j'hiah said:
true.
generalizations as this statement slander those pastors who are not pimps,
churches which progress, and black women who know the difference.
You believe it's sad how they believe all black people look alike, but you're on the same page with them by believing that all churches are alike. lf you don't believe they are all alike, then don't make such silly generalizations.
[/QUOTE=kente417mojo] I think one of the things that stiffle progress for black people is the church, because once you start thinking that God and Jesus will take care of everything, you'll just sit on your butt and wait for them to do it.
Another generalization. What progress are you making by not making honorable mentions of those who, out of black churches, made significant changes for our people. Do you know any christian who believes Jesus will work their 9 to 5? You don't have to be a christian to not believe in your own abilities to do certain things. Man l am hoping you can clarify some things for me b/c l am trying to think you are not a hater of your people, the black church or any black movement. Mention a contribution the black church has made for us, don't just attack it.
ln Mike Tyson's words, this is ludicrous. *picks a name out the air* Tavis Smiley doesn't come to your mind-he's christian. What's wrong with you?? Do you not think before you speak or what? sad. Did an usher slap dat head when u was ackin' bad back then and now you got a grudge? *passes kente a MLK fan so he can cool off *
Who gave up- MLK? Who? Abernathy? Al?
you mean to tell me those churches who gathered to march, vote, sit-in, bleed and die had to wait for God to glide from somewhere in the clouds first? O.K, you are sad and negligent. Wow, l guess l see too many black churches who not only encourage, but are "hands- on" when it comes to business and independent progress of our people. I'll wait for you to get in your right frame of mind.
you are a certified hater of the black church. True, no movement of any religious or non-religious sort was perfect, but they all were not totally bad either. Show credit to those pastors and churches who are for your community and the bringing up of growth on all levels instead of finding every stone under the sun to throw at them.
wow.[/QUOTE]
J'hiah, somewhere along the line we must put into perspective the history of THE BLACK CHURCH in America, and reckon with it's long, long, long history of doing nothing while African Americans were beaten, broiled, burned, and barbecued in those small southern towns, and place it in juxtaposition to its much shorter history of taking a stand beginning in the 1950's... Even then, an E.D. Nixon calculated that he must do an end around the prominent Black preachers in Montgomery, and snatch the young, charismatic, but naive young minister from Ebeneezer, because those "big" Black preachers history was one of keeping African Americans in their place in the scheme of White Supremacy, not of exhorting them to cripple and tear the monster down...
So the Black Church has gotten a great deal of mileage out of the the legacy of Dr. King, and those ministers he led into the fray for the first time 50 years ago, but what of the 150 years before that??? What were they doing??? Were they even about the business of developing business, of developing education and training for African Americans??? That would've sufficed considering our situation in the United States at that time...
Yes, we could sit here naming a great many wonderful African American preachers and ministers just on their preaching skill alone... We could name quite few who have been staunch advocates and preachers of liberation theology, and even some who ventured into politics, and did GREAT things for African Americans and all americans(the later great Adam Clayton Powell, jr), but these are a mere drop in the bucket next to all of the store front jacklegs who, out of the blue, anointed themselves God's servants...
My concern is not about hating the church, which are those hard-working, everyday African American people, but the pimping prophets and unholy apostles who throw up a shingle to hear the sound of jingle in their collection plates, and have little concern for their parishoners, and even less for the communities in which those parishoners live in...
J'hiah, you are familiar with Hezekiah Walker??? Well, I know some of the sisters who sing in his choir, and once I engaged them on an article I had read in the NY Daily News featuring his newly aquired mansion... I boldly asked them how they were doing financially, considering how their singing had been instrumental in helping their minister aquire that mansion... They told me flat out that he didn't pay them a dime, and that they were happy simply to sing in his choir, wear those custom robes, and to go on those all-expenses paid road trips with the brother(smile!)
Now, you see, that is part of the problem, as previously mentioned... Our failure to challenge these guys to stand and deliver for the community... Hezekiah Walker can't even sing... He needs those beautiful women in that choir to remain world famous, and they are not demanding anything in exchange for what they are giving to him... It is the same all over the country, in small towns and in big cities, African people fail to understand our own value, and thus get so very little in return for all of the energy and talent we expend... The ONE institution which should serve our entire community does not, and it is our fault that it does not... All it requires is a simple demand, because as Frederick Douglass said, "Power concedes nothing without a demand..." YOU, J'hiah, wont demand from your preacher what is due your community, and that is what we are protesting, your silence...
Yes, we could say a lot of sweet wonderful things about the church, but people like you are fulfilling that role already, and what has it gotten us???(smile!)
Peace!
Isaiah