This speech was written for the Black History Month Kickoff program for TG by Rev. Michael O. Oyedokun II on February 5, 2013.
The theme for this year’s African American History festivities is: At the Crossroads of Freedom & Equality: The Emancipation Proclamation & the March to Washington. The reason for this theme is that this year commemorates the sesquicentennial anniversary of the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation and the 50th anniversary of the march on Washington where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his “I have a dream” speech to over 250,000 people in attendance. Both of these events have had a significant impact on the plight and future of not only the African American race but on the nation as a whole. So as I meditated on this theme and revisited the stories of the Emancipation Proclamation and the March on Washington I decided that the topic to these few scattered remarks would be, “What is our Next Move?”
The Emancipation Proclamation was the implementation of slaves being emancipated that was instituted by President Abraham Lincoln. On January 1, 1863, President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. The proclamation declared “that all persons held as slaves” within the rebellious states “are, and henceforward shall be free.” Although the proclamation initially only freed about 60,000 of the 3.1 million slaves, the emancipation proclamation ignited a movement giving blacks the hope and courage to continue to fight for freedom and the avenue to push toward that freedom. Although the Emancipation Proclamation did not end slavery in the nation, it captured the hearts and imagination of millions of Americans and fundamentally transformed the character of the war. After January 1, 1863, every advance of federal troops expanded the domain of freedom. Moreover, the Proclamation announced the acceptance of black men into the Union Army and Navy, enabling the liberated to become liberators. By the end of the war, almost 200,000 black soldiers and sailors had fought for the Union and freedom. Even after slavery was abolished with the 13th amendment to the constitution, it did not guarantee or grant the equality of African Americans in the struggle for civil rights and inclusion in America.
Due to the efforts of many civil rights activists including civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., this push from freedom to equality reached toward a climax when the march to Washington was carried out on August 28, 1963. This march, which was known as the Great March on Washington and included Americans of different races, was a march for civil and economic rights for black Americans. This march was known to have helped pass the Civil Rights Act (1964) and the Voting Rights Act (1965). In his “I have a dream” speech, Dr. King, invokes ideas from the Declaration of Independence, the Emancipation Proclamation, and the United States Constitution. Dr. King begins his speech by invoking the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed millions of slaves but says that “one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free.”
So the question I have for us today, Americans of all races and cultures, creeds and backgrounds is “What is our next move?”
I believe that although we have not completed our task of full inclusion and equality we have made great strides in our pressing toward a true diverse and equal nation. In November of 2008, this country elected the first African American president of the United States of America. President Barack Obama became to this country what many believe as a conclusion to a dream that started long ago with the emancipation proclamation and the march on Washington. For many African Americans who once endured the hatred of ignorance, the fight for seclusion, the suppression of their voice, that election tore down the veils of injustice and silenced the tears of anger that once held many in captivity. Yes, as African Americans, we now own networks, we own corporations and businesses, we own houses and we own land and we claim our own millionaires and billionaires but the struggle of freedom and equality still linger.
If I can interject my own testimony, I can remember in 1998 having recently relocated to Austin working for a semi-conductor company hearing my manager inform me that the owners of the company stating that the “production floor is too dark”. I can remember that same year being hired at a computer manufacturing company that my manager informed me that her managers encouraged her not to hire any more of “those kind”…yes it still lingers. That struggle may not be a “loud voice” but there are still whispers every now and then.
That presidential election in 2008 refueled the tank of hope and gave voice to the idea of “Yes We Can”…but that election also opened up the scabs to wounds that we thought were once healed only to realize that those wounds were not fully healed and with the scrap of racism, those wounds are now bleeding again. So again I say, “What is our next Move?”
A few weeks ago we watched as the re-elected President Barack Obama once again was inaugurated into the highest office in the land. The multi-colored streams of Americans from all parts of the country came once again to that place in Washington where dreams were set free almost 50 years ago. In listening to the words of hope that rang from Dr. King’s voice on that day in 1963, I can hear and see the check marks being placed beside that list of injustices that needed to be overcome.
I can check that on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners are able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I can check that the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, has been transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I can check that Dr. King’s four children are living in a nation where they are not judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I can check that down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its former governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; that right there now in Alabama, little black boys and black girls are able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.
We can check some things off…but let’s not erase the board just yet. We still have work to do and that work is staring us in the face as we look to the future.
We still have a vast number of minority children facing a mountainous journey to find opportunities to post-secondary education.
We still have a large number of young mothers who would find it more ambitious to have children and depend on the government rather than stay in marriages or find meaningful work.
We still have a great number of low income dwellings that many are afraid to acknowledge and would look past them with the hopes of them just going away.
We still have a low number of minorities in positions of power such as judges, coaches, politicians, general managers, etc…which leads me to believe that there are some who are ok with us running the ball…just not running the team.
I can go on with a list of work that must be done…but I dare not open up the jug of sour milk especially when we are looking for a drink to go with our cookies…When Dr. King stated with a strong indictment that “America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked “insufficient funds.”, I am proud to say that no longer does the check come back insufficient but now they are placing some of the funds on hold.
What good is it to know the problem but offer no solution? That is why I voice my question on today, “What is our Next Move?”…Now that we know we can work together as a nation and as a diverse array of ethnicities, we must face the challenges of today, embrace the challenges of yesterday and overcome the challenges of tomorrow. We must move beyond a status quo of ignorance or abstinence and work together to make the next crossroad in our fight for freedom and equality meaningful in the life of our today and the life for the next generations to come.
As I close…I will spare you from my Sunday morning ritual of a crescendo of rhythmic intonations that is usually followed by a group of “Amens” as I interrogate the congregation by asking them, “Ain’t He alright”. But I want to leave you with a conviction on your hearts and your minds. We have progressed through a time of slavery, oppression, racism, bigotry and social and economic injustice…to a time where we can walk together, play together, work together, laugh together, shop together, learn together and love together. Let us not stop short of reaching our goal. I am not a chess player but I researched and saw where the objective of chess is to checkmate your opponent’s King. When a King cannot avoid capture then it is checkmated and the game is immediately over. If a King is threatened with capture, but has a means to escape, then it is said to be in check. A King cannot move into check, and if in check must move out of check immediately. The average chess game is 10-15 minutes with the world record of chess games lasting over 20 hours.
We have been playing a chess game for over 150 years. There have been strategic moves and captures. We are closing in capturing the King that symbolized the hatred, ignorance and injustice that surrounded this country and nation. We have him in check. But the game is not over because if we are not careful he may have a means to escape. So I urge you to consider, “What is our next move?” so that we can all holler “checkmate” as we claim the victory as a people (inconsiderate of color or ethnicity). As a baptist preacher I fall in line with tradition and I will ask you to turn to your neighbor and say, “neighbor…what is our next move?” God bless and thank you.