“Until She Spoke”

Until she spoke, no Christian nation had abolished Negro slavery. Until she spoke, no Christian nation had given to the world an organized effort to abolish slavery. Until she spoke, the slave ship, followed by hungry sharks, greedy to devour the dead and dying slaves flung overboard to feed them, ploughed in peace the South Atlantic, ...

“Forced Sex”

Rape, molestation and forced homosexuality on plantations. It was very nearly universal. Most slave owners had no one and nothing to prevent them using their slaves-male and female- for sexual purposes, and would not have believed any one who told them it was wrong. Slaves, especially dark-skinned slaves, were not seen as human enough to have ...

“Distractions”

“The function, the very serious function of racism is distraction. It keeps you from doing your work. It keeps you explaining, over and over again, your reason for being. Somebody says you have no language and you spend twenty years proving that you do. Somebody says your head isn’t shaped properly so you have scientists ...

“10 Spiritual Tonics”

Ten Spiritual Tonics 1. Stop worrying. Worry kills life. 2. Begin each day with a prayer. It will arm your soul. 3. Control appetite. Over-indulgence clogs body and mind. 4. Accept your limitations. 5. Don’t envy. It wastes time and energy. 6. Have faith in people. Cynicism sours the disposition. 7. Find a hobby. It will relax your nerves. 8. Read a book ...

“Boy”

The word “boy,” when applied to grown men of color–particularly black men in America–carries historical racist freight. It was used by slave owners as one of many ways to establish dominance over their slaves. After slavery’s abolition, it continued to be used by white Americans–especially in the South–in the same manner and for the same ...

”Still A Nightmare”

“ …Whites, it must frankly be said, are not putting in a similar mass effort to reeducate themselves out of their racial ignorance. It is an aspect of their sense of superiority that the white people of America believe they have so little to learn. The reality of substantial investment to assist Negroes into the twentieth ...