Lest we forget

Bobby Henry, Sr.

A Message From The Publisher

Lest we forget

 “Please inquire of past generations, and consider the things searched out by their fathers. “For we are only of yesterday and know nothing, because our days on earth are as a shadow. “Will they not teach you and tell you, and bring forth words from their minds? Job 8:8-10 (NASB)

By Bobby R. Henry, Sr.

Many Sundays passed, I had the privilege of attending the Black History Ecumenical Worship Service at Mt. Hermon A.M.E. Church in Fort Lauderdale, FL. For those of us who might not know what the term Ecumenical means, it is the promoting of friendly relations between different religions.

While that was the premise of the event, what we got was a reincarnation of some of our most prolific oratorical presentations including the inexhaustible characteristics of many all rolled into one.

The charismatic and ever so eloquent, witty, fiery and most intelligent and articulate, The Honorable Congressman Alcee Hastings, left an indelible reminder of what our purpose should be in championing the cause of the poor, least privileged and the young.

The great message was filled with directives and the calling out of those who were not fulfilling the charge.

“Poverty is not on the lips of any of the candidates running for the office of the president of the United States of America because they don’t care about the poor”, demanded Congressman Hastings.

This seemed to resonate with the audience, but what resounded louder was the fact that Black people did more with less than they are doing right now with more.

More opportunities, more lawyers, more educated people and more people in higher places, and yet Black, poor people are receiving less.

We were reminded that the Black church was not a social club where the problems of the congregations were never discussed – but without deference – dismissed as yet another shovel of dirt cast upon the coffins of the living poor and the uneducated.

This was an eye opener, a slap in the face with a sledge hammer of truth that should awaken us and return us to the position of serving, caring and forcing us to recall just how close we are to each other.

If we don’t know, we had better realize that we are only one step and one person away from being that which some of us fear the most: “just another N*&&@#!”

If President Barack Husan Obama, the leader of the United States of America, one of the greatest countries in this world, can quicker than a snow ball melts in hell, be called a N*&&@#! what in God’s name makes us think that we are any different in the sight of them whom some have sold out to?

There ain’t nothing new under the sun. If we always do what we’ve always done, then we will always get what we’ve always gotten. And at this juncture it is the warm, moist compost that comes from the churning of fodder which is passed through the bile duct of a bovine and if left in the sun, it will smell.

That is what happens when we ignore the teachings of our past, the wisdom of sage and the selfishness of the I syndrome.

Have we become so educated that we are stupid to the fact that we are here on this earth to serve and not to believe that we should be served?

Have we turned away from the instructions given to us from those who have built all that which has come before us?  What makes us so great has made us so foolish!

For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. Romans 15:4 (NASB)

Believe it or not, I wrote this article almost 10 years ago.  Can you honestly say that things have changed towards the treatment of the poor, Black and Brown people in this country? Better asked question would be: what have you done to change the way poor, Black and Brown people are treated in this country?

About Carma Henry 24481 Articles
Carma Lynn Henry Westside Gazette Newspaper 545 N.W. 7th Terrace, Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33311 Office: (954) 525-1489 Fax: (954) 525-1861

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