Part 1 Part 2 There are inadequate words. It is the model heads put on posts to remember the 1811 German Coast Rebellion. The leaders of the slave rebellion were immediately convicted and sent back to their owners where they would be executed and their heads cut off and impaled so everyone on the plantationContinue reading “The Pilgrimage, Part 3”
Category Archives: Black History
The Pilgrimage, Part 2
Part 1 Blessed are those whose strength is in you,whose hearts are set on pilgrimage. (Ps. 84:5, NIV) We will journey to the Whitney Plantation in Louisiana. Our hearts are being set on pilgrimage. I want this way set in my heart.
The Pilgrimage, Part 1
In his book, How the Word is Passed, Clint Smith tells the stories of 8 different places in the U.S. that have been touched deeply by slavery and how those places tell the story. One place he visited was the Whitney Plantation in Louisiana. It is the only plantation open for tours that takes theContinue reading “The Pilgrimage, Part 1”
The education we need
We need to move past defending needless monuments erected in eras that sent specific messages to formerly enslaved people. We need to understand our history more, not less. That means we deal with the power of Thomas Jefferson’s words as well as his slaveholding mentality and brutality. We need a more full education as weContinue reading “The education we need”
Tell the stories
Four books I have worked through in the past few weeks give me the same theme: tell the stories. Don’t just work on the stats. Hear the stories. Walk the places where they happened.
Real history right where I live
Monuments and the “Lost Cause”
“The myth of the Lost Cause does not begin or end with the Confederate monuments. The myth seeps into many other facets of state-sanctioned life. In eleven states there are a total of twenty-three Confederate holidays and observances. As of 2020, in both Alabama and Mississippi there is a Robert E. Lee Day, Confederate MemorialContinue reading “Monuments and the “Lost Cause””
The 13th Amendment
How the Word is Passed by Clint Smith tells the story of how we have handled race, slavery, and racism in America through several locations in our nation. Those places tell us how we’ve done and how we’re doing… and why too many white Americans think Black Americans should “get over it” when it comesContinue reading “The 13th Amendment”
Black History Month isn’t about white people… which is why we don’t like it
Let’s be clear: Black history is not about saving America or White people. Black history is about us. In a moment where we still live in what James Baldwin called in “The Fire Next Time” the “loveless world” — a moment still defined by banning Black books, exploiting Black creativity, stifling Black freedom, harming BlackContinue reading “Black History Month isn’t about white people… which is why we don’t like it”
Our problem isn’t erasing history
Our problem isn’t “erasing history.” Our problem is not knowing history. Clint Smith reflected on his visit to the Whitney Plantation in his book, How the Word is Passed:
Apprentice 2 Jesus 