by Rev. Wayne Purcell

Business as usual is no longer acceptable; twenty-eight days is not enough to do justice to the history of the African Diaspora.

So as we begin this month of black history, let us remember those great black women and men who dared to make a difference. Let us be mindful as to who we are as an ancient people, and what it finally took for you and me to be a free people in a strange land.

First, our history should never begin with slavery. We were African before we were American, regardless of how far removed we are from our ancestral homeland. We are a people whose history goes back farther than the educational system is willing to concede. When the Hebrew civilization became dispersed via Babylonian invasion, their captors demanded that they be entertained by the singing of the songs of Zion (psalm 137). However, recognizing the futility of their condition, the Hebrews replied, “How can we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?” They would no longer play the fool for their captors, or assent to the stereotypical ignorance of the Babylonians. Nor should we.

One hundred and forty-six years since the Emancipation Proclamation went into effect, we still suffer under institutional oppression in economics, labor, education, entertainment, law, sex, and religion. Africans in America are the only people in a so-called free world society that must have laws passed to ensure our rights as citizens.

Only when Afro-history becomes an integral part of our schools, churches, and media, only when our heroes’ and heroines’ images appear on dollar bills, coins, and precious metals, only then will Africans in America be fully embraced as Americans. Until Imhotep, the Black Madonna, and the prophet Melchizedek, along with the gods Amun, Asar, Heru, and Aset, take their rightful place in American history books and schools, our legacy as a people will never truly be appreciated.

We should not be hoodwinked into believing that we have accomplished something because of a 28-day celebration of Afro-history, when in actuality, without the Africans in America there would not be an America! This is a time to reflect on our past, in order to know what and who we are to be.

Afro-History was created by Dr. Carter G. Woodson to give us purpose. I believe Maulana Karenga, the creator of the pan-African cultural holiday Kwanzaa, has set us on the right course. Kwanzaa is a road map to cultural unity: A Celebration of Family, Community and Culture; Kawaida: A Communitarian African Philosophy; OduIfa: The Ethical Teachings; Selections From The Husia: Sacred Wisdom of Ancient Egypt; and Maat, The Moral Ideal in Ancient Egypt: A Study in Classical African Ethics.

Faith calls us to believe in the good we seek to create, to work for it, and to live it in our daily lives. In the spirit of the steadfast faith of our ancestors, let us meditate on and give ever-deeper meaning in actual practice, and prayerful request of our ancestors: May we speak truth and do justice everywhere. May we always evaluate rightfully and not act in disregard of the sacred and the people.

What African Americans must do is to begin to develop an appreciation of self and the legacy of our ancient civilization to the present. For as long as, and to the extent that, we fail to recognize the importance of who we are and what we have given to the world, we become willing participants in our own cultural genocide.