truth humbles us all

Truth humbles us all.

Message to Ethiopia

A Message to Ethiopia 1Woe to the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia: 2That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters, saying, Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation scattered and peeled, to a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled! 3All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye. 4For so the LORD said unto me, I will take my rest, and I will consider in my dwelling place like a clear heat upon herbs, and like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest. 5For afore the harvest, when the bud is perfect, and the sour grape is ripening in the flower, he shall both cut off the sprigs with pruning hooks, and take away and cut down the branches. 6They shall be left together unto the fowls of the mountains, and to the beasts of the earth: and the fowls shall summer upon them, and all the beasts of the earth shall winter upon them. 7In that time shall the present be brought unto the LORD of hosts of a people scattered and peeled, and from a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden under foot, whose land the rivers have spoiled, to the place of the name of the LORD of hosts, the mount Zion.

Seeds of perseverance

Perseverance is about carrying on despite not perceiving any tangible results. Grass seed sprouts in a few days. Oak trees or sequoias take decades. Know the seeds that you sow; sow them well; and let nature have its way.

Proverbs 3:31-35

"31 Do not envy the oppressor, And choose none of his ways; 32 For the perverse person is an abomination to the Lord, But His secret counsel is with the upright. 33 The curse of the Lord is on the house of the wicked, But He blesses the home of the just. 34 Surely He scorns the scornful, But gives grace to the humble. 35 The wise shall inherit glory, But shame shall be the legacy of fools."-Proverbs 3:31-35

THE NEGRO IN THE AMERICAN REBELLION...TAPS...

"And thus are Afric's injured sons The oppressor's scorn abating, And to the world's admiring gaze Their manhood vindicating." The above couplets were written by William Wells Brown, a former slave from St. Louis, Missouri, who was taught to read and write, largely, by martyred abolitionist Rev. Elijah Parish Lovejoy, for whom he had worked as a copy boy, according to THE NARRATIVE OF WILLIAM WELLS BROWN. Rev. Lovejoy is famously remembered as the publisher of The Alton Observer, and Presbyterian preacher in Alton, Illinois, who was shot in the back in 1837, while attempting to defend his fourth press from destruction by a Missouri mob of slaveholders that objected to his newspaper's antislavery content. Tonight, I finished William Wells Brown's THE NEGRO IN THE AMERICAN REBELLION (1867). I was delighted to learn that William Still, Esq of Philadelphia, author and organizer of THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD was Brown's "friend." Still's. two young daughters were light-skinned, and dark-skinned. Brown recounts an amusing anecdote of them in his chapter on "caste." I am currently reading Still's classic, THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD (1877) now, so their friendship affirms and reinforces my reading. Having finished Alexander Pope's epic poem AN ESSAY ON MAN (1848), last week, I was doubly surprised to read that "I had a copy of Pope's poems, and was trying to read 'The Essay on Man,' but almost failed on account of the severity of the sun' in the same chapter on "caste" in Wells Brown's wonderful book. The couplets quoted above are from Wells Brown's final chapter, "Sixth Regiment United States Volunteers." It is the final poem in this great book, which is chock-full of interesting newspaper, eyewitness, military record, and literary accounts of the gallantry and heroism of black soldiers in the American Civil War, the first such to be written. I cannot commend this exquisitely written, 380-page work strongly enough to your reading!

THE NATURAL GENESIS...EXCERPT

"A mason in Egyptian is 'Makh' (Makht), and 'Ma' has an earlier form for rule and measure. Also the goddess of rule and measure had a prior personification in 'Makha' (or Menkha), who came into these islands as 'Macha,'the wife of Nevy, whether accompanied by any Masonic mysteries or not. Sen (Eg.) denotes a brother or brotherhood; Sen-sen means to fraternize. Thus derived, the Ma-sen or Makh-sen would be a Brother-Mason of the craft, and the fraternity would be that of 'Ma,' not only as masons, but as that of Truth. The Masonic Brotherhood is founded on "Truth," as one of its primordial tenets; and 'Ma' is Truth. The Initiate is instructed to be true and trusty, and is consecrated to the Truth, which alone is immutable and eternal. This Truth was first founded and expressed by the stone-squarers and polishers in the typology and language of building. Hence the symbols, the square, compasses, and other Masonic emblems." p.180-1, "Typology of the Two Truths," THE NATURAL GENESIS, by Gerald Massey (Black Classic Press, Baltimore MD: 1883, 1998)

"THE PLANTER" RECOVERED!

http://www.greenvilleonline.com/story/news/local/south-carolina/2014/04/17/clues-found-civil-war-ship-commandeered-slave-sc-coast/7815581/ A spectacular recovery! "The Planter" a Confederate steam-powered warship liberated by Robert Smalls, a Charleston, SC slave, and the all black crew, in early morning while its white officers were sleeping ashore, which pilot Smalls sailed past 4 forts, including Sumter and Wagner, and delivered to the surprised Union fleet, under white flag in May 1862, with Smalls' and its crew members slave families aboard, has been found in Charleston Harbor where it sunk after the Civil War. Great recovery!

GET TO KNOW DR. KING, PLEASE

GET TO KNOW DR. KING, PLEASE! Familiarity breeds contempt the saying goes. I find it to be true. Proximity to something, kin to someone, living contemporaneously with something or someone, seduces us into presuming that we know that person or that thing; or, worse yet, that we know all that there is to know about it or them! Such an "I already know" attitude is dangerous, because it turns off the spigot of curiosity and unduly clogs up your informational intake values. Thus with nothing coming in or going out, you pickle yourself in the brine of your own vanity, thinking that you know, what you do not know; both, appearing foolish, and being foolish! One example comes immediately to mind, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, jr. We basically think we know all about him, so we have lowered our guards and our voices, and have allowed others to claim him and his legacy! This African American man is one of the greatest leaders and teachers to ever live, ranking with Jesus, whom he served, Muhammad, whom he respected, and Socrates, Plato and Aristotle whom he quoted. Yet, other folks and their interests that were extraneous to, even antithetical to, the movement for which he lived have laid claim to him as their own. Meanwhile, like dumb oxen we do and say nothing about this open theft! I strongly suspect that our actual and inveterate ignorance about this global icon is the root of our reticence to speak and to fend off these parasites! If it sounds like I am scolding you, Dear Reader, I am not! I am chastising myself for waiting so long to fully appreciate this son of God, to read all of his several books. Only now am I reading, STRENGTH TO LOVE, which he wrote in 1963, which was with him when he died. This anointed saint, for such was he, died for we African Americans, literally and figuratively, still fighting for the economic rights that we yet seek! Dr. King had already won equal Civil Rights in 1964, and Voting Rights in 1965. Economic rights would have been the trifecta , the trilogy, the golden seal. This was what he sought with the Poor People's Campaign and Resurrection City in 1968. But, he was gunned down in Memphis, Tennessee, campaigning for economic justice for 'the least of these,' municipal sanitation workers, who labored, wretchedly, under draconian conditions. Thereafter, others less worthy, who thought they could lead or that they should lead, did no more than to scatter the flock from its fold, making it--us: you, me and progeny--vulnerable to wolves, jackals, lions, tigers, bears, of all genders, and to all manner of predators and disease. Get to know Dr. King, please. Our ultimate redemption depends on it.

CONTINUOUS CREATION

We are renewed continually in our bodies in our environment in our cosmos in our consciousness. Renewal is a continual process of continuous creation. Praise God!

EPHESIANS 4:22-24

that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, 23and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. Ephesians 4:22-24

STOP TALKING. START TAKING.

"Stop talking and start taking. They will not be given ever. That is clear." This is the advice I give to my people who ask me about African American reparations, also legally known as "restitution," for intentional denial of rights, privileges and immunities guaranteed to us by law and God. When they ask 'how,' I tell them to study history and the scriptures for guidance and wisdom, and to be guided by the Holy Spirit, always!

PAY THE PLAYERS!

Anyone who has ever been in business will tell you that two of the greatest expenses are labor and taxes. Without having to pay for labor or taxes, any entrepreneur can become fabulously rich. Southern slaveholders were one example of those who paid neither labor nor taxes. The NCAA, and its member-revenue producing major sports institution is quite another! Student-Athletes deserve to be paid for their services that generate billions of dollars in entertainment value for the NCAA, and its major revenue producing colleges soon!

gravity of understanding

Man is irreparably bound by the gravity of his understanding. Otherwise stated, human understanding or thought presages activity. Therefore, thoughtlessness is madness, being aberrant activity beyond the locus of thought or understanding.

U.S. CONSTITUTION SHOULD HAVE BEEN RE-WRITTEN AFTER THE CIVIL WAR

http://www.lowellsun.com/breakingnews/ci_25612604/retired-justice-proposes-changes-constitution?source=rss The U. S. Constitution should have been scrapped and totally rewritten at the conclusion of the Civil War, without input from traitors or rebels, who had sought the nation's destruction and nearly succeeded! But, black troops and contrabands saved the nation, only to be "re-enslaved" in fact if not in law by the grand Caucasian consensus, which bartered their freedoms and privileges for political power in the North and for exclusive legal, economic and political power in the South. So, for us, the Civil War has never ended! It is still being fought, on many planes and in many ways daily--even right now--appearances to the contrary, notwithstanding! So, this Constitutional Amendments suggestion of Mr. Justice Stevens arrives at a peculiar point in history, and could be used as a wedge to secure that which we have never had: freedom and economic restitution for the prolonged, wrongful denial of "rights" of which we were deprived by Courts, Congress, Presidents, and Custom, since 1866, with interest, the letter of the law having been ignored and that of the Constitution desecrated!

THE ECONOMIC CHALLENGE

THE ECONOMIC CHALLENGE The one major, most regretful failure of the movement in the 1960s and 1970s, was the lack of development of a viable economic component or modus operandi to sustain its onward momentum; to support its "soldiers," planners, leadership, intelligence-gatherers; attorneys, propagandists, artists, musicians, laborers, and staff needed to win. This vulnerability was its downfall. Frankly, this deficiency has yet to be remedied, by any viable economic option, other than donations, sadly. What is needed are regular proceeds from sales of all kinds: quid pro quo. But, that is the rub. Crass criticism of capitalism, and the lack of any alternative economic structure, has stricken and stultified momentum. Until someone or something can solve this economic dilemma practicably, readily, with integrity, we are stuck! That is the challenge. That is our challenge as a people. Confronting and solving that challenge is the missing answer to historic, systemic unemployment and to historic, systemic, purposeful underemployment; that is the answer to many, if not all, ailments that now beset and bedevil our steps daily. It is the unfinished business for all that live of whatever age, gender, education level or demography.

Literalist and Allegorist

Literalist and allegorist I am an allegorist. I look behind patent symbols, and images, to derive deeper, latent meanings. Thus, when I read "Aesop's Fables," I understand that his animals are symbolic principles laden with human meaning, allegories on human life. Similarly, when I look at Egyptian imagery and religious depictions, I draw inferences from those symbolic allusions that speak to universal truths, as expected from the source of civilization, arts, science, religion. To understand a proverb, it is essential to extract the meat from the shell of fiction; to pull the vital nutrients from the excess of dross; to pull hidden messages from apparent messages. Jesus often berated his disciples for being numb-skulls; for failing to grasp his meanings; and for having to explain himself to them repeatedly. On other occasions, Jesus would applaud non-disciples for their depth of perception and perspicacity, as with the Canaanite woman who sought only to eat the crumbs that fell from the Master's table, like dogs, since He was sent only to the Jews, allegedly, and not to others. Literalism, the opposite of allegorism, has its place, surely. But, divine birth is allegory; walking on water is allegory; dividing the Red Sea is allegory; surviving in the belly of a whale for 3 days is allegory or in a fiery furnace or in a lions' den. So also, rising from the dead is allegory. These powerful symbols and tropes are intended to awaken in man tacit insights, and to quicken dormant energies in human consciousness. Others which may be taken literally, and, which should be so taken, like 'love thy neighbor as thy self' or like 'thy shall not kill' are scorned by all. So, the orthodox interpretations of Bible teachings, whether Catholic, Protestant, or other, therefore, consists of a scornful literalism and and of a suppressed allegorism in certain Christian communities. Thus, there have been needless controversies between science and religion, costing many human lives over the ages. Also between religion and literacy, there has been ancient enmity, needlessly and heedlessly to human harm. I am an allegorist like Aesop and like Jesus. You can be, too, they teach.

READING ALL DAY...

Here I stay, all day, yet I feel the dusts of many lands... Teach your children to read and enjoy reading. #Reading improves your vocabulary and allows you to explore a life beyond your own.

A VOICE FROM THE SOUTH...EXCERPT.

"One of the most singular facts about the unwritten history of this country is the consummate ability with which Southern influences, Southern ideas, and Southern ideals, have from the beginning even up to the present day, dictated to and domineered over the brain and sinew of this nation. Without wealth, without education, without inventions, arts, sciences, or industries, without well-nigh every one of the progressive ideas and impulses which have made this country great, prosperous and happy, personally indolent and practically stupid, poor in everything but bluster and self-esteem, the Southerner has nevertheless with Italian finesse and exquisite skill, uniformly and invariably, so manipulated Northern sentiment as to succeed sooner or later in carrying his point and shaping the policy of this government to suit his purposes. Indeed the Southerner is a magnificent manager of men, a born educator. For two hundred and fifty years he trained to his hand a people whom he made absolutely his own in body, mind, and sensibility. He so insinuated differences and distinctions among them, that their personal attachment for him was stronger than for their own brethren and fellow sufferers. He made it a crime for two or three of them to be together in Christ's name without a white man's supervision, and a felony for one to teach them to read even the Word of Life; and yet they would defend his interests with their life and blood; his smile was their happiness, a pat on the shoulder from him their reward. The slightest difference among them in condition, circumstances, opportunities, became barriers of jealousy and disunion. He sowed his blood broadcast among them, then pitted mulatto against black, bond against free, house slave against plantation slave, even the slave of one clan against like slave of another clan; till, wholly oblivious to their ability for mutual succor and defense, having but one sentiment in common, all became myriad systems of repellent forces, having but one sentiment in common, and that their entire subjection to that master hand." P. 101-2, A VOICE FROM THE SOUTH, by Anna Julia Cooper (Oxford: 1892, 1988)

"Nothing" is nomexistent

"Nothing" is nonexistent, a human illusion. There is always something, in apparently "empty" space/time, from which matter is born and to which matter is obedient.

substrate understanding

Look into the heart as far as you can see, then listen and feel for the rest. Understanding the substrate of a thing, its heart, is far more important than flattering its template with your favors, or congratulating your own self's superficial approximations.

resurrection of truth by internet and social media

RESURRECTION OF TRUTH BY INTERNET AND SOCIAL MEDIA Who controls the money no longer determines who controls the message. Therefore, thanks to the Internet, humanity is again free of the censors and dictators of news, information, knowledge, values, wisdom, religion, and the clustering of discrete tastes and interests in accordance with their peculiar desires and perspectives. So, the U.S. Supreme Court can open up all the uber-rich money spigots that it wants in politics. Because the monopolistic impact of mainstream media and publishers, has been decimated by the Internet, it makes no difference how they rule! The untrammeled message of truth is now running free! Their bonds have been broken, along with their bows, and, now, freedom of speech and expression can breathe freely at last! And work the work of Him that sent them, while it is still day. For, surely, again the night will come when no one can work! Life on Earth is diurnal, dark and light, day and night!

MOORISH MASTERPIECE

Juan de Pareja, an enslaved artist strikes a pose of nobility, in this well known painting of himself, done by his master, Velasquez.

SEEDS AND HUMANS

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/04/140418141238.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+%28Latest+Science+News+--+ScienceDaily%29 Seed dormancy is homologous to human dormancy and seed germination is analogous to human germination.

As relates to Easter....

As relates to Easter, I celebrate, proudly, my family's and my ancestors' black Christian roots, unashamedly, also our traditions, and rituals, notwithstanding the catcalls and diatribes of others, of all hues, who were quite obviously neither as blessed nor as beloved as were we as children growing up!

Jah-Jah! Rastafarian Jesus!

Jah-Jah! Rastafarian Jesus!

THE NEGRO IN THE AMERICAN REBELLION...EXCERPT

"A free colored man named Jordan opened, by permission of the commandant of the post at Columbia, Tenn., a school for the blacks. The school went on smoothly till Monday, the 11th instant, when two soldiers of the Eighth Tennessee Cavalry went into the school, and broke it up, but the teacher, being so advised, resumed his labor the next day. But, on the 14th, Messrs. Datty, Porter, White, and others, including soldiers of the Eighth Tennessee, the party headed by White the city constable, proceeded to the classroom, seized the teacher, and brought him under guard to the courthouse, where he received a mock trial. When asked for his authority for teaching a school, Mr. Jordan replied, that Lieut-Col. Brown and Mayor Sawyer... One of the men went out, but was absent for only a moment, when he came in, stating that Major Sawyer could not be found; whereupon Mr. Andrews ordered that the teacher be given twenty-five lashes. And they were administered, the man receiving the scourge like a martyr, telling his persecutors that he was willing to suffer for the right; and that Christ had received the same punishment for the same purpose; and he thought, if he could teach the children to read the Bible so they might learn of heaven, he was doing a good work. To this, a soldier of the Eighth Tennessee said, 'If you want to go to heaven you must pray: you can't get there by teaching the niggers. We can't go to school, and I'll be damned if niggers shall.' "Volumes might be written, recounting the shameful outrages committed at the South since the surrender of Lee. Not satisfied with murders of an individual character, the Southerners have, of late, gone into it more extensively. The first of these took place at Memphis, Tenn., May 4, 1866. A correspondent of Hon. W. D. Kelley, of Philadelphia, said-- 'I have been an eyewitness to such sights as should cause the age in which we live to blush. Negro men have been shot down in cold blood on the streets; barbers at their chairs and in their own shops; draymen on their drays, while attempting to earn an honest living; hotel-waiters, while in the discharge of their duties; hackmen, while driving female teachers of negro children to their schools; laborers, while handling cotton on the wharves &c. All the negro school houses, and all the negro churches, and many of the houses of the negroes have been burned, this too, under the immediate auspices of the city police and the mayor: in fact, most of these outrages were committed by the police themselves, -- all Irish and all rebels and mostly drunk. This is not the half: I have no heart to recount the outrages I have seen. The most prominent citizens stand on the streets, and see negroes hunted down and shot, and laugh at it as a good joke. Attempts have been made to fire every government building, and fires have been set to many of the abodes, and business-places of Union people. 'There is no doubt but that there is a secret organization sworn to purge the city of all Northern men who are not rebels, all negro teachers, all Yankee enterprise, and return the city to the good ole days of Southern rule and chivalry.'" P.348-350, "Ill Treatment of Colored People," THE NEGRO IN THE AMERICAN REBELLION, by William Wells Brown (1867)

TO WHOM ALL PRAISES ARE DUE

TO WHOM ALL PRAISES ARE DUE It is easier to congratulate than it is to emulate; that is why so many do it. Emulation requires energy and drive. Congratulations just a simple "high five." That is why so many do it. Giving credit where it is due is a wonderful trait; equally honorable is you fulfilling your fate. Different gifts and talents are given to men; be they alien, family or friend. Discover your gift and perfect it; then others will praise you, so expect it. And when your plaudits come, deflect each single one; to God to whom all praises are due; to God to whom all praises are due.

CONGRESSIONAL "CONSERVATIVES" PROTECT WHITE TERRORISTS

"Conservative"--ie, racist--members of Congress are protecting white supremacists for purposes of political expediency from federal classification as 'terrorists' though they predate Al-Qada by 100 years and have killed many more Americans, since their 1866 founding as the Klu Klux Klan and Red Shirts. Their protection dates back to President Andrew Johnson's disarming of black troops, and his 1867 withdrawal of federal troops from the South, along with the scrapping of "Reconstruction" by Congress and the Courts! SPLC report: Users of leading white supremacist web forum responsible for many deadly hate... www.splcenter.org

STRENGTH TO LOVE....EXCERPT

"Nonconformity per se contains no saving value and may represent in some circumstances little more than a form of exhibitionism. Paul in the latter half of the text offers a formula for constructive nonconformity: 'Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind.' Nonconformity is creative when it is controlled and directed by a transformed life and it is constructive when it embraces a new mental outlook. By opening our lives to God in Christ we become new creatures. This experience, which Jesus spoke of as the new birth, is essential if we are to be transformed nonconformists and freed from the cold hardheartedness and self-righteousness so often characteristic of nonconformity.... "Only through an inner spiritual transformation do we gain the strength to fight vigorously the evils of the world in a humble and loving spirit. The transformed nonconformist, moreover, never yields to the passive sort of patience that is an excuse to do nothing. And this very transformation saves him from speaking irresponsible words that estrange without reconciling and from making hasty judgments that are blind to the necessity of social progress. He recognizes that social change will not come overnight, yet he works as though it is an imminent possibility." P.17-18, "Transformed Nonconformist" STRENGTH TO LOVE, by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (Fortress Press, Minneapolis MN: 1963, 2010)

SESHAT. ONE REMARKABLE WOMAN.

http://www.crystalinks.com/seshat.html

JACKIE ROBINSON'S REAL LEGACY....

Lifting up Jackie Robinson, is tantamount to lifting a scalp off the skull of black America's spirit of self-determination, whose demise began with the dissolution of the Negro Leagues baseball in 1947, when Jackie was signed from KC's Monarch's; and which was followed up with the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, et. al,, decision in 1954, which eventually destroyed black schools, families, teachers, communities, nationwide! Both organized baseball and black schools, were bases of our black economic and civic pride and power, which employed thousands upon thousands, and which were the ties that defined and binded. Our people, ever intent on absolute freedom and equality under law, mis-perceived these dissolutions of black community pillars and foundations to be great advances, as they were often reassured by apparent 'leaders,' who they presumed to have their best interests at heart. Unfortunately, these 'leaders' ultimately were using blacks as others' foils, few realizing that once the economic and civic foundations were gone, so, too, was the black community. This is reflected today in so many horrible ways that hurt! History speaks of our tenacity, and resilience, even in the smiling face of deceit, as this. Call upon that well-spring of love, creativity, faith, and toughness to restore what was lost!

Maat is order; Isfet is chaos; their synthesis yield balance.

2 hours ago loveliness and intelligence Maat Hotep" Do Maat and Live! ! ! Ma’at is a female goddess who represents justice and balance. This goddess is often seen with an Ankh (the symbol of life); however, she can also be seen sitting or standing with outstretched wings. She can almost always be identified by a large ostrich feather sitting on top of her head. This feather has come to symbolize her being as well as the representation of the concepts of balance and order. The goddess was more than just a goddess. She came to represent the concept of balance and order because many Egyptians needed to explain the balance of the world around them. Everything about their culture was centered on order and everything had its place in the world. This included religion, governmental affairs, and seasonal changes. The opposing force was chaos, also known in ancient terms as isfet. This opposing force, together with Ma’at’s order, brought about a balance in Egyptian life. To illustrate this concept, the Ancient Egyptians considered the desert around the Nile to be chaotic; whereas, the area around the Nile was considered orderly. Together, these two forces brought balance to the world in which they lived. This balance was important and part of everyday Egyptian life. Pharaohs also practiced this god’s concept of order during their reign. Pharaohs were expected to practice Ma’at, which meant it was their job to keep their nation in a state of order. This meant building temples, making offerings to the gods, keeping enemies at bay, and making honest decisions. Anything else was considered chaos and disorder. The people of Egypt believed that through Ma’at, the pharaoh kept Egypt stable and orderly. To some pharaohs, Ma’at was so intertwined into their kingdoms that some pharaohs changed their staffs’ names to accommodate this god. For example, the pharaoh Amenhotep III had his Principal’s name changed to Neb-Maat-Ra, meaning “lord of truth is Ra.” This name association with the Goddess Ma’at was mainly done during the Fourth Dynasty and shows the devotion to the deity. If the pharaohs strayed from the teachings of Ma’at, chaos would then occur.

INCIDENTS IN THE LIFE OF A SLAVE GIRL...EXCERPT

I have never read James Joyce's "Ulysses," nor any other stream of consciousness-type of writer other than that of Carlos Castenada's "Journey to Ixland," that I can now recall. Even so, it is hard to conceive of anyone out-doing this soul-searing effort by Harriet Jacobs in her 1861 classic INCIDENTS IN THE LIFE OF A SLAVE GIRL (Dover Thrift: 2001): "I thought to myself that I might perhaps never see my daughter again, and I had a great desire that she should look upon me, before she went, that she might take my image with her in her memory. It seemed to me cruel to have her brought to my dungeon. It was sorrow enough for her young heart to know that her mother was a victim of slavery, without seeing the wretched hiding place to which it had driven her. I begged permission to pass the last night in one of the open chambers, with my little girl. They thought I was crazy to think of trusting such a young child with my perilous secret. I told them I had watched her character, and felt sure she would not betray me; and that I was determined to have an interview, and if they would not facilitate it, I would take my own way to obtain it. They remonstrated against the rashness of such a proceeding; but finding they could not change my purpose, they yielded. I slipped through the trap-door into the storeroom, and my uncle kept watch at the gate, while I slipped into the piazza and went upstairs to the room I used to occupy. It was more than five years since I had seen it; and how the memories crowded on me! There I had taken shelter when my mistress drove me from her house; there came my old tyrant to mock, curse and insult me; there my children were first laid in my arms; there I had watched over them each day with a deeper and sadder love; there I had knelt to God, in anguish of heart, to forgive the wrong I had done. How vividly it all came back! After this long, gloomy interval, I stood there such a wreck! "In the midst of my meditations, I heard footsteps on the stairs. The door opened, and my uncle Phillip came in, leading Ellen by the hand. I put my arms around her, and said, 'Ellen, my dear child, I am your mother.' She drew back a little, and looked at me; then, with sweet confidence, she laid her cheek against mine, and I folded her to the heart that had been so long desolated. She was the first to speak. Raising her head, she asked inquiringly, 'You really are my mother?' I told her I really was; that during all the long time she had not seen me, I had loved her most tenderly; and that now she was going away, I wanted to see her and talk with her that she might remember me. With a sob in her voice, she said, 'I'm glad you've come to see me, but why didn't you ever come before? Benny and I wanted so much to see you!'" P.115

ORIGINAL AFRICAN STOCK: PRIMAL AND PRIMARY

ORIGINAL AFRICAN STOCK: PRIMAL AND PRIMARY IN AMERICAN SURVIVAL Our faith in God sustained our African American forefathers and foremothers. Their worship style; their values and musicology; and those early black preachers, like David Walker and Nat Turner (whose powerful efficacy resulted in them being "outlawed" by many states' laws, along with any education of slaves in literacy and numeracy). Such preachers preached the Bible from its inside out, rather than from its outside in, contributed greatly, to black mental health! As did their blues, dancing, cooking, fighting, marrying, self-help, storytelling and perpetuating folk medicinal knowledge acquired from plants and fellow practitioners. There are and were many sources of our strength, as a people. But, the underlying substratum, itself, the original African stock, is primal and primary. So, while others succumb, we continue to come and come and come again despite racist and capitalist stressors! http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/04/140410122114.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+%28Latest+Science+News+--+ScienceDaily%29

TIME IS NEUTRAL

The passage of time alone does not change anything, being neutral. Yet, many people marvel at recrudescence in human affairs. Same conditions; same result, regardless of time.

AFRICAN AMERICAN PASSOVER

“AFRICAN AMERICAN PASSOVER” God, give us the vision to see, the faith to believe, and the courage to do, your will. Amen. Conceived by the Holy Spirit & Presented by Rev. Dr. Larry Delano Coleman Pastor, Brooks Chapel A.M.E. Church, Butler, Missouri (816) 561-6699; fax: (816) 561-0895; E-mail lcole81937@ aol.com Presented at St. John A.M.E. Church, Kansas City, Missouri Rev. Ronnie McCowan, Pastor April 19, 2000, a/k/a 14 Nisan 5760 1. What Is the “African American Passover?” African American Passover is a religious celebration of the “passing over” of people of African descent from slavery to freedom, and from “Jim Crow” to desegregation. In short, it is a memorial to our corporate deliverance, as a peculiar people, with no citizenship to second class citizenship, and finally after the shedding of blood and sowing of tears, to full citizenship. “They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.”( Psalms 126:5) 2. How Does the “African American Passover” Relate to the Passover of Exodus? In Exodus, God intervened to effect the deliverance of the Hebrew Children from Egyptian oppression through the instrumentality of Moses and Aaron. In America, God intervened to effect the deliverance of African children from American oppression through the instrumentality of the Civil War. In the former case, God divided the Red Sea. In our case, God divided a nation. While the Hebrew Children were able to walk across on dry land, through a divided Red Sea, over 250,000 black soldiers were blessed to fight and to win our freedom, by fighting with the North, against the South, in what our people called “The Freedom War.” The Confederate General Robert E. Lee was forced to surrender to the Union General Ulysses S. Grant on April 9, 1865, at Appomattox, Virginia. 3. Why Is African American Passover Being Held Now? African American Passover is being held now to fulfill Exodus 12:14, “And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the Lord throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance forever.” April 9, 1865, the date of the “African American Passover,” has never been formally celebrated or recognized, heretofore. Thus, this celebration is being held now to correct this 135 year old lag, omission, sin. By celebrating this Passover, we show our gratitude to God, even as we identify ourselves, as our slave forebears correctly did, with the Hebrew Children of the Old Testament, archetypally. The closest we have come, as a people, to celebrating our freedom is the Juneteenth Celebration. This celebration was initiated when the General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas on June 19, 1865, to let the Texas slaves know that they were free. 2 4. How Does the Church Profit from “African American Passover?” The Church profits when its people profit. The church is glorified, when its people are glorified. When the people of God are glorified, God is more so glorified. African American Passover can serve as a missing link between the Word of God, and the day-to-day lives of certain African American people. Some may be won to Christ without such a celebration, but others may be won to Christ, because of such a celebration. Thus, as a missionary tool, as a historical tool, as an inspirational tool, African American Passover can prove profitable to the Church. But, most of all, African American Passover, is sound doctrine and scripture for a people who have been “scattered and peeled, from a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden under foot, whose land the rivers have spoiled....” Isaiah 18:7 African American Passover brings about closure and a new beginning for a people created in Christ 5. What Is Meant by African American People Are “Created in Christ.” In his book, The Negro Church in American, (Schocken Books, NY: 1972) Dr. E. Franklin Frazier, the great sociologist, explained that the Christian religion provided a new basis of social cohesion among the slaves, whose former culture was obliterated. He states on page 6, “It is our position that it was not what remained of African culture or African religious experience but the Christian religion that provided the new basis of social cohesion. It follows then that in order to understand the religion of the slaves, one must study the influence of Christianity in creating solidarity among a people who lacked social cohesion and a structured social life.” In short, without Christ, we were not a people. Otherwise stated, because of Christ, we became a people. “Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.” (1 Peter 2:10) The Lord has stated, “This people have I formed for myself that they may show forth my praise.” (Isaiah 43:21). “They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this.” (Psalms 22:31) “This shall be written for the generation to come: and the people which shall be created shall praise the Lord.” (Psalm 102:18) 6. How Does the “African American Passover” Relate to A.M.E. Discipline? The Doctrine and Discipline of the African Methodist Episcopal Church makes no specific provision for “African American Passover.” No such celebration has existed previously. However, the Articles of Religion, section 22 states, “It is not necessary that rites and ceremonies should in all places be the same, or exactly alike; for they have been always different, and may be changed according to the diversity of countries, times, and men’s manners, so that nothing be ordained against God’s Word.” Thus, nothing in the A.M.E. Discipline proscribes or prohibits the African American Passover celebration. 3 7. Is the African American Passover Only for African Americans? No. The triumph of African American people is a story of human triumph. It is one of the greatest epochs of triumph in human history, possibly the greatest. It is the stuff of universal legend. Thus, everyone can delight in it. It shows what is possible for any people to achieve through faith and work. Thus, as Jesus was not only for the Jews, even though he was a Jew, African American Passover is not only for African Americans, even though it is celebration of African American history and spirituality. 8. Will Not the Emphasis on History Overshadow Faith? No. History is the stage upon which God operates. It is the framework in which God works His will. Hebrews 11 is a beautiful example of how history and faith interrelate and reinforce each other, and how each can be reconciled in Christ. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good report. Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.” 9. Are Broader Spiritual Themes Implicit in African American Passover? Absolutely. In the ultimate sense “Passover” connotes a spiritual transcendency from corruption to incorruption, from dishonor to glory, from weakness to power, from a natural body to the spiritual body, from a living soul, to a quickening spirit. Passover, in the final sense, is all about the resurrection of the dead. (1 Corinthians 15:42-44) It is about victory over the grave and death. “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory.” Passover on an individual level is about choices. None of us had a choice in our sex, in our race, in our place of birth, in our physical characteristics. However, each of us can choose our spiritual characteristics. “Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with the old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” (1 Corinthians 5:7-8) 10. How Was “The African American Passover” Concept Created and by Whom? “Jesus the author and finisher of our faith,” (Hebrews 12:2) operating through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, utilized the instrumentality of Rev. Dr. Larry D. Coleman, pastor of Brooks Chapel A.M.E. Church, Butler, Missouri, who is also a Kansas City attorney, to proclaim and to implement the African American Passover. Truly, “Every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is a householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old.” (Matthew 13:52)

How to Read the Bible

HOW TO READ THE BIBLE Contemplating the large number of black men who have been freed following the discovery that they were routinely wrongly convicted by law enforcement figures based on tainted, withheld or coerced evidence, brings to mind the even greater number of them that were not freed, but were killed by prison authorities or white racist lynch mobs since the end of slavery! The so-called "Slaughter of the Innocents," therefore, is not confined to Bible lore, or to Jesus Christ, it also pertains to African American life and history. Therefore when we read the Bible it is paramount that we read and interpret it through the ever-pregnant prism of our own peculiarly remarkable experience and of our stellar and still unfolding deliverance!

The Flight into Egypt-- Matthew 2:13-18

The Flight into Egypt 13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him.” 14 When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt, 15 and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, “Out of Egypt I called My Son.”[a] Massacre of the Innocents 16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men. 17 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying: 18 “A voice was heard in Ramah, Lamentation, weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, Refusing to be comforted, Because they are no more.”[b]

THE NEGRO IN THE AMERICAN REBELLION, EXCERPT...

"The hostility of the whites and the blacks of the South is easily explained. It has its root and sap in the relation of slavery and was incited on both sides by the cunning of the slave-masters. These masters secured their ascendancy over both the poor whites and the blacks by putting enmity between them. They divided both to conquer each. "There is no earthly reason why the blacks should not hate and dread the poor whites when in a state of slavery; for it was from this class that their masters derived their slave-catchers, slave-drivers, and overseers.They were the men called in upon all occasions by the masters when any fiendish outrage was to be committed upon the slave. "Now, sir [President Andrew Johnson], you cannot but perceive that, the cause of the hatred removed, the effect must be removed also. Slavery is abolished. The cause of antagonism is removed, and you must see that it is altogether illogical-- 'putting new wine into old bottles, mending new garments with old clothes'-- to legislate from slave-holding and slave-driving premises for a people who you have repeatedly declared your purpose to maintain in freedom....Can it be that you would recommend a policy that would arm the strong and cast down the defenseless?... "Experience proves that those are oftenest abused who can be abused with the greatest impunity. Men are whipped oftenest who are whipped easiest. Peace between the races is not to be secured by degrading one race, and exalting another, by giving power to one race and withholding it from another, but by maintaining a state of equal justice between all parties,--first pure then peaceable." p.342-343, THE NEGRO IN THE AMERICAN REBELLION, "President Andrew Johnson," by William Wells Brown (1867)

Social Media is emergent swarm intelligence

Social media is no toy, game, or waste of time, as some intimidated persons routinely label it; rather, it is a new valence and paradigm of human connectivity and communications that has broken the monopoly on human knowledge formerly preserved to the institutionally wealthy and/or repressive regimes. Notice that North Korea, Saudi Arabia, China, Iran, and Russia limit its free access to their citizens. Rejoice that we are blessed to be creative participants in this unfolding deliverance. Another word for social media is swarm intelligence. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swarm_intelligence

A Definition of Manhood/Womanhood

A definition of manhood/womanhood Manhood and womanhood are cultural competences inhering in sexual maturity that are guided by reciprocal family and community values, duties, rights, and responsibilities, that all blithely reproduce themselves prospectively.

FATHER DICKSON'S MYSTERY

FATHER MOSES DICKSON’S MYSTERY Tuesday, April 08, 2014 Rev. Dr. Larry Delano Coleman “The booklet I picked up at the Father Dickson Cemetery, 845 S. Sappington, Kirkwood, MO (one of those small cities in St. Louis County) says that in late 1846 he organized a secret organization of black Americans for an armed struggle to end slavery in America, the Knights of Liberty, and a smaller sect, the Order of the Twelve. There were at least 50,000 well-armed men. As soon as these men were organized, Moses Dickson determined that a war was about to happen so he turned the Knights of Liberty from open insurrection to underground action. During the Civil War many of the Knights of Liberty fought with the Union forces, incurring many casualties. Dickson survived the war and went on to become an ordained minister working with the legislature to found Lincoln University. “In 1872 he was appointed Elector-at-Large (a representative in the Electoral College) for the Grant presidency. He reestablished The International Order of Twelve: Knights and Daughters of Tabor. “Larry, I am sending this info to Bill Curtis who is our resident expert on the history of African-Americans in Independence, Missouri, to see if he can add information about the Knights of Tabor in Independence. Bill, if you don't mind, please correspond directly with Larry Coleman, but would you please include me in the e-mail distribution. The 9 members of the Civil War Round Table of Western Missouri who visited the Father Dickson Cemetery as a part of the Grant Symposium this past weekend were very impressed with the quality of interpretation at the cemetery and the care with which it has been preserved. Beverly Shaw, Treasurer” The above letter was emailed to me on April 8, 2014, by the Treasurer of the Civil War Roundtable of Western Missouri, Mrs. Beverly Shaw, a very capable researcher and organizer and good friend. Having attended James Milton Turner Elementary School in Meacham Park, Missouri, Father Dickson’s cemetery was well-known to me, as it was nearby our southwest-suburban, historic, all-black enclave, 10 miles from St. Louis, Missouri. Growing up as a child, our family lived adjacent to the street-sign boundary between Kirkwood and Crestwood, where Father Dickson’s Cemetery is located, on Big Bend Blvd. An avid historian, organizer, attorney, and an A.M.E. preacher—also Father Moses Dickson’s denomination--I have always been curious about this magnanimous Civil War-era visionary, who is yet surrounded by so much myth and mystery, about whom so many people seem to know so little! Whoever reads this post, and the link below, please let me know anything that you know about this man! http://www.usgennet.org/usa/mo/county/stlouis/dickson/fdc.htm

AFRICAN-AMERICAN...PAN-AFRICAN...PAN-HUMAN...SUPER-HUMAN.

To be African American is to be Pan-African, per se, considering that African slaves were derived from all over Africa, not simply from West Africa. Into this Pan-African polyglot also came copious Indian and European infusions, along with some Asian, which makes African-Americans also Pan-Human, if not Super-Human, genetically.

SUNDAY CONFESSIONS

I was raised in church: St. Matthews Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, just outside of St. Louis, Missouri. It called itself, "the little friendly church on side of the road." My parents took me--not 'sent me'-- and my siblings to church every Sunday, as a vital part of our, and of their, socialization, growth, and spiritual development. It was a very small church. Its members were primarily drawn from black working-class migrants from the South--like us former Mississippians--who had been poorly educated due to its historic, legal and racist, Jim Crow, oppression in the pre-1950s. As my reading skills and comprehension improved, I was eventually moved into the Adult Sunday School class by the time that I was in the 6th grade. Once, there, I was shocked to discover that I could read better than many--if not all--of the adults, who were embarrassed by my corrections, my questions and youthful impetuosity. One Sunday, I was removed from that class and made a Sunday School teacher of younger children. Since I enjoyed teaching, having always taught my younger siblings something, a few of whom were my new pupils, I eagerly assumed this task. By this time, it was the early 1960s, and the Civil Rights Movement was spreading all over the land. It was on television, radio, newspapers, magazines, and in St. Louis. My parents were big proponents of civil rights and made sure that we stayed abreast of developments by talking about them openly and passionately at home; in watching any programs on television where black leaders were interviewed; and by subscribing to JET and to EBONY magazines, and to the St. Louis Post Dispatch daily. All of this cultural exposure, and the times themselves, caused me to read deeply into our history and culture; reading included THEY CAME BEFORE THE MAYFLOWER by Lerone Bennett, Jr. and THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MALCOLM X by Alex Haley. One Sunday, after church, I asked our pastor if I could teach a black history course to the children of the church. Not only did he say "no," but he actually preached a sermon against it! In his sermon he said, "black is ugly. Stick your hand in a jar of axle grease. That is ugly!" Needless to say, I was totally outdone and humiliated by his reaction to my simple request. Our church, at the time, still featured pictures of white Jesus, prophets, disciples, angels, everything except the devil, who was black. I could not reconcile the church's iconography, literature, and teachings with the world-wide Black Revolution, nor with my own sense of self-dignity as a black man. So I rebelled at 15 or 16, stopped going, and did not formally rejoin any church until Palm Sunday 1993. In the meantime, I continued to seek the path that was right for me. So, I read THE BIBLE and THE QURAN, cover-to-cover and other holy books like CITY OF GOD by St. Augustine and others. When I was delivered from a very grave illness by Jesus Christ in 1992, however, while visiting in St. Louis, I promised Jesus in heart-felt supplication, that if he would give my life back to me, that I would thenceforth give it to him. Well, He did and I did, so here I am! Lord be praised!

fact vs. opinion

One fact outflanks and defeats an entire phalanx of opinions.

CONFEDERATE ASSASSINATION OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mary_Surratt.jpg Mary Surratt was a a Confederate agent with a boarding house in Washington, D.C., at which a plot was hatched and carried out to assassinate Abraham Lincoln, President; Andrew Johnson, Vice President; and William Seward, Secretary of State, at the same time on April 14, 1865. They succeeded killing Lincoln; seriously injured Seward; and failed with Johnson outright. Historian William Wells Brown writes of his conspiracy in his 1867 masterpiece, THE NEGRO IN THE AMERICAN REBELLION, as follows: "On the 9th of the same month, Gen. Lee, with his whole army surrendered to Gen. Grant; and this fell the Southern Confederacy, the enemy of the negro and of Republican government. The people of the North, already tired of war, at once gave themselves up to rejoicing all over the free States. "But the time of merry-making was doomed to be short, for slavery, the cause of the Rebellion, was dying hard. The tyrants of the South, so long accustomed to rule, were now determined to ruin. Slavery must have its victim. If it could not conquer, it must at least die an honorable death; and nothing could give it more satisfaction than to commit some great crime in its last struggles. "Therefore the death of Abraham Lincoln by the hand of an assassin was but the work of slavery. It murdered Lovejoy at Alton, it slowly assassinated Tomey in a Maryland prison, it struck down Sumner in the Senate, it had taken the lives, by starvation , of hundreds at Anderson, Richmond, and Salisbury; why spare the great liberator?" P.325

STRENGTH TO LOVE

STRENGTH TO LOVE, by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. “A Tough Mind and A Tender Heart,” (Fortress Press, Minneapolis, MN: 2010), p.3-5: “The soft-minded man always fears change. He feels security in the status quo, and he has an almost morbid fear of the new. For him, the greatest pain is the pain of a new idea. An elderly segregationist in the South is reported to have said, “I have come to see now that desegregation is inevitable. But I pray God that it will not take place until after I die. The soft-minded person always wants to freeze the moment and hold life in the gripping yoke of sameness. “Soft-mindedness often invades religion. This is why religion has sometimes rejected new truth with a dogmatic passion. Through edicts and bulls, and inquisitions and excommunications, the church has sought to prorogue truth and place an impenetrable stone wall in the path of the truth seeker. The historical-philological criticism of the Bible is considered by the soft-minded as blasphemous, and reason is often looked upon as the exercise of a corrupt faculty. Soft-minded persons have revised the Beatitudes to read, “Blessed are the pure in ignorance: for they shall see God.” “This has led to a widespread belief that there is a conflict between science and religion. But this is not true. There may be a conflict between soft-minded religionists and tough-minded scientists, but not between science and religion. Their respective worlds are different and their methods are dissimilar. Science investigates; religion interprets. Science gives man knowledge that is power; religion gives man wisdom that is control. Science deal mainly with facts; religion deals mainly with values. The two are not rivals. They are complementary. Science keeps religion from sinking into the valley of crippling irrationalism and paralyzing obscurantism. Religion prevents science from falling into the marsh of obsolete materialism and moral nihilism. “We do not need to look far to detect the dangers of soft-mindedness. Dictators, capitalizing on soft-mindedness have led men to acts of barbarity and terror that are unthinkable in a civilized society. Adolph Hitler realized that soft-mindedness was so prevalent among his followers that he said, “I use emotion for the many and reserve reason for the few.” In Mein Kampf he asserted: ‘By means of shrewd lies, unremittingly repeated, it is possible to make people believe that heaven is hell—and hell, heaven… The greater the lie, the more readily it will be believed’ “Soft-mindedness is one of the basic causes of race prejudice. The tough-minded person always examines the facts before he reaches conclusions; in short, he postjudges. The tender-minded person reaches a conclusion before he has examined the first fact; in short, he prejudges and is prejudiced. Race prejudice is based on groundless fears, suspicions, and misunderstandings. There are those who are sufficiently soft-minded to believe in the superiority of the white race and the inferiority of the Negro race in spite of the tough-minded research of the anthropologists who reveal the falsity of such a notion…”

azaleas

THE POWERFUL VERTEBRAE OF BLACK AMERICA

Melting the hearts of Ole Massa and Ole Missus was a very hard task to perform whatever their Christian professions, pretensions, impulses. Their black slaves were their property, primary income source, human stock-in-trade, and personal prime status symbols. They were also their chattel, as in cattle. "What value is freedom to a cow or a pig or a horse?" They reasoned. " None!" The slaves of course looked at things differently. And went to any lengths to acquire their much-coveted freedom. Some took flight; some took up arms; some took up Christ. This master-mindset above was the norm, not the exception. That is what makes Richard Allen's religious conversion of his slavemaster all the more remarkable! Nevertheless, it still cost Richard Allen and his brother $2,000 to purchase their freedom from that master, whether he was converted by the Allens' studied and steady deportment, testimonials, and devotionals, or not! Richard Allen would later become a founder of the Free African Society in Philadelphia along with Absalom Jones, and others, in 1787. Allen would later be a founder of the African Methodist Episcopal Church and would become its first Bishop. Absalom Jones would be a founder of the Episcopal Church for black Americans, following ordination as s priest. Both churches came from the same benevolence society, the Free African Society and Masonic Lodge. Both men were also Free Masons, belonging to the Prince Hall Lodge, which was founded by their friend and contemporary, Prince Hall of Boston, Massachusetts, who obtained his charter from England, when white America's lodge balked. These are the powerful vertebrae of black American society upon which all else rests: Slavery, Christ, money, Freedom, churches and their schools, Prince Hall Masonry. So mote it be.

Response to Crisis

"What has just been said indicates that even a discrepancy unaccountably larger than that experienced in other applications of the theory need not draw any profound response. There are always some discrepancies....[P]ersistent and recognized anomaly does not always induce crisis....They could be recognized as counterinstances and still be set aside for later work. "It follows that if an anomaly is to evoke crisis, it must be more than just an anomaly. There are always difficulties somewhere in the paradigm-nature fit; most of them are set right sooner or later, often by processes that could not have been foreseen. The scientist who pauses to examine every anomaly he notes will seldom get significant work done. We therefore have to ask what it is that makes an anomaly seem worth concerted scrutiny, and to that question there is no fully general answer....Sometimes an anomaly will clearly call into question explicit and fundamental generalizations of the paradigm...Or, ....an anomaly without apparent fundamental import may evoke crisis if the applications that it inhibits have a particular practical importance....Or,....the development of normal science may transform an anomaly that had only previously been a vexation into a source of crisis..." p.81-82, "The Response to Crisis," THE STRUCTURE OF SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTIONS, by Thomas S. Kuhn (U. of Chicago Press, 2012)