The Braden Steeple
January, 2008 Issue
Page 9
Black History Facts!!
Black History Reflections
1. The creator and executive producer of Grey’s Anatomy and Private Practice is an African American woman. Her name is Shonda Rhimes. 2. The mayor of Atlanta, Georgia is a 5’1 African American woman. Her name is Shirley Franklin. 3. Richard Arrington was elected the city’s first Black mayor of Birmingham, AL in 1971. 4. William E. Kennard was confirmed as the first Black chairman of the Federal Communications Commission in 1997. 5. Bill Picket was the first Black inducted into the Rodeo Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City on December 9, 1971. 6. P.B.S Pinchback was sworn in as the first Black governor of Louisiana in 1872 after Henry Clay Warmoth was impeached. 7. Willie L. Brown Jr., became San Francisco’s first Black mayor on December 12, 1995.
I will lift up their heads in proud blackness With the story of their fathers and their fathers’ fathers. And I shall take them into a way back time of Kings and Queens who ruled the Nile, and measured the stars and discovered the law of mathematics. Upon whose backs have been built the wealth of two continents. I will tell him this and more, And his heritage shall be his weapon and his armor; Will make him strong enough to win any battle he may face. Since this story is often obscured, I must sacrifice to find it for my children even as I sacrificed to feed, cloth, and shelter them. So this I will do for them If I love them. In years to come I believe because I have armed them with the truth, my children and their children’s children will venerate me. For it’s the truth that will make us free!
Did you know? If black or dark colors had represented shame or inferiority, then why would “The Almighty Jehovah” jubilantly array Himself in the form of blackness? Abraham, Moses, David and Solomon often visualized God in the form of blackness (thick darkness), which represented Omnipotence (all powerful)! Of all the different colors of the universe, why would Jehovah commonly fashion Himself in a darkish-blackish color? During the crucifixion, darkness covered the land. Was it God, who had previously appeared in dark forms (Matt. 27:45)?
Braden’s Bulletin Boards Lower Level The Africa we don’t know Genesis 2:4-5-32 Upper Level The Names of Jesus John 6:27-15:1