Use and abuse these good words; helping you remember how to baptize yourself in the power and choice of your words. Sprinkle some Feel Good Words of Black History on your loved ones. Lift up, share and act like you care! Bring some of your positive charm to interject all the negatives in the world.
IN THE BEGINNING IT WAS HARD (BONDAGE, RACIAL INJUSTICE, SEGREGATION, CRUELTY); AND IT IS STILL HARD; NEVERTHELESS THEIR STRENGTH REMAINS HARD!
I’VE GIVEN UP EATING YOUR DELICACIES;
WISHING YOU WOULD INCLUDE BLACK PATRIOTS,
SOLDIERS AND BLACK HEROES TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY,
INSTEAD OF SURREPTITIOUSLY;
NOT MENTIONING THEIR MILITARY BRILLIANCE.
NOW I FEAST ON AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY.
PEACE AND PROSPERITY IS RUNNING THROUGH MY WALLS AND THE AROMA OF BLACK HISTORY IS THE GOOD FRAGRANCE IN MY HOUSE.
WHERE IS THE HARVEST
OF BLESSINGS AGAINST RACIAL INJUSTICE?
THEY ARE FEARFULLY AND WONDERFULLY MADE TO ADD AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY TO THEIR DNA. THEY ARE HUNGRY FOR BLACK HISTORY ONLY. THEY WILL NOT BE ASHAMED.
THE THIEF CAME TO KILL, STEAL, AND DESTROY BLACK HISTORY
BUT WE RECLAIM IT EVERY DAY
MORE ABUNDANTLY; MAKING A JOYFUL
NOISE FOR OUR FREEDOM AND PEACE.
VERILY, VERILY, I SAY UNTO YOU, THERE IS NO NEED FOR ANY OF US TO ACT LIKE WE ARE BETTER THAN ANYONE ELSE; FOR GOD KNOWS OUR FRAMES AND OUR HISTORY. HE REMEMBERS THAT WE ARE ALL CROWNED WITH AFRICAN DIRT, MADE FROM AFRICAN DUST.
WHEN THEY CONCEAL, WE SEARCH OUT THE MATTER
TO MAKE BLACK HISTORY BETTER.
WE ARE WORTHY, WE ARE SIGNIFICANT,
WE ARE RELEVANT AND WE WILL NOT BE MOVED.
IT'S KIND OF HARD NOT TO RETALIATE WHEN DARKNESS CONTINUES TO DEHUMANIZE YOU IN SO MANY WAYS, SO THEY HAD REVOLTS AGAINST OPPRESSION.
THEY SET ASIDE EVERY WEIGHT THAT SO EASILY KEPT THEM
INTIMIDATED AND AFRAID AS SLAVES;
THEY PRAYED AND THEIR NIGHTS WERE
SURROUNDED BY DIVINE LIGHT.
TIME AFTER TIME THOSE PEOPLE WERE AFFLICTED WITH UGLY INDIFFERENCE YET THEY RESISTED IN LIGHT OF THEIR AMAZING SPIRITS; THEY CONTINUE TO RISE.
DR. KING DESTROYED THE LIPS OF WHITE SUPREMACY
DRIPPING IN IMMORALITY AS THEIR EYES
BURNED WITH DARKNESS; HE REMAINED
NONVIOLENT IN HIS EMPOWERMENT.
FROM THE RISING OF THE SUN CAME HIS LOVE AS THEY WOKE UP WITH THEIR MINDS ON FREEDOM AT ALL TIMES; WICKEDNESS HAD TO BOW BEFORE THEIR GOODNESS.
THEY GAVE LOVE FOR THE RANSOM OF GREED
FOR CENTURIES OF UNAMERICAN TRUTHS COUPLED
WITH VIOLENCE, MISTREATMENT, AND ABUSE.
WE’VE ORGANIZED OUR ENERGIES AND RE-POSITIONED OURSELVES; WE SELF-DEFINE AND SELF-CREATE TO ERASE HATE.
THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NEGRO IS THE HISTORY OF THIS STRIFE, —THIS LONGING TO ATTAIN SELF-CONSCIOUS MANHOOD, TO MERGE HIS DOUBLE SELF INTO A BETTER AND TRUER SELF. IN THIS MERGING HE WISHES NEITHER OF THE OLDER SELVES TO BE LOST. HE WOULD NOT AFRICANIZE AMERICA, FOR AMERICA HAS TOO MUCH TO TEACH THE WORLD AND AFRICA. HE WOULD NOT BLEACH HIS NEGRO SOUL IN A FLOOD OF WHITE AMERICANISM, FOR HE KNOWS THE NEGRO BLOOD HAS A MESSAGE FOR THE WORLD. HE SIMPLY WISHES TO MAKE IT POSSIBLE FOR A MAN TO BE BOTH A NEGRO AND AN AMERICAN, WITHOUT BEING CURSED AND SPIT UPON BY HIS FELLOWS, WITHOUT HAVING THE DOORS OF OPPORTUNITY CLOSED ROUGHLY IN HIS FACE.
WILLIAM EDWARD BURGHARDT DU BOIS EXCERPT
THE SOULS OF BLACK FOLKS
ABUSED AND SCORNED THOUGH WE MAY BE, OUR DESTINY IS TIED UP WITH AMERICA’S DESTINY. BEFORE THE PILGRIMS LANDED AT PLYMOUTH, WE WERE HERE. BEFORE THE PEN OF JEFFERSON ETCHED THE MAJESTIC WORDS OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE ACROSS THE PAGES OF HISTORY, WE WERE HERE. FOR MORE THAN TWO CENTURIES OUR FOREBEARS LABORED IN THIS COUNTRY WITHOUT WAGES; THEY MADE COTTON KING; THEY BUILT THE HOMES OF THEIR MASTERS WHILE SUFFERING GROSS INJUSTICES AND SHAMEFUL HUMILIATION—AND YET OUT OF A BOTTOMLESS VITALITY THEY CONTINUED TO THRIVE AND DEVELOP. IF THE INEXPRESSIBLE CRUELTIES OF SLAVERY COULD NOT STOP US, THE OPPOSITION WE NOW FACE WILL SURELY FAIL. WE WILL WIN OUR FREEDOM BECAUSE THE SACRED HERITAGE OF OUR NATION AND THE ETERNAL WILL OF GOD ARE EMBODIED IN OUR ECHOING DEMANDS.
DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. EXCERPT
LETTER FROM BIRMINGHAM JAIL
IN THE BEGINNING IT WAS HARD (BONDAGE, RACIAL INJUSTICE, SEGREGATION, CRUELTY); AND IT IS STILL HARD; NEVERTHELESS THEIR STRENGTH REMAINS HARD!
I’VE GIVEN UP EATING YOUR DELICACIES;
WISHING YOU WOULD INCLUDE BLACK PATRIOTS,
SOLDIERS AND BLACK HEROES TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY,
INSTEAD OF SURREPTITIOUSLY;
NOT MENTIONING THEIR MILITARY BRILLIANCE.
NOW I FEAST ON AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY.
PEACE AND PROSPERITY IS RUNNING THROUGH MY WALLS AND THE AROMA OF BLACK HISTORY IS THE GOOD FRAGRANCE IN MY HOUSE.
WHERE IS THE HARVEST
OF BLESSINGS AGAINST RACIAL INJUSTICE?
THEY ARE FEARFULLY AND WONDERFULLY MADE TO ADD AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY TO THEIR DNA. THEY ARE HUNGRY FOR BLACK HISTORY ONLY. THEY WILL NOT BE ASHAMED.
THE THIEF CAME TO KILL, STEAL, AND DESTROY BLACK HISTORY
BUT WE RECLAIM IT EVERY DAY
MORE ABUNDANTLY; MAKING A JOYFUL
NOISE FOR OUR FREEDOM AND PEACE.
VERILY, VERILY, I SAY UNTO YOU, THERE IS NO NEED FOR ANY OF US TO ACT LIKE WE ARE BETTER THAN ANYONE ELSE; FOR GOD KNOWS OUR FRAMES AND OUR HISTORY. HE REMEMBERS THAT WE ARE ALL CROWNED WITH AFRICAN DIRT, MADE FROM AFRICAN DUST.
WHEN THEY CONCEAL, WE SEARCH OUT THE MATTER
TO MAKE BLACK HISTORY BETTER.
WE ARE WORTHY, WE ARE SIGNIFICANT,
WE ARE RELEVANT AND WE WILL NOT BE MOVED.
IT'S KIND OF HARD NOT TO RETALIATE WHEN DARKNESS CONTINUES TO DEHUMANIZE YOU IN SO MANY WAYS, SO THEY HAD REVOLTS AGAINST OPPRESSION.
THEY SET ASIDE EVERY WEIGHT THAT SO EASILY KEPT THEM
INTIMIDATED AND AFRAID AS SLAVES;
THEY PRAYED AND THEIR NIGHTS WERE
SURROUNDED BY DIVINE LIGHT.
TIME AFTER TIME THOSE PEOPLE WERE AFFLICTED WITH UGLY INDIFFERENCE YET THEY RESISTED IN LIGHT OF THEIR AMAZING SPIRITS; THEY CONTINUE TO RISE.
DR. KING DESTROYED THE LIPS OF WHITE SUPREMACY
DRIPPING IN IMMORALITY AS THEIR EYES
BURNED WITH DARKNESS; HE REMAINED
NONVIOLENT IN HIS EMPOWERMENT.
FROM THE RISING OF THE SUN CAME HIS LOVE AS THEY WOKE UP WITH THEIR MINDS ON FREEDOM AT ALL TIMES; WICKEDNESS HAD TO BOW BEFORE THEIR GOODNESS.
THEY GAVE LOVE FOR THE RANSOM OF GREED
FOR CENTURIES OF UNAMERICAN TRUTHS COUPLED
WITH VIOLENCE, MISTREATMENT, AND ABUSE.
WE’VE ORGANIZED OUR ENERGIES AND RE-POSITIONED OURSELVES; WE SELF-DEFINE AND SELF-CREATE TO ERASE HATE.
THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN NEGRO IS THE HISTORY OF THIS STRIFE, —THIS LONGING TO ATTAIN SELF-CONSCIOUS MANHOOD, TO MERGE HIS DOUBLE SELF INTO A BETTER AND TRUER SELF. IN THIS MERGING HE WISHES NEITHER OF THE OLDER SELVES TO BE LOST. HE WOULD NOT AFRICANIZE AMERICA, FOR AMERICA HAS TOO MUCH TO TEACH THE WORLD AND AFRICA. HE WOULD NOT BLEACH HIS NEGRO SOUL IN A FLOOD OF WHITE AMERICANISM, FOR HE KNOWS THE NEGRO BLOOD HAS A MESSAGE FOR THE WORLD. HE SIMPLY WISHES TO MAKE IT POSSIBLE FOR A MAN TO BE BOTH A NEGRO AND AN AMERICAN, WITHOUT BEING CURSED AND SPIT UPON BY HIS FELLOWS, WITHOUT HAVING THE DOORS OF OPPORTUNITY CLOSED ROUGHLY IN HIS FACE.
WILLIAM EDWARD BURGHARDT DU BOIS EXCERPT
THE SOULS OF BLACK FOLKS
ABUSED AND SCORNED THOUGH WE MAY BE, OUR DESTINY IS TIED UP WITH AMERICA’S DESTINY. BEFORE THE PILGRIMS LANDED AT PLYMOUTH, WE WERE HERE. BEFORE THE PEN OF JEFFERSON ETCHED THE MAJESTIC WORDS OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE ACROSS THE PAGES OF HISTORY, WE WERE HERE. FOR MORE THAN TWO CENTURIES OUR FOREBEARS LABORED IN THIS COUNTRY WITHOUT WAGES; THEY MADE COTTON KING; THEY BUILT THE HOMES OF THEIR MASTERS WHILE SUFFERING GROSS INJUSTICES AND SHAMEFUL HUMILIATION—AND YET OUT OF A BOTTOMLESS VITALITY THEY CONTINUED TO THRIVE AND DEVELOP. IF THE INEXPRESSIBLE CRUELTIES OF SLAVERY COULD NOT STOP US, THE OPPOSITION WE NOW FACE WILL SURELY FAIL. WE WILL WIN OUR FREEDOM BECAUSE THE SACRED HERITAGE OF OUR NATION AND THE ETERNAL WILL OF GOD ARE EMBODIED IN OUR ECHOING DEMANDS.
DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. EXCERPT
LETTER FROM BIRMINGHAM JAIL
