Tag: African American

The Legacy of Martin Luther King

Martin Luther King is being honored today across the US.  MLK is a trending topic on social media, news outlets are rehashing stories about the Civil Rights movement and publicizing community events to honor the fallen leader.  Martin Luther King’s story is amazing and absolutely heroic.  But I feel like his legacy is being tarnished and Whitewashed.

Martin Luther King was a man that was beaten and imprisoned because of his protests against a tyrannical White supremacist government.  He was a Black man that fought for the rights of Black people and was surely motivated by concerns about the future of his own Black family.  He put everything on the line and died for his people. His movement was successful and created real and positive changes for Black Americans.

But we in America still live in a White supremacist, European centered culture.  Everything has to be not only accessible to Whites but centered around them.  That is made very clear by the historical retelling of MLK’s life.  He is said to be a man that wanted to bring the races together and bring about harmony in America.  He is also portrayed as a Confucius like figure.  I think that narrative is a lie to get White Americans to buy into his legacy.

First of all when you talk about race relations in America you need to think of hammers and nails.  Whites are the hammers.  Blacks are the nails.  The hammers like to act as though there is an ongoing disagreement between two parties on equal footing.  That has not been the case.  Blacks have been getting hammered since the origins of this country and the Civil Rights movement just asked to give Blacks a break.  Give them a shot at the chance to pursue happiness.

When mainstream media talks the accomplishments and goals of Dr. King they act as if he simply wanted Black and White people to hold hands and sing kumbaya together.  He was not the simpleton that history and the mainstream media make him out to be.  He was a freedom fighter for Black American people that had suffered centuries of oppression in the US.

He fought for displaced people that did not truly have a country of their own.  He fought for descendants of African slaves that were prisoners of this country.  Dr. King did not fight and die simply so Blacks could have White friends or land a date with a non Black person which is the story that is being sold across the world today through the American media and American public schools.

The same thing has happened to Nelson Mandela.  He was a brave freedom fighter that fought for Black people in South Africa and won basic rights.  Mandela is also being marketed as a Black man that dreamed of a rainbow nation and wanted to bring about so called racial reconciliation.  This version of history is a lot easier for White people to digest because they are not confronted with their own past.

Since Donald Trump was elected as president in the US I have observed that the media sympathizes with racist notions that affirm White supremacy.  The media typically portrays Whites as heroes or victims.  The stories of the Civil Rights movement can not be accurately told and still portray Whites as heroes or victims.  So the truth is being rewritten.

This disingenuous retelling of history is damaging to all Americans.  There is no way that White supremacist ideas will ever change if they are not confronted.  White Americans refuse to do the soul searching necessary to bring about the cultural changes necessary to bring about the racial reconciliation that they pay lip service to every year.

It’s also dangerous to Black people because it gives them the message that your prosperity lies in other communities.  Most African Americans do not really want to be independent from White tyranny and they don’t believe that Black communities can be self sufficient.  The bogus retelling of history reinforces the notion that Black people need other communities, especially Whites to survive.

I’m very unsure of what is being taught in American schools today.  But I urge everyone to seek out information on the American Civil Rights movement.  Remember to focus your attention of the Black community because those are primarily the people that stood up to American authoritarianism and made modest gains in order to improve their lives, communities and the futures of their children.  As a Black American woman I am grateful for their struggle.

Sick and Tired of Hostility Towards Christians

I use social media frequently and one of the most vocal groups that I regularly encounter are African Americans that are very critical of Christianity.  Believing in Jesus Christ is a choice and it is a valid decision to not follow Christ.  I understand that everyone has different opinions and different experiences that makes them come to certain conclusions.  I respect everyone’s right to choose their own spiritual path and I expect to be respected the same way.  I don’t think that my belief in Jesus Christ is doing anything to harm anyone else and I should not have to defend or explain myself.  But that’s what I’m going to do now.

When I was a freshman in college at Eastern Michigan University I was given a small copy of the New Testament.  I read it in my dorm room that year.  It made a big impression on my heart and I haven’t been the same since.  I’m so glad that the Word of God was presented to me at that point in my life.

I grew up going to church but it wasn’t a great experience for me.  It was not traumatic or harmful, it was just long and boring and I went every Sunday.  When I was growing up there were not the type of Children’s Church that are common now.  My mother was met with resistance every Sunday morning when it was time for church.  I was much more interested in staying home and watching “The Jetsons” and “Fame”.  As an adult I am very grateful to my mom for getting me in church and letting me know that there is a God named Jesus and He is the savior of my soul.  In retrospect the Sunday morning ritual was a great challenge to my intellect.  Being confronted with the concepts of God, the Devil, life, death, heaven, hell and salvation gave me a lot to contemplate as a young girl.

The church that I attended as a child was a very large, old stone building with tall ceilings and stained glass windows that went up to the ceiling.  It was beautiful.  The pastor was a serious looking dude that wore a preacher’s robe every Sunday.  He is a pretty well known.  The church was filled every Sunday and there was even an over flow parlor with folding chairs when the pews were all seated with men in suits and ladies with large hats.

The Bible that I had access to as a child was a King James version.  I tried to read it when I was in elementary school without much success.  There were too many other things around me that were much more appealing and interesting than the Bible.  After a few false starts at trying to read the Bible during childhood I didn’t try it again until I was given the copy of the New Testament that day on campus.

My childhood experiences with Christianity were confusing but I wasn’t convinced.  That’s why reading the Bible while I was in college and since then has been valuable. to me.  The Bible has revealed many answers to questions that I had and still have.  Conviction and revelation is there for the taking if you want it.  You just have to tune out the rest of the world, open your heart and mind and read the Bible.

The Bible teaches that Jesus came into the world to cleanse all of our sins and save all of our souls regardless of race.  The African American, anti Jesus crowd would like to convince all Black Americans that salvation is for everyone else but us.  God loves everyone but us.  They don’t know anything about the word of God and they speak nothing but foolishness based on the actions of men.

Its true that the U.S. has always claimed to be a Christian nation but at the same time they treated Black people like animals and declared them a fraction of a human being.  Today America claims to be a Christian nation but the demonize the poor instead of trying to feed and employ the poor.  The U.S. has never really been the Christian nation that they have claimed to be.  But the African American, anti-Jesus, social media crowd is use to following the actions of men instead of the actions of God.

The critics of Christianity need to learn about the Word of God and stop judging God based on the actions of flawed men and women with short comings and insecurities.  That’s what people mean when they speak of a personal relationship with God.  Every man and woman that can read can learn about God’s word for him or herself.  It is important for Christians to be a part of a good church but it is not imperative for Christians to hang off of every word a preacher says.  It is more important to learn about God’s word for yourself and let it work on your heart and mind.

Furthermore all this foolishness about Jesus being a White man’s god is just plain stupid.  You don’t even need to know the Bible that well to know that.  Anyone that is familiar with Christmas carols knows that Jesus is from Bethlehem and that’s a long way from Europe.  I guess the Black American, anti-Jesus crowd is fixated on the art work that the Catholic church produced.  But truthfully speaking, any culture would make their God look like them.  I have a picture of a Black Jesus hanging up in my bed room.

All of these anti Christian people on social media are frightening.  They don’t seem to be in favor of much accept not worshipping Christ.  They are particularly focused on tithing.  Tithing is cut and dried so there is not much controversy there if you believe that the Bible has merit.

The anti Jesus Blacks love to claim how much money gets collected in Black churches every Sunday and then they ask what gets done with the money.  They love to imply that the pastors misuse the funds for personal gain.  I don’t claim to know anything about the pastor’s personal finances but the churches I’ve been involved with have all fed people, did community outreach projects and helped church members with personal matters.  I’ve only been to two churches in my life that made me uncomfortable.  I simply chose not to go back.  It’s that simple.

I fear that a lot of Black Americans will be led away from the Bible based on all the false teaching that get circulated on social media.  Someone will tell them don’t listen to the Bible.  Listen to me.  Don’t give your money to your church.  Give your money to me.  And so many Black American people will be led astray by simple minded, emotional blackmail false teaching.  Black Americans are a small but influential part of the American population.  Despite what people are led to believe about Black people we are mostly a conservative and spiritual (mostly Christian) demographic.  If we all become completely Godless or begin worshipping false Gods.  It will not be good.

African Americans need to understand that anti Blackness doesn’t just come from one direction.  It pretty much comes at us from all directions and from many cultures.  If Blacks think that they will find acceptance from middle eastern and north African cultures I think that they are going to be sorely disappointed.  I grew up in the Detroit area which has a large Arabic population.  The Arabs in metro Detroit are known for looking down on Blacks.

For me this comes down to respect.  I respect your choice to worship Allah, (who isn’t African either) or your Egyptian sun god, your Druid God or whatever.  I really wish people would respect my belief in my Savior.  There will come a day when we will all know who is right and who is wrong.  We could all at least be civil while we are waiting.