Fade to Black

Let me bring light to the darkness.  I’m proud that part of my ancestry can be traced back to the dark continent.  I’ve always had a fascination with anything and everything related to Africa–from the Pyramids of Egypt, to its colossal wealth of natural resources.  Though I hated the narrative of my ancestor’s enslavement, I loved the narrative of our strength to succeed over so many odds.  I’m delighted to know that our influence on pop culture has illuminated throughout the country, even though many called us “darkie”.  In light of our fight to be accepted for centuries, I embrace our dark skin.  My penmanship extends a hand, and a hug.

To find your value when so many say you aren’t worth a penny, I could imagine…has to be challenging.  To not be admitted to any educational system, I envision, could cripple your psyche.  For one to claim you as sub-human, but give you a contract with Nike–that relationship can’t be too inviting.  Invite me to your local church, and watch me give birth to jazz, blues, rock-n-roll, soul, and hip hop.  We felt lost in a strange land; getting beat by a strange hand.  But, Amazing Grace found us.  Amazing Grace even found those who manipulated us, raped our women, and violated our minds.  Now that’s true love, that can only be provided by the Man above.  But, there’s no crime in loving yourself, or defending yourself.  I applaud the Black Panther Party, and other individuals and organizations, who promote self worth and self defense.  We were proud to be black because of James Brown, and we, unapologetically, proclaimed it.  My problem lies with those who desire to self exclude, and segregate us from others, from a social and religious perspective.  How can we express our disapproval of the white man’s practices–march and lose our lives, then turn around, and do the same thing to them (whites), they’ve been doing to us and others?  How is that right?  How is that love?  I, unquestionably, believe in God.  I won’t acknowledge a white god or a black god, unless they happen to walk on water.  People are so entangled in the color of Jesus, they miss the whole artistic picture God created.  Some blacks don’t want to worship a white Jesus, because He said He was God.  Yet, 5%’ers call themselves gods.  Black supremacy is just as villainous as white supremacy.  Just because the oldest human remains were found in Africa, doesn’t make us better than any other group of people.  Just because it’s reported we’re the original man (first on Earth) doesn’t give us the RIGHT to call ourselves gods.  That’s WRONG.  Adolph Hitler thought the Aryan nation was also superior.  We all know that ideology was concocted from the hot pit of hell.  God has no color and has no partiality toward any individual, or any group of people.  God loves us all the same.

Being that God loves us all, equally, what right does that give us to pound our chest, or give glory to ourselves, when that Glory clearly belongs to God?  God will never have you segregate yourself from another group of people because of the color of their skin.  God wanted the Jews to set themselves apart, only because other groups (of people), at the time, worshiped idol gods.  God knew, if His people, worshiped idol gods, it would take their attention off of Him (God).  Even in that case, they were never told to hate, belittle, or degrade others.  The greatest display of God’s love is contained in one verse:  “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son–that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life”.  It does NOT read:  “For God so loved [Blacks/Whites/Hispanics/Asians/Jews/]”.  God loves ALL people of the world.  Jesus died for everyone–Jews and Gentiles.  Satan wants to create division among various people groups, and engineer our minds to hate one another.  We have an abundance of similarities, as opposed to only 2 or 3 differences.  Don’t let the bitter taste of hate influence your words, or past actions influence your behavior.  I love my people, but I won’t adopt any philosophy from my culture, or anyone else’s culture, that expresses hate or segregation.  Some worship their culture, and ancestry as idol gods.  They’d rather be a servant to their ethnicity, than to God.  Why do I have to worship a man with a falcon’s head (Horus) to prove or confirm my blackness to other black folk??  God knew my ethnicity before I did.  As a believer of Christ, my ethnic background must take a backseat to the Father of all ethnicities.  My culture, I’m not ashamed of that.  But, in comparison to my loyalty to Christ, my blackness must fade to back.