collection, community activists, and college professors can contribute tremendously to making this happen.

A major problem with fighting against Our oppression and becoming a community lies with the fact that We are often Our own worst enemies, because of Our self-hatred. That is, from African American bank tellers who treat Us differently than other customers to drive-by shootings, both feelings and acts of self-hatred make it difficult for either African American men or women to form genuinely loving relationships of any kind, much less encourage Our youth to get along with each other. We must learn to love Ourselves and Our fellows.

Note: "Love", as it were, is only of any use as an "act of being" as opposed to a "state of being". That means that love is only effective as a verb - not a noun. In other words, in this society, love, as a "state of being", is a passive experience that we hear about through so many cheap songs on the radio and see on tv soap operas. However, as an "act of being", love means that people are "actively" loving towards one another. Consequently, love should be an active, not passive, practice of caring about, being concerned for, concentrating on, and feeling responsible towards not just Our mates, but Our work, and Our communities, as well. Besides, when love is passive, it doesn't last long, because it is just a "mood". To be sure, moods change, all of the time. Hence, the serial polygamy practiced by so many of those involved with the institution of marriage and other "love" relationships, in this country.

Still, the cultural institutions in Our society lend to the aforementioned self-hatred that is practiced amongst Us. Literature and images in schools, the arts, and, especially, the government- and corporate-controlled media deliberately perpetuate this indignity too. For example, showcasing groups like Men United For A Better Philadelphia are, apparently, made up of wonderful people. However, the idea that the violence among African American youth is largely the result of a lack of jobs and gun possession may be missing the point, which is: Lack of both social and historical conscience is at the bottom of Our dilemma.

That lack of conscience is no accident. The great Marcus Garvey pointed out: "This propaganda of dis-associating Western Negroes from Africa is not a new one. For many years white propagandists have been printing tons of literature to impress scattered Ethiopia, especially that portion within their civilization, with the idea that Africa is a despised place, inhabited by savages, and cannibals, where no civilized human being should go, especially black civilized human beings." - (please see Philosophy & Opinions of Marcus Garvey, edited by Amy Jacques-Garvey)

Additionally, in that context, long before Garvey, Dr. W.E.B. DuBois wrote: "The discovery of personal whiteness among the world's peoples is a very modern thing...The ancient world would have laughed at such a distinction...by emphasis and omission to make children believe that every great thought the world ever knew was a white man's thought, every great deed the world ever did was a white man’s deed..."darkies" are born beasts of burden...Such degrading of men by men is as old as man and the invention of no one race or people...It has been left, however, to Europe and to modern days to discover the eternal worldwide mark of meanness -color!" - "The Souls of White Folks",

Education, of course, is something that you get for yourself. It is NOT something that someone gives to you. Notwithstanding, the Black church should be the place where young people in Our community can get helpful knowledge and ideas, along with developing useful skills. The schools will, ultimately, follow, if Our churches show them the way. Our young should know that the adults of the community will provide the type of environment where their minds can develop in a manner that will make them be able to control their destinies. Therefore, for Our youth, We must all embrace the old Nigerian proverb that goes, “If you pick a good tree to climb, I will help lift you up.” Moreover, where is a better place for Our children to learn to appreciate scholarship than the Black Church?

G. Djata Bumpus