Saturday, December 31, 2005

Save A Date - April 20, 2006!

Wesley House Community Services presents a dinner and lecture with Dr. Julia Hare, author and co-founder of The Black Think Tank. Angela Lee Price will serve as mistress of ceremonies. Details to come.

Friday, December 30, 2005

St. Stephen Church Voter Empowerment: Worthy of Flagship Distinction

Rev. David Martin received a certificate from the Commonwealth of Kentucky restoring his civil rights at a Christian Addiction Ministry Program Restoration Dinner. He was one of five people to have civil rights restored through St. Stephen Chruch.
From Left to Right: St. Stephen Church senior pastor Rev. Dr. Kevin Cosby, restoration of civil rights recipient Rev. David Martin, voter empowerment coordinator Angela Lee Price, and Christian Addiction Ministry Program (CAMP) director Virgil Todd.

By: Angela Lee Price
St. Stephen Church is considered a flagship church among African American Baptist churches in the state of Kentucky. By God's grace, the church has accomplished many "firsts" for which she has been commended. The St. Stephen Voter Empowerment Campaign was one of them. Through the campaign, a total of 527 people were empowered with the ballot in the 2004 general election, more than any African American church in the state of Kentucky, and five former felons received certificates from the Commonwealth of Kentucky restoring their rights to vote and hold public office.

St. Stephen Church senior pastor Kevin Cosby’s vision was to ensure that all members of St. Stephen Church were registered to vote and exercised their rights in the 2004 general election. Campaign objectives included educating all St. Stephen ministries about the political process and engaging them in the campaign, providing transportation to the polls, establishing a permanent registration process, and assisting former felons in successfully regaining the right to vote.
This is an interview I conducted on August 28, 2004 on 1570 WLBJ Radio with Virgil Todd, Director of the Christian Addiction Ministry Program (CAMP) at St. Stephen Baptist Church concerning the church's campaign to help former felons regain their civil rights, including the right to vote.
this is an audio post - click to play


This is part 2 of a two-part interview with Dr. Kevin Cosby, Senior Pastor, St. Stephen Church, Louisville, Kentucky conducted on September 4, 2004 on 1570 WLBJ Radio concerning the church's voter empowerment campaign. In all, a total of 527 people were empowered with the ballot through St. Stephen Church for the 2004 general election during the 13-week campaign.
this is an audio post - click to play


Now that you have read this article and have listened to the interviews, we want to hear from you. You don't need to register on Blogger to post comments on my site, although you may need to do that on other sites on Blogger. You can use your name, or some other name if you wish. Once you are comfortable with what you want to say, click "publish" and the comments will be sent to me for review. I have added a screening feature to avoid unwanted comments, nonsense, or spammers. I will post opposing comments provided the person is well versed and supports what he/she is saying. This is what blogging is all about. The blog is a tool to promote dialogue,interactive communication, and to help us sharpen our reasoning and communication skills. Remember, iron sharpens iron.

‘”Looters” and “Finders”’


By: Angela Lee Price,
WLOU Radio - 1350 AM, Louisville, KY

There is considerable tension today between the races due primarily to lack of serious dialogue and understanding about race. This is very evident as African Americans express outrage about coverage of the Hurricane Katrina catastrophe in mainstream media as the e-mail below demonstrates. Many African Americans, including myself, are very upset about the following:

1. African Americans being referred to as “looters” while white Americans are referred to as “finders.”
2. The citizens of New Orleans being referred to as “refugees.”
3. The continual replaying of old footage of “looting” African Americans as though they were the only ones with sense enough to find food and survival necessities.
4. President Bush’s hostile and inflammatory “shoot-to-kill” rhetoric as victims of the tragedy die in the streets from lack of attention.
5. The military’s pre-General Honore, guns-pointed entrance into New Orleans as though all victims were criminals.
6. The Red Cross’ answer to their late arrival – “It was unsafe to enter the city.”
7. The defensive reply of at least one cable television news host to Congressional Black Caucus and NAACP concerns that race was a factor in the government’s slow response to evacuate the citizens of New Orleans – something to the effect that “New Orleans Major Nagin is African American, and I don’t hear you accusing him of incompetence.”
8. Rita Cosby referring to the five African Americans killed yesterday in the gun battle with the military as “thugs” without presenting proof of their background with arrest records.
9. The continual insistence that poverty and class are issues being uncovered with this disaster and that race has nothing to do with it.
Many African Americans believe that had the residents of New Orleans been 70% white and poor they would not be depicted on television and in newspapers this way nor addressed and handled in this manner by President Bush and government agencies.

Mainstream media is oftentimes too quick to emphasize stereotypical images of African Americans as savages, beasts, prostitutes, and happy-go-lucky entertainer types, while de-emphasizing efforts to educate and uplift the race. Case in point. On the front page of the August 28th edition of the Courier Journal Newspaper in the article “City Pays Price for Gun Violence,” statistics were presented relating to the numbers of gunshot-wounded victims handled at Louisville’s University Hospital between 2003-2004. The article stated that 88% of the gunshot suicides were white males, however, I have yet to see detailed articles, such as the August 28th article, on white male suicide. I have seen more than enough articles about the horrible violence in west Louisville.

My suggestion is that you consider an in-depth story on the issue of race, an issue that is being brought to the national forefront as a result of the Katrina catastrophe. I believe that at the root of the race issue is lack of understanding about African civilization, African American culture, and significant African American contributions for some 400 years to this nation.

(Be sure to read and listen to an excerpt of the sermon posted on December 28, 2005 entitled "Finders Keepers.")

Article published in The American Baptist Newspaper, Editorial section, pages 2 & 12, September 12, 2005.

Now that you have read this article, I want to hear from you. You don't need to register on Blogger to post comments on my site, although you may need to do that on other sites on Blogger. You can use your name, or some other name if you wish. Once you are comfortable with what you want to say, click "publish" and the comments will be sent to me for review. I have added a screening feature to avoid unwanted comments, nonsense, or spammers. I will post opposing comments provided the person is well versed and supports what he/she is saying. This is what blogging is all about. The blog is a tool to promote dialogue,interactive communication, and to help us sharpen our reasoning and communication skills. Remember, iron sharpens iron.

Thursday, December 29, 2005

Sermon: To Tell The Truth


Angela Lee Price
Minister in Training,
St. Stephen Baptist Church,
Louisville, KY

"To Tell the Truth: Will the Real Deal Holy 'Fill' Please Stand Up?!"

1st Timothy 4: 4-14 (NLT)


Back in the day, there was a game show on television called “To Tell the Truth.” The show consisted of a host whose job it was to introduce the noteworthy individual appearing on the show, contestants, usually three, each claiming to be that particular person, and panelists whose job it was to ask the questions of the contestants and listen carefully to their responses in order to determine who was telling the truth. Two of the contestants were imposters and one was “the real deal.” The imposters’ jobs were to be as convincing as possible in order to increase the amount of money to be divided among the contestants at the end of the show by way of the panelists voting in error. You may remember the audience sitting spellbound in anticipation because each person knew their contestant would be the one rising at the end of the show when the announcer said that famous last line, “Will the real so and so please stand up!” Today, it might be said 21st century style, ”Will the ‘real deal’ please stand up!”

That was television back in the day. It seemed to be a simpler time. It was a time of “The Mod Squad,” “The Jeffersons,” “Room 222,” and it was a time of “To Tell the Truth.”

Today’s high-speed electronic age has provided us with so much from which to choose. Television and the Internet have given the clergy an electronic global platform from which to amass huge global audiences. We have an abundance of Christian programming, ranging from terrible to excellent.

In the book Myths That Mire the Ministry by Rev. Dr. Harold A Carter, I have learned that a minister true to the call of God will be diligent and careful to deliver a balanced view of Jesus as suffering Servant and triumphant King. However, as Dr. Carter explains, many ministers have “jumped down from their steeples” by way of “prayer cloths, providing illicit numbers for lotteries and passing out blessings for material gain.”

A preponderance of television preachers on Christian networks preach a gospel of health, wealth and prosperity. Added to these “faith” preachers are those purveyors of signs, wonders and miracles. Some with the largest audiences use cheap mesmerist tricks, wheelchair props and smoke and mirrors to gain followings in the United States and abroad, particularly in Africa. It’s enough to make you want to holla, get up out of your seat and shout back, ”Will the real deal Holy ‘Fill’ please stand up?!”

This is the age of relativism and post modernism. The “believe-what-you-want-to-believe” philosophy and attitude has gained significant ground in society. Objective truth is no longer the standard. Common occurrences on television are talk show hosts such as Larry King and Oprah Winfrey who embrace new age believers one day and Jesus believers the next. It would appear that the mantra of Rodney King of “us all just getting along” has taken root in a perverse kind of way.

Increasingly orthodox Christians are joining with Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and others of non-Christian beliefs in religious ceremonies to worship God under a new kind of unity that disregards doctrine and truth. All the while, everyone is shouting that their Jesus, the cosmic Jesus, the only-a-prophet Jesus, the born-again-in-hell Jesus, is the true Jesus. Dr. Forrest Harris, a guest speaker the St. Stephen Church 76th Anniversary said, “If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, is it a duck?!” It’s enough to make you want to holla, get up out of your seat and shout back, “Will the real deal Holy ‘Fill’ please stand up?!”

In the book of 1st Timothy (NLT), Paul gives encouragement and instruction to the young, preacher, Timothy who is pastoring the church at Ephesus. Paul admonishes Timothy to beware of false teachers, to stop those teaching wrong doctrine, and he tells him what constitutes true wealth.

In 1st Timothy 6:4-5, we learn that false teachers are filled with pride and ignorance. They have an unhealthy desire to quibble over the meaning of words. They always cause trouble. Their minds are corrupt and they don’t tell the truth. To them religion is just a way to get rich.
In 1st Timothy 6:11-14, we learn that real teachers are filled with the fruit of the Spirit. They run from evil things, and they pursue godly living. They fight the good fight for what they believe. They obey God’s commands with all purity, and they avoid godless, foolish discussions with those that oppose them with their so-called knowledge.

The definition of wealth is found in lst Timothy 6:6. The Bible teaches that wealth is not the abundance of things, cash, cars and clothes, nor is it the absence of sickness, physical impairment, and suffering. True religion with contentment is wealth.

Just because some athletes, actors and hip hop celebrities support certain high-profile mega-church pastors and faith healers doesn’t necessarily mean those preachers are the “real deal.” Heavyweight boxing champion Evander Holyfield goes by the nickname “The Real Deal.” But did “The Real Deal” chose the real Holy “Fill?” Holyfield dislocated his shoulder in a fight against opponent Michael Moorer in April, 1994. He was diagnosed with a heart condition at the hospital. On December 27, 2003, Dateline NBC aired an expose on Bennie Hinn. Evander Holyfield was slain in the spirit and reported cured of his heart ailment. Michael Jordan owned and played for the Washington Wizards, but that didn’t make the Washington Wizards a winning team.

Bennie Hinn has been the subject of many documentaries calling his miracles and lavish and unethical spending into question. A second Dateline NBC expose’ entitled The Preacher’s Life aired on NBC on March 6, 2005. It featured interviews with family members of people supposedly healed at Hinn’s crusades. The family members reported that their loved ones either still had the same diseases they were supposedly cured of or had later died from those same illnesses.

A prophet true to the call of God will be diligent and careful to deliver a balanced view of Jesus as suffering Servant and triumphant King. Are the preachers you like to watch on television or listen to on the radio doing that, or are they constantly preaching health, wealth and prosperity, signs, wonders and miracles? At least once, you need to ask, “Are you the ‘real deal,’ do you tell the truth?”

From: Jesus Saves Ministries Newsletter - November, 2005

Note: This sermon is an updated version of a previous message to Means Avenue Baptist Church, Hopkinsville, Kentucky on November 24, 2002, Rev. Enoch David Nyakoon, Pastor; and to House of Prayer Baptist Church, Louisville, Kentucky on May 25, 2005, Rev. Stephan E. Kirby, Sr., Pastor.



Now that you have read this article, I want to hear from you. You don't need to register on Blogger to post comments on my site, although you may need to do that on other sites on Blogger. You can use your name, or some other name if you wish. Once you are comfortable with what you want to say, click "publish" and the comments will be sent to me for review. I have added a screening feature to avoid unwanted comments, nonsense, or spammers. I will post opposing comments provided the person is well versed and supports what he/she is saying. This is what blogging is all about. The blog is a tool to promote dialogue,interactive communication, and to help us sharpen our reasoning and communication skills. Remember, iron sharpens iron.

A Prayer of Thanksgiving

Heavenly Father, Sovereign God of Heaven and earth, we love, honor, cherish and adore You. We give you the highest praise, Hallelujah! Great is Your faithfulness. Thank you for bringing us our of our midnight hours this year and into Your marvelous light. Thank you for giving us another 52 weeks to worship You, study Your Holy Word, and tell others about your Son, Jesus Christ. Father, please forgive our sins. We desire to render a prayer that is acceptable in Your Presence.

Lord, we have so much for which to be grateful, and so much for which to say thank you. Thank you for dreams deferred answered this year, the restoration of civil rights to five St. Stephen Church applicants. Their restorations stand as symbols of hope, chains of bondage supernaturally broken by Your awesome power. We rejoiced on January 15th at the appointment of Rev. Dr. Kevin Cosby to the presidency of Kentucky’s oldest historically black institution of higher learning, Simmons College of Kentucky.

Father, we bless you for the multitude of heroes called into service from the black church, civil rights organizations, historically black colleges and universities, and black media to help house and heal Hurricanes Katrina and Rita evacuees and bring awareness to their plight. You’ve shown us that racism is rampant, that poverty is spreading in America, and that there is much work to do. You’ve shown us miracles in the midst of tragedy, and we bless you. Please comfort and protect the 2,000 evacuees still residing in Louisville, Kentucky.

Thank you for the examples of hope you’ve given us, men and women of color who fought courageously in 2005 for political, social and economic justice. We appreciate, too, and remember those called to Heaven this year, actor and activist, Ossie Davis, publisher, John H. Johnson, and the mother of the Civil Rights Movement, Rosa Parks, and many others. Thank you for their heroic contributions toward the advancement of civil rights and social justice.

Thank you for Jesus and for all who came to know him as Lord and Savior in 2005. In Jesus name, we pray. Amen.

From: Jesus Saves Ministries Newsletter - November, 2005

Now that you have read this prayer, I want to hear from you. You don't need to register on Blogger to post comments on my site, although you may need to do that on other sites on Blogger. You can use your name, or some other name if you wish. Once you are comfortable with what you want to say, click "publish" and the comments will be sent to me for review. I have added a screening feature to avoid unwanted comments, nonsense, or spammers. I will post opposing comments provided the person is well versed and supports what he/she is saying. This is what blogging is all about. The blog is a tool to promote dialogue,interactive communication, and to help us sharpen our reasoning and communication skills. Remember, iron sharpens iron.

Wednesday, December 28, 2005

Motivations to Minister

By: Angela Lee Price

When your spiritual gifts are teaching, administration and prophecy, it goes without saying that those gifts must be properly developed through rigorous study of the Word of God. Just as my spiritual gifts come in threes, so do the motivations that lead to the announcement of my call to the ministry. Those motivations were my mother’s lifelong battle with schizophrenia, my passion for polemics and apologetics, and the ministry of Rev. Dr. Kevin Cosby.

My mother, who celebrated her 72nd birthday this month, has suffered from schizophrenia most of my life. The illness was exacerbated by the stresses of poverty, her husband abandoning the family and never paying child support, and a so-called deacon-turned-pastor who preyed on her illness and her three children for more than thirty years. Life worsened to the point of my running away from home my senior year in high school to live with Dr. Cosby’s uncle and aunt, William and Beatrice Bush, and their family. I bless God for placing me with such a loving Christian family. Mrs. Bush helped me to understand that as the oldest child I could not abandon my mother because she would need me if she stood any hope of getting better.

My mother’s condition worsened while I was in college at the University of Louisville. Going through the ordeal of taking out three mental inquest warrants, and my brother taking out a fourth, against the woman I once knew as sole nurturer, role model and protector was not only agonizing, but became a source of depression until I began to rely on God. My mother was very non-compliant, became a recluse and was addicted to television. She watched a considerable amount of Christian programming, particularly late at night.

Mrs. Masie Griggs Lee, now a member of St. Stephen Church, was once a follower of Bennie Hinn Ministries. For years, Hinn kept telling her she was healed in the name of Jesus, and that all she needed to do was rebuke the devil and lay hands on the television to receive her miracle. Whenever she believed his lies, my family and me in particular as I was her sole social security disability income payee, limited guardian, and power of attorney, had to war against the spirit that possessed her mind and body.

As I began to study the Word of God and pray earnestly for the Lord’s help, He began providing resources, through trained doctors and nurses, and information, not only on mental illness, medications and nutrition, but also on dealing with the demonic through proper spiritual warfare techniques, cults and false doctrines within the pale of orthodoxy, and the occult. My
experiences have developed within me certain sensitivities for those suffering needlessly, and I want to do all necessary in accordance with Luke 4:18-19 to dispel myths that keep souls in bondage.

Internet discernment ministries have been another source of motivation for a public announcement of my call to the ministry on December 16, 2001. For several years prior to the announcement, I conducted independent research on the aforementioned subjects on literally two hundred or more discernment ministries websites. The information I learned, and continue to learn, has totally reshaped the way I view 21st century Christianity. Of all my years of web surfing, however, I have encountered only one African American site devoted to polemics and apologetics. Consequently, I hope to launch a website to address false trends in the church from an African American perspective.

Finally, my pastor Rev. Dr. Kevin Cosby has influenced my call to the ministry in countless ways. His knowledge of African American history and African American church history is unparalleled. His anointed teachings and sermons of the early 1990s not only helped St. Stephen Church grow exponentially, but also helped me to mature in the faith and be delivered from psychological torture and abuse at the hands of a white Jesus firmly rooted in racism, and deeply embedded in my mind. Whenever I am asked to preach, I am mindful, as the Lord leads, to encourage continued study of African American history and culture.

Dr. Kevin Cosby is the primary reason I am now attending Simmons College of Kentucky. I know that any degree obtained at Simmons with Dr. Cosby at the helm will be recognized nationally at accredited institutions as proof of diligent, legitimate study of the Word of God. I desire nothing less for my ministry.

(An abbreviated version of my autobiographical essay to Simmons College of Kentucky.)

From: Jesus Saves Ministries Newsletter - October, 2005.

Now that you have read this article, I want to hear from you. You don't need to register on Blogger to post comments on my site, although you may need to do that on other sites on Blogger. You can use your name, or some other name if you wish. Once you are comfortable with what you want to say, click "publish" and the comments will be sent to me for review. I have added a screening feature to avoid unwanted comments, nonsense, or spammers. I will post opposing comments provided the person is well versed and supports what he/she is saying. This is what blogging is all about. The blog is a tool to promote dialogue,interactive communication, and to help us sharpen our reasoning and communication skills. Remember, iron sharpens iron.

The Courage of Our Past Gives Us Hope For the Future

By: Angela Lee Price

African Americans have contributed in untold and unprecedented ways to the birth of America. Many, from all walks of life, sacrificed and gave their lives in the execution of noble duties in hopes that someday future generations of African Americans would benefit from the fruit of their labor. African American intellectuals such as Frederick Douglass, Carter G. Woodson, and Langston Hughes are three of many who, by penning classic narratives and literary works, have courageously provided hope for the future.

Abolitionist, orator, author, diplomat, politician and polemicist Frederick Douglass is a courageous African American intellectual who, through his literary works, provided hope for the future. In his 1845 autobiographical book entitled Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave, Douglass eloquently articulated that hope as he reflected on his life as a slave in Maryland. Had Douglass not penned his autobiography, we would have never known the full scope of brutalities, injustices, hypocrisies and humiliations he endured in his quest from slavery to freedom nor would we have understood the level of brilliance, creativity and bravery required of him in order for him to teach himself, and other slaves, to read and write in a system that treated the American Negro as chattel. Moreover, Douglass’ scathing condemnation of slave-holding Christianity provided hope to seminarians and Christians currently grappling to understand and explain this nation’s racial divide.

Carter G. Woodson, the founder of Black History Week, which later became Black History Month, often called a man ahead of his time, is another African American intellectual who, through his classic literary works, courageously offered hope for the future. In his works The Education of the Negro and The Mis-Education of the Negro, Carter gave diagnosis and prescription for that hope. Carter’s critique of white American institutions of higher learning as instruments of mis-education with regard to heritage and culture is powerful, and his 1933 remedies for correcting said educational injustices are relevant and worthy of 21st century consideration. Throughout the book The Mis-Education of the Negro, Woodson warned that African American attempts to imitate white American culture would harm them. Moreover, he emphasized that imitation would not only do harm, but ultimately lead to death. Carter died in 1950, but left hope to present-day African Americans by encouraging them to learn their history, educate themselves through African American institutions of higher learning, own businesses and give back to their communities.

From a young man until his death in 1967, author and poet Langston Hughes epitomized courageous heroism as he condemned racism and celebrated African American culture during the Harlem Renaissance and early Civil Rights eras. Langston Hughes gave this generation hope for the future. Hughes published more than thirty-five books of poetry, fiction, children’s poetry, musicals, operas, autobiographies and short works during his lifetime. It is his poetry that is particularly uplifting. A downtrodden people can find hope in such classic poems such as “Mother to Son,” “I, Too,” and “A Dream Deferred.” Hughes’ poems are often quoted in prayers and sermons. Much of Hughes’ poetry about Jesus and Christianity is from an African American perspective and is particularly comforting. In the poem entitled “Bible Belt,” Hughes dared to declare that it would be too bad if Jesus were to come back black. Many churches would not accept him because race, and not religion, was glorified in them. In the poem entitled“Who but the Lord?,” Hughes lamented that the only person who was able to protect poor black people from police brutality was the Lord.

The courage of our past gives us hope for the future. African Americans have labored, fought and died heroically in order to give hope to future generations. Through their classic narratives and literary works, African American intellectuals Frederick Douglass, Carter G. Woodson, and Langston Hughes are three of many African Americans who have given this generation courage and hope. In their life experiences, too, is evidence of a loving God whispering from the pages of scripture “I know the plans I have for you, plans for good and not evil, to give you a future and a hope.”


About the Author:
Angela Lee Price is a 2005 recipient of the Simmons College of Kentucky Future African American Leaders Scholarship. This article was written initially to fulfill scholarship requirements.
Published in the Jesus Saves Ministries Newsletter - September, 2005

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Busing Early Years: A Travesty of Justice

By: Angela Lee Price

The Brothers Reaching Brothers Community Forum organized by Rev. Dr. Kevin Cosby, senior pastor of St. Stephen Church and president of Simmons College of Kentucky, and Dr. Ricky Jones, chairman of the University of Louisville Pan-African Studies Department held recently at St. Stephen Church was a blessing and answer to a prayer. I believe one solution to decreasing violence in the community lies in eradicating the self hatred that has resulted from youth not being taught African American history in the public school system. The need to call such a forum at this time only helps to prove that 30 years of court-ordered desegregation has amounted to travesty of justice. It was painfully obvious as I hosted the forum live on WLOU that the African American culture omission from classroom coursework in the public school system for some 30 years has helped to perpetuate black self hatred and keep Louisville racially divided. Our youth have so much more than “their music,” but like me, how can they know what they are not taught.

Despite graduating near the top of my class from Seneca High School in 1979, I left court-ordered desegregation's first four-year graduating class culturally illiterate, spiritually malnourished, and financially unable to afford college. For many years, I was emotionally ill-equipped to navigate the waters of an American society that demanded a level of self assurance, motivation and confidence that can only be developed by knowing who you are and whose you are in Jesus Christ and in history. Over the years, I have perused my high school yearbook, and I have asked God about my being the only African American from west Louisville in the advanced program, and in National Honor Society and BETA Club photos at Seneca High School. His answer to me has helped me understand that African American children are not inferior, but that court-order desegregation has left much to be desired.

Jesus says in Matthew 18:20, “Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am in the midst of thee.” Jesus’ words pertained to church discipline, however, they serve as a model on all spiritual matters for the church is not brick and mortar. My National Honor Society group photo reflects three African Americans, however, only one of them was bused from the inner city, me. It is curious that Jesus’ words follow His warning against the mistreatment of children. For He says in Matthew 18:6, “But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.” God is offended when his children are mistreated by the adults and systems that are supposed to serve them.

I was offended, yes, and provoked to wrath in my youth by not being brought up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord as instructed in Ephesians 6:4. African American children are provoked to wrath whenever they are not taught the entire truth of the Word of God and entire truth of their heritage, the two being inextricably woven. There was much discussion about Plato, Aristotle and Socrates during those early years of busing, but no discussions about Frederick Douglass, W.E.B. DuBois, and Malcolm X. To be taught a water-down version of the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. does not equate to an education in African American history.

It wasn't until I began taking Pan-African Studies courses at the University of Louisville in the early 1990s, and became a member of St. Stephen Church in the 1992 that I was taught African and African American history. After taking a course called “The Black Church” taught by Rev. Kevin Cosby at the University of Louisville, I was amazed at how I could have reached adulthood without knowing anything about the life of Frederick Douglass, W.E.B. Du Bois, Malcolm X, and so many fathers and mothers of black church history. I received cultural grounding and spiritual nurturing through the Pan-African Studies Department and the black church, and I bless God for that.

In terms of resources for a college education, there were none offered to me. This was the most heartbreaking aspect of my experience during those early years of busing. My Western Middle School counselor called me into her office and ensured my placement in the advanced program at Seneca. My high school counselors could have called me into their offices and ensured my placement on the scholarship awardees list, but didn’t. The school system, in my opinion, was obligated to ensure that deserving, disadvantaged inner-city students received scholarship assistance, particularly during those early years.

White Americans have not been mandated to learn black culture, and black Americans have not been mandated to know themselves. The sad fact is that perceptions of what it means to be African American have been shaped largely by television. This is very evident by the outraged expressed by many African Americans over coverage in the mainstream media referring to the citizens of New Orleans, largely African American, and “refugees,” and depicting blacks as “looters” and whites as “finders” of survival goods, and President Bush’s slow response to the disaster.

For all of its promises, court-ordered desegregation did not teach me what I needed most, knowledge of self and the God who created me, and that was a travesty of justice.

Note: An abbreviated version of this article was published in the Fall 2005 edition of The African American Journal.

This article published in the Jesus Saves Ministries Newsletter - September 2005.

Now that you have read this article, I want to hear from you. You don't need to register on Blogger to post comments on my site, although you may need to do that on other sites on Blogger. You can use your name, or some other name if you wish. Once you are comfortable with what you want to say, click "publish" and the comments will be sent to me for review. I have added a screening feature to avoid unwanted comments, nonsense, or spammers. I will post opposing comments provided the person is well versed and supports what he/she is saying. This is what blogging is all about. The blog is a tool to promote dialogue,interactive communication, and to help us sharpen our reasoning and communication skills. Remember, iron sharpens iron.


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