are so many contributions that one month is not really enough time to reflect and give honor to all whom have made considerable deposits in our history. Nonetheless we try with all our heart to make known the great things Blacks have done to make this country great.
Medical finds, inventions, discoveries, music, change, social justice, reform, architectural design of cities, genesis into governmental leadership, all of this and much more have been accomplish by Black people yet it never seemed to be enough. It didn’t matter if lives were saved or the future changed-it was never enough. It didn’t matter how much lives were improved or quality of life enhanced-it was never enough. Enough for what? Enough for black boys and black girls to believe that anything is possible. That if you could dream it you could be it.
Blacks have become astronauts and doctors, scientists and Supreme Court Justices. They’ve become governors and senators, inventors and athletes, preachers and philanthropist, entertainers and engineers-still, it was never enough. Black children did not believe that anything was possible.
But then it happened. Out of no where and right before our eyes. After centuries of disadvantage, disgrace and disapproval; from heartache pain and even shame; from slavery to freedom, it happened. America elected a Black man president. Can you believe it? Black History Month will never be the same. All past accomplishments can now be put into perspective as the stepping stones across the river of possibilities to reveal what God has always known…All men are created equal and with God, all things are possible. AMEN, BY MYSELF!
Never again can a Black child say that it is impossible to be anything he or she wants to be. The preverbal ceiling has been destroyed. Or was there every a ceiling? I do realize that this country has not always been kind to Black folks and I am well aware that many Black people died trying to have and do better. I do not want to diminish any accomplishment or contribution however; it has always been a possibility with God.
Jesus himself has always been an advocate of the Black child when he said “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.†(Matthew 19:26) I believe Barack Obama has always believed that. Perhaps, in light of all that has happened, we will do a better job and teach our children to always believe that ‘all things are possible.’
The Apostle Paul said, “I know how to live on almost noting or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.†(Philippians 4:12-13)
I believe that we must do a better job of teaching ‘faith in God’ to our children. Not faith in man, programs, institutions or even politics, but faith in God alone. Teach them to have faith in a God who can do anything; faith in a God who has brought us this far; and faith in a God who will lead us to a better time. May God bless President Obama and may we teach our children to believe in God that all things are possible.
Â
Contribution Writer, Bishop Sherwood Carthen of BOSS-Bayside of South Sacramento
