“William Edward Burghardt Dubois was one of the greatest intellectuals, bar none, that America has ever produced. During his long productive lifetime, he not only analyzed, critiqued and documented the Black experience, his personal stature, power of thought and commitment to change helped to actually transform American society. DuBois noted that the Black church was the only social institution amongst Blacks which was started in Africa and which helped Black Americans to survive the horrors and hostile, vicious violence of American slavery. In preserving many aspects of African cultural life, the Black church, through the presence of its ‘holy men’ and ‘medicine men’ protected, guided and helped to develop and educate Africa’s children in bondage.” “Basic to the African tradition is the belief that there is no separation between the ‘spiritual world’ and the individual’s on-going daily life. The Black ‘church’, thusly, sees as its responsibility the betterment of Black people’s lives on this earth, today. Historically, the focal point of Black protest against enslavement and racial oppression, as well as the call for a critical examination of our concrete conditions, in fact, has always been centered in the church (religion). From Denmark Vessey to Nat Turner to Sojourner Truth to Harriet Tubman to Marcus Garvey to Malcolm X to Martin Luther King, Jr.., Black people have always recognized the contradiction between our spiritual essence and the societal conditions (slavery, oppression, etc…) which attempted to deny and fight against the righteousness of our proper position in God’s world.” Wade W. Nobles and Lawford L. Goddard “Understanding the Black Family: A Guide for Scholarship and Research” Page vi
Posted on: Mon, 04 Aug 2014 08:08:37 +0000
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