We do not pull our own selves up by our own boot strings. Instead God and God working through us and many other people are our path to success.
I come from a long legacy of bold, bright, beautiful, black, Christian women -- Linda, my mother, Mildred, my grandmother, Pearl, my great-grandmother and many others including Singer and Civil Rights Activist Marian Anderson.
In eternity past God choose specific talents to give each and every one of us. God choose the singing gift for Marian. Marian has a strong, contralto voice able to climb more than 24 notes.
When she was six years old she joined her church choir. Marian's gift was so obvious that church members set up a trust fund to help pay for her musical training.
Marian worked her blessing. Marian realized her potential and discovered her unique individuality. She became a professional singer, singing all over the world and recording records that sold to millions.
Finding work and being prosperous were very hard. Many would not hire Marian because she is black. In 1939 the Daughters of the American Revolution refused to let Marian perform at Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C., because Marian is black, and they had a white-performers-only policy. Eleanor Roosevelt, President Franklin D. Roosevelt's wife, a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution and a human rights activist, resigned from the group in protest. Eleanor then arranged for Marian to sing in a bigger venue -- on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., for an Easter morning concert. More than 75,000 came out for the concert that made Civil Rights history.
What Marian and Eleanor did is Christlike -- black and white working together for good. Romans 12:21 Amplified Bible says, "Do not let yourself be overcome by evil, but overcome (master) evil with good."
Marian with the help of others overcame other obstacles of discrimination. Marian sang in eight languages. She was the first black person to sing a leading role at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.
Some people are in sin and do not want to embrace black people and other people of color in the mainstream of American life. With God on our side nothing is impossible. We shall overcome in all areas of life surrounding ourselves with God and Christians who live by 1 Peter 4:8 Amplified Bible which says, "Above all things have intense and unfailing love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins [forgives and disregards the offenses of others]."
Please share on-line stories of people of color overcoming in Christ.
Showing posts with label Racism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Racism. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Thursday, January 17, 2013
True Self, Child-of-God Self
". . . But whoever did want him, who believed he was who he claimed and would do what he said, He made to be their true selves, their child-of-God selves . . . " -- John 1:9-13 The Message.
As teenagers we all are discovering our identity. At age 15 when Constance Baker Motley was discovering her identity, she was told to get off a public beach in Connecticut because she was black.
Instead of internalizing the shame, God caused Motley to develop her true self, her child-of-God self. God used this experience to make Motley aware of the inequality in America among blacks and whites. Instead of accepting the status quo of discrimination, Motley decided to be a mover and shaker for justice. She sought to gain knowledge about the black struggle for equality in America not only from this experience but also through her family and her Episcopalian church.
Motley went on to extinguish much of Jim Crow, racism and sexism. She became a key member of the team that won the civil rights case Brown v. School Board of Topeka, Kansas et al in 1954. The US Supreme Court decided this case by doing away with "separate but equal" education for blacks and others and declared segregated schooling unconstitutional. It was Motley who drafted the original complaint which was successfully argued by Thurgood Marshall.
As counsel for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Motley won nine out of 10 civil rights cases she litigated before the US Supreme Court and was one of Martin Luther King Jr.'s chief legal advisers.
Motley was also the first black woman to become a US federal judge. She was the first black woman to be elected to the New York state senate. Motley was the first woman of any race to become president of one of the five boroughs that make up New York City, in her case Manhattan.
Seek God the Father, God the Son Jesus Christ and God the Holy Ghost, the three that are only one, for your true self, your child-of-God self. Society is suffering. We need everyone to be their true self, their child-of-God self to bring the kingdom of God from heaven to earth. Talk to God.
Father God in the Precious Name of My Lord and Savior Jesus Christ Empowered by the Holy Ghost, in all ways change me into my true self, my child-of-God self. Prevent fear, shame and any bad behavior from stopping me from being all that you created me to be.
As teenagers we all are discovering our identity. At age 15 when Constance Baker Motley was discovering her identity, she was told to get off a public beach in Connecticut because she was black.
Instead of internalizing the shame, God caused Motley to develop her true self, her child-of-God self. God used this experience to make Motley aware of the inequality in America among blacks and whites. Instead of accepting the status quo of discrimination, Motley decided to be a mover and shaker for justice. She sought to gain knowledge about the black struggle for equality in America not only from this experience but also through her family and her Episcopalian church.
Motley went on to extinguish much of Jim Crow, racism and sexism. She became a key member of the team that won the civil rights case Brown v. School Board of Topeka, Kansas et al in 1954. The US Supreme Court decided this case by doing away with "separate but equal" education for blacks and others and declared segregated schooling unconstitutional. It was Motley who drafted the original complaint which was successfully argued by Thurgood Marshall.
As counsel for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Motley won nine out of 10 civil rights cases she litigated before the US Supreme Court and was one of Martin Luther King Jr.'s chief legal advisers.
Motley was also the first black woman to become a US federal judge. She was the first black woman to be elected to the New York state senate. Motley was the first woman of any race to become president of one of the five boroughs that make up New York City, in her case Manhattan.
Seek God the Father, God the Son Jesus Christ and God the Holy Ghost, the three that are only one, for your true self, your child-of-God self. Society is suffering. We need everyone to be their true self, their child-of-God self to bring the kingdom of God from heaven to earth. Talk to God.
Father God in the Precious Name of My Lord and Savior Jesus Christ Empowered by the Holy Ghost, in all ways change me into my true self, my child-of-God self. Prevent fear, shame and any bad behavior from stopping me from being all that you created me to be.
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