|
By John T. Crestwell, Jr.
January 20, 2002
Regarding the Problems of the Black Race & Black Church. From the
mouth of the Prophet, Martin Luther King, Jr., & Pen of the Scribe,
John Thomas Crestwell, Jr.
From John’s book, "Conversations...The Hidden Truth That Keeps The
World From Being At Peace!"
Introduction
Although I don’t like to think dualistically and also subscribe to a
belief that present Christianity has failed the world, choosing to
live in the realm of myth and illusion instead of rational reality,
I have written this document as a man concerned about a very
powerful institution, the Black Church, which has served as an
historical foundation for many African-Americans past and present.
The goal of this message is to show that Black Americans must
identify with their past, in light of the present, so that they may
actualize their future in the world as truly free, equal and
respected Americans. The future is not a segregated, nationalistic
reality, but one where African-Americans are a part of the “new
heavens and new earth” where all races, languages and cultures live
the abundant life.
It is important that all people, no matter your nationality, read
this letter as it gives important historical information in
understanding the African-American mind theologically, socially and
economically! Martin Luther King, Jr. as we all know, was a great
man. He was not perfect, yet he was unafraid to challenge
traditional thought that subjected Blacks to prejudice, in many
forms, and held Whites captive of illusionary “fear of loss” which
perpetuated continued violence and hatred toward Blacks.
I chose to write this letter because, as I state in the opening of
the letter, many friends have asked me, “what would M.L.K. be saying
and doing now regarding the problems of the Black race and Black
Church?” I am compelled to answer this question from a religious,
social and economic perspective, as King would, and have earnestly
sought to become King, as best as I could, in writing the letter,
although many views presented may be considered, as I write,
“Crestwellian rather than Kingian at times.” Also, make note that
everything in blue is a direct quote from King.
There is also history here. Letter writing has been a powerful means
of protest in our world history. During the 1800-1900’s
particularly, this was the most powerful means of getting one’s
point across to a large audience. Writing was the mass media. The
pen was as powerful then as radio in the 50’s and television from
the 60’s, to the present (there’s still power in the pen today you
know)!
The inspiration for my letter comes from three places, “David
Walker’s Appeal,” written in 1830, King’s “Letter to American
Christians” written and read in 1955 at his first church, Dexter
Avenue Baptist Church, and later before the National Baptist
Convention, USA to a standing ovation; and additional motivation
came from King’s historic “Letter From the Birmingham Jail” written
in 1963. The Apostle Paul’s many letters written in the early first
century inspired King’s writing and structure for his letters.
Walker’s “Appeal” has inspired thousands, like Nat Turner and
Harriet Tubman, to name a few. It is my hope that my letter written
over 170 years after Walker’s and over 40 years after King’s, will
spark flickers of light in the hearts and minds of many, from
various races, so that we might know that we can end any and all
negative human conditions that exist, if we seek earnestly and
sincerely to learn from our past so that we might secure our present
and future!
LETTER TO THE
BLACK CHURCH IN AMERICA
Regarding the Problems of the Black Race & Black Church
From the mouth of the prophet, Martin Luther King, Jr.
& the pen of the scribe, John Thomas Crestwell, Jr.
To all that exists; and to all that existed; and to all that will
exist that is virtuous, I leave these words…
I, John Thomas Crestwell, Jr., servant of God, submit this letter to
the Black Church from one of God’s prophets, Martin Luther King, Jr.
If the letter sounds a bit Crestwellian rather than Kingian at
times, attribute that to my enthusiasm in putting this great man’s
words to paper as expeditiously as possible. May the people of God
hear the message from God, through King. Let it be so!
Beloved friends,
I am answering a call from our Lord, to provide to the Black Church,
in particular, a message, as you move forward into the 21st century.
It is quite difficult, I must admit, to step from the depths and
everlasting peace of eternity, toward your finite space and time in
what you call post-modernity, but God’s will must be done. The Lord
has chosen me, not because I am any better or more eloquent than
God’s other children, rather because many on earth are asking a
peculiar question. That question is what would Martin King be saying
and doing now regarding the problems of the Black race and Black
Church?
Let me say first that this is a good question but incorrectly
stated. Martin Luther King is not God Almighty! I am a fellow
servant just like you. Therefore, the issue today, as in the past,
is not what would Martin Luther King be doing today, but what would
our Heavenly Master be doing now regarding the problems of the Black
Race and the Black Church. This is the major question that must be
addressed, and my beloved scribe and fellow children of God, this is
where our Lord would like me to begin my letter.
THE PROBLEM
When I dwelt amidst the land of mortals, I witnessed overt racism
and heinous oppression of the poor, Negroes in particular. Today,
the problem of racism is much more covert and very difficult to
ascertain in many ways. Yet I find when I look at the world, there
are still far too many people of color suffering. There are still
too many slums and too many ghettos; too many dilapidated
neighborhoods, too many bloated bellies that go to bed hungry; too
many people of color disenfranchised and marginalized by ancient and
modern systems and philosophies that promote greed, which creates
and continues to perpetuate the ever-present pestilence called
poverty. Of the 6 billion inhabitants on your planet, over half live
in abject poverty1 and these people are mostly Africans,
African-Americans, Native Americans, Hispanics, Indians and East and
Southeast Asians. It seems, unfortunately, that racism and
discrimination are alive and well! But I want to focus specifically
on the problem of Blacks in America and look at what the church must
do today turn your cloudy sky of injustice into a rainbow of
righteousness.
As I look at your world, on one hand, Blacks in America have
excelled in many facets of society, and you must be commended for
that. In my day a Ph.D. among Negroes was something to behold.
However, today your universities are graduating Blacks with
doctorates in record proportions. That is wonderful! You are also
producing a new middle class that has tremendous buying power. I see
your fine automobiles and houses; many of you have found material
success. You have also shown your technological genius in your
mastery of the computer and other modern gadgets. You are building
large sanctuaries to worship God, and the budgets of many Black
Churches today rival the budgets of some small towns! By all outward
appearances, today’s African-Americans are doing just fine.
On the other hand, Black mothers are raising their children alone
more than ever before. As a matter of fact, there are more
single-parent African-American households today, from broken
relationships, than Black couples raising families.2 There are a
disproportionate number of Blacks being imprisoned compared to other
ethnicities3, and as a result, the African-American family is
becoming extinct as in the time of the slave trade. Drugs are
ravaging your urban communities and you have a vague and shallow
understanding of communal responsibility. You have hundreds of Black
Churches that could take control of troubled urban communities, if
you work together; yet there is still far too much poverty, violence
and disunity within the race. Of all cultures that exist on earth,
the Black race is the most fragmented in terms of social and civic
responsibility by and among those within the race. In other words,
there is more apathy than sympathy for the masses within the Negro
classes.
For me, the good, bad and ugly I have mentioned is a strange
paradox, and moves me to say that the Negro race in America suffers
from a sort of schizophrenic personality. You are Dr. Jekyll on one
side and Mr. Hyde on the other. You have so much materially and
spiritually in one segment of society and so little in the other.
What I mean is that within the Black race, there exists a microcosm
of a macrocosmic problem. You possess many “haves” in communities
but still there are far too many “have-nots.” A great mind, W.E.B.
Dubois, indicated that the apathy experienced by Blacks could be due
to the double-consciousness factor. You are African and you are
American. You wrestle with your identity because you are one being
with two warring personalities. The one is from a distant land that
you barely know in your conscious mind, the other you have been
acculturated, taught through enslavement, to know intimately. This
causes you to love one and hate the other subconsciously. Understand
clearly, there is a conflict within your personality because you
live a White reality within a White-dominated culture. You are
displaced and cannot relate to America or Africa in full, only in
part. This permeates the entire race and is at the root of why there
is disloyalty and disunity among Negro people.
This is an existential problem (a problem of existence) within Black
America. It is the double-consciousness nature within Black mental
skies that causes you to go to one or two extremes—you become
narcissistically Afro-centric or apathetically Euro-centric. This is
the extreme to the left and right and in the middle of this
struggle, we find the Black Church, the very essence of what it
means to be African-American, historically, looking to it’s east and
west, without a compass to give direction to its congregants. The
Black Church, for the most part, sits idly by searching for its
identity because its identity, by its very nature, also wears two
masks. How can the Black race and Black Church make sense of this
schizophrenic personality? How can the Black Church take off the
historical mask the grins and lies, and hides our cheeks and shades
our eyes (Paul Dunbar)?
Beloved, in order for us to fully answer this question and to
understand the depth and breadth of the problems facing Negroes and
the Negro Church today, we must begin with a look at the
African-American past, and work our way systematically toward the
present, in hopes of finding resolution and reconciliation to the
mental disillusionment that exists among the race. So let us press
on.
|
