Psalm
138 (paraphrase) I give
you thanks, O God, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing your praise; I
bow down facing your holy temple, and give thanks for your steadfast love and
your faithfulness; for you have exalted your name and your word above
everything. On the day I called, you answered, you increased my strength of
soul. All the kings of the earth shall praise you, for they have heard the
words of your mouth. Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve me
against the wrath of my enemies; you stretch out your hand, and your right hand
delivers me. Your steadfast love, O God, lasts forever. Do not forsake the work of
your hands.
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Of course what you’ve just heard is the great Paul Robeson
singing “Nobody Knows the Trouble Ive
Seen” - nobody knows but Jesus….
This is black history month. Most of us have a general idea
of the overall history of black life in North America – huge numbers of people
literally stolen from their homes, and transported by ship mostly to the
southern US. Christianity was used to justify immense violations, at the same
time it was used to subjugate people and convince them that the Bible said they
were inferior. We have a general idea of lynchings, murders, slavery – the
civil rights marches, the struggle for equality.
The broader picture we know – but some of the finer parts of
the picture we don’t. It really has not changed as much as we would like to
believe.
All week Ive been reading material posted by friends, about
the history of entire peoples – ripped from their homeland and brought to North
and South America to be slaves for white Europeans. About the living and
working conditions of those people; about the struggle to gain basic human
rights, and then basic civil rights. About people who have had to fight twice
or three times as hard to be recognised – and sometimes, whose work was often
credited to someone else, who was white.
Here is one – the face of Franklin D. Roosevelt which ended
up on the American dime, was done by black artist Selma Burke. She never
received credit for her work.
A modern one - a movie about a black marine who saved several people from the twin towers on 9/11. Except in the movie the hero is white.
Robert Smalls – born into slavery in 1839. He stole a
Confederate military ship in 1862, disguised himself as the captain, managed to
get past Confederate guard using their secret hand signs, rescued more slaves
and their families, escaped to freedom, ran for Congress, and won.
Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson invented portable fax, touch tone
phone, caller ID, call waiting.
Navigation devices or software like google maps – Dr. Gladys
West, inventor of GPS technology.
Dry cleaning invented in 1821 by Thomas Jennings. Jennings
was smart enough to get a patent – amazingly he got it.
Crest toothpaste, Folgers Coffee, Bounce Fabric Softener,
Safeguard soap all created by Dr.Herbert Smitherman – PhD in physical organic
chemistry. Pioneering executive and professional chemist.
Benjamin Banneker, a black architect who was a designer of
the city of Washington, DC – hired by George Washington.
What about Canada? Who knows the name of Violet King Henry –
the first black Canadian to get a law degree in Alberta, the first black person
admitted to the Bar in Alberta, the first black woman to become a lawyer in
Canada.
Or Jean Augustine – tireless worker for human rights and the
first black woman elected to Parliament.
Viola Desmond - a
black Nova Scotia businesswoman who was arrested because she refused to leave
the white section of a theatre in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia – before Rosa Parks
refused to give up a seat on a bus. Viola is now featured on our ten dollar
bill.
Someone will say “But they did that even though they were
black. They had opportunities.” I will answer they did it *in spite* of the
fact that they were black, because they had to fight a system stacked against
them based solely on the colour of their skin and a mistaken belief that white
was superior.
Every one of these people in some way has a connection to
white colonialism in history. Every one of them was more than likely raised in
a church-going home, following the Christian faith which had been brought to
them by white colonials. Religion, faith, has underscored and supported the
experience of black culture, because it’s often been the only way to keep
going.
Well, we can also find endless examples of current violence
against people of colour – but I want to just touch on more subtle things, but
which are all part of a wider picture.
For
example, a black youth jailed for slapping a police officer, is labelled a
*thug* by the media: those same media label a white mass shooter as a *teen*.
Two people – one black, one white, same age. Is it deliberate? I don’t think
so, but its still a subconscious delineation of difference based on skin
colour.
A black male beaten by police during an arrest. The media
immediately points out that he had a conviction for possession of marijuana ten
years before, and suddenly he’s a criminal and the beating is justified – he
deserved it.
Black woman jailed for twenty years for theft of food. White
woman caught shoplifting an expensive jacket
gets a fine and probation.
And it comes right down to the ridiculous – driving and
listening to the radio – a request show, with a request for a recording of
“Nobody Knows”, recognising Black
History Month. The radio host played a recording of white Canadian opera singer
Maureen Forrester singing that. As I drove I thought “Wait a minute…he picks a
white singer?” Names run through my head - Leontyne Price, Jubilant Sykes, Louis Armstrong,
Eartha Kitt, Mahalia Jackson, George Shirley, Simon Estes, Marian Anderson,
Canadian Measha Brueggergosman.
And I knew it wasn’t intentional that it was done that way,
but I am also quite sure there were other recordings available in that studio –
so I asked my black friends if they thought I was over-reacting. They said no,
not over-reacting at all.
As much as great strides were made in civil rights an human rights, we
really aren’t there yet. I read the
Psalm and I can hear the voices of black friends “Though
I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve me against the wrath of my
enemies; you stretch out your hand, and your right hand delivers me. Your
steadfast love, O God, lasts forever.”
On August 28, 1963, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King gave a
famous speech in which he broke from his script and spoke about a dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation
will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these
truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."
I have a dream that one day on the red
hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners
will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state
of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with
the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and
justice.
I have a dream that my four little children
will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their
skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream
today!
I have a dream that one day, down
in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips
dripping with the words of "interposition" and
"nullification" -- one day right there in Alabama little black boys
and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white
girls as sisters and brothers.
I have a dream
today!
I have a dream that one day every valley
shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough
places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight;
"and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it
together. May it be so.
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