Posted by Min. Paul Scott on 3/19/2002, 9:13 pm Min. Paul Scott For many Black folks, Easter means little more than Unfortunately, the TRUE meaning of the story of a With the problems that we have been facing for the What if Yeshua had made his triumphant entry on the While the Easter message may mean Easter bunnies and Instead of hunting for hidden Easter eggs we must We must make the Easter story and religion in general, The challenge facing us this Easter is to rise above Minister Paul Scott is the founder of the New
What Easter Should Mean For Black Folks
Mama usually couldnt afford to get me a new suit
every
Easter. I really wasnt feelin going to church at 6am
and staying all day long for some preacher to tell me
about how somebody died a long time ago so that all
the sins that I had accumulated during my brief
10-year life span would be forgiven. So Easter meant
little to me accept that my favorite program, the
Wonderful World of Disney, would be preempted by a
movie about some white guy hanging on a cross.
standing in line at the mall for hours behind somebody
arguing with a cashier over whether a dress was 50 or
55% off. Or seeing Uncle Ned, the one with the
alcohol problem, sitting in church for the first time
since last Easter, hollerin about how he is going to
lead a new life, only to find him at the liquor store
later that night. In many churches, Easter is a
sanctified, Ebony fashion show where people stroll
through the pews sportin the latest gear and peepin
what everyone else is wearing. This spring fashion
show leaves you wondering whether the organist should
play In that Great Gettin' up Mornin' or So Fresh
and So Clean by Outkast. It is also a time when Black
folks sit around crying about a white man who died so
they could be forgiven for sleeping with that honey
they met at the club Friday night.
Black Revolutionary named Yeshua (his parents named
him Yeshua, the white man named him Jesus) who was
able to show us the TRUE meaning of love and
willingness to make the ultimate sacrifice
for a people by laying down his life for the
struggle is never told. Nor is the TRUE meaning of
the cross as it is not a sign of death and defeat, but
the embodiment of the spirit of our ancestors who
said,
cant no grave hold my body down; you can kill the
body but you cant kill the soul and yes, TRUTH
crushed to the ground will rise again.
last 400 years, if ever a people were in need of a
savior, it is Afrikan people in America. While driving
through many Black neighborhoods you are almost choked
by the smell of death and despair as you navigate
between boarded up crack houses and liquor stores. As
you pass the young brothas on the corner who look at
you with glances of steel you almost forget that the
ice cold glares are not really looks of anger but
pleas for help.
streets of Harlem or any other hood in Black America.
Can you imagine the victims of racism, discrimination
and oppression who would be in the street screaming
Hosanna? Although hosanna is usually said to be a
term associated with rejoicing,it actually means save
now, we pray, as the Black Hebrew people were looking
for someone to save them from the oppression of the
white man in the form of the Roman government. Picture
the masses of our people who have lost all hope as
they stand in line just to to touch the hem of his
garment.
egg hunts for white America, we must realize that the
real hope of Easter for Afrikan people is the end of
white supremacy and our FREEDOM and LIBERATION from
the forces that have held us down for far too long.
We must not allow our spirituality to be
commercialized and the joy of Easter become solely
based on a new outfit that we are able to buy. What
about the young brotha who wants some religion but
is
ashamed to go to church because his mother can not
afford to buy a new pair of new shoes? Or the
struggling sista who is so broken that she is
considering committing suicide while the rest of the
family heads off to Easter service?.
concentrate on hunting the Biblical TRUTH that is
hidden from us. The TRUTH that Yeshua said would make
us FREE. Instead of buying a new Easter hat to put on
our heads, more attention should be focused on putting
the correct information inside our heads regarding the
Biblical history of Afrikan people.
relevant to the lives of struggling Black folks. This
is who Afrikan Liberation Theology tries to reach, not
necessarily the brother in graduate school at an ivy
league University (I aint hatin if thats your
thing) but the brother in the barber shop asking why
there are so many crack houses on his street. Or the
sista searching for the answer as to why her little
girl cant stand at the bus stop in peace. Even the
elementary student who cant understand why there are
no Black people in his history books. These are the
sick that are in need of a physician, today. And if
your religion isnt about preaching good tidings unto
the meek, binding the broken hearted and proclaiming
liberty to the captives, then your Easter Sunday
service church bulletin isnt worth the paper its
written on.
commercialism and Eurocentric religious irrelevancy
and embrace the full meaning of the life, crucifixion
and resurrection of Yeshua, the Black Messiah as it is
manifested in the lives of Afrikan people whose lives
are filled with suffering, have been crucified by
slavery and oppression and are looking forward to the
day of their resurrection.
Righteous
Movement based in Durham NC which teaches Afrikan
Liberation Theology.
He can be reached at operationmedia@yahoo.com
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