celebrating Black History Month --- a story

Spiritual resource to share: spiritual identity

At the heart of an article about the heart of celebrating Black History Month, there is a story within a story in which two African-American men meet and talk that I wanted to share with you all. It is from spirituality.com. Enjoy!

While snacking on a boat ramp one day, we met someone I’ll call Mr. Wilson, a black man and grandfather from Texas. He was fishing and suggested I buy Ayoka (my daughter) a fishing rod because she looked so comfortable near the water. We struck up a conversation....

Mr. Wilson opened up about an experience when he was given a ticket by a white police officer who accused him of speeding during a heavy snow storm. He explained to me how difficult it would have been for anyone to speed in those weather conditions. When Mr. Wilson told the officer he didn’t have any money to pay for the ticket, he was put in jail.

I thought about how Mr. Wilson’s modest example echoed the plight of enslaved Africans and the subsequent institutionalization of racism in the US. Mr. Wilson had exemplified many wonderful spiritual qualities. We continued to talk for a while.

As we shook hands and parted, Mr. Wilson got in his truck and waved goodbye. He gave Ayoka and me a really big smile. As I waved goodbye to him, I was so moved by our conversation and how he’d expressed the promise he saw in my relationship with Ayoka. “Now that’s black history,” I thought.

And that’s when something clicked for me.

Mr. Wilson had exemplified many wonderful spiritual qualities resplendent in a child of God. He was warm, gracious, strong, wise, loving, eloquent, and persistent. These spiritual qualities shone forth stronger than the pain and humiliation of his speeding ticket incident.

It occurred to me that those same spiritual qualities Mr. Wilson expressed had been the very catalyst that had ended slavery and furthered a dialogue on civil rights that continues to heal and better our society.

“And that’s what we celebrate about black history,” I thought to myself— resilience, courage, poise, and progress despite seemingly insurmountable obstacles.

To read the article in its entirety, click here. Please feel free to share how you celebrate this month in the comments section!


Photo by J.Falls
copyright All rights reserved
Anyone can see this photo