#TreasuresofDarkness, Day 2: Daniel 10:6
“It is a peculiar sensation, this double consciousness, this sense of always looking at one’self through the eyes of others, of measuring one’s soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity. One ever feels his twoness: an American, a Negro, two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder.” W.E.B Dubois, The Souls of Black Folk.
Words have power.
If you are not of African Descent or the Diaspora, I invite you to immerse yourself both these words above and the original devotional below because these are important.
There are those who would question the whys as to the importance of African Descent History month; why would we as African Descent people living in the US seemingly go out of our ways to celebrate our culture and heritage to a point we are constantly reminding the wider community how we got here, how much suffering we have endured and soaked in our DNA, carrying and releasing every time we march, protest or lobby for continuously sought after liberation, civil and human rights?
Because everywhere we turn, we are stereotyped a certain way, pegged to be less than in many ways and destined by the wider society and the status quo to be worth nothing but enslaved labor, as a cog in the machine that runs this country.
And when this is affirmed within sacred walls of church and faith community?
Sometimes it feels as if we are that motherless child.
Have you seen the first scene of Harriet, the recent 2019 movie based on Harriet Tubman, where the slaves were in front of a preacher, although an Black preacher, in front of their Master and his family, and hearing words from the Bible, reminding them they were worthless, that they had been bound to eternal enslavement by God and only through obedience to their Master, was the only way to get into heaven?
That their skin,
was a curse.
Reading over documents and texts about the perception of Blackness in that day and time is frightening. This is why now, in 2020, the celebration of who we are as beloved children of Creator, continues to ramp upwards and onwards.
To sum up, in the words of the Sounds of Blackness, and their song “Optimistic”, some key verses…
The Blackness
Never say die
Keep, keep, keep
Never say die
Keep, keep on
Never say die
If things around you crumble
No, you don’t have to stumble and fall
Keep pushing on and don’t you look back
I know the storms and strife
Cloud up your outlook on life
Just think ahead and you’ll be inspired
To reach higher and higher
As long as you keep your head to the sky
You can win as long as you keep your head to the sky
You can win as long as you keep your head to the sky
Be optimistic
Now, the original devotional from three years ago on this second day of African Descent History Month:
Sharing words of affirmation about our Blackness from writer Daniel Harris: Twitter and IG: Daniel Harris
My Black Is Beautiful!
Daniel 10:6
For Floretta.
Those of us in the Christian faith find ourselves in an interesting conundrum.
On the one hand, our Holy book is filled with passages and stories of hope, love and redemption.
On the other, our Holy book is filled with passages and stories of genocide, suffering at the hands of God’s chosen that can be difficult to reconcile.
How the Bible deals with people of color, in particular blackness, does not make this any easier to reconcile or come to terms with. During the time when the Bible was being translated and biblical canon selected, many societies found themselves subjugated, impoverished and enslaved.
For people of color, especially black people, this was no different. So highlighting those passages depicting nations of color as those that needed to be wiped out, dangerous and ungodly without positive representation can be perceived as a systematic attempt to keep people of color in their places.
For my reflection, I was given Daniel 10:6. For context, Daniel had been fasting for 24 days before he had an encounter with an unnamed individual. This individual appears to Daniel with a “body was hard and glistening, as if sculpted from a precious stone, his face radiant, his eyes bright and penetrating like torches, his arms and feet glistening like polished bronze.” (Message Bible translation) Now to be honest, I found it very difficult to connect blackness to Daniel’s description of this individual. After all, metal, gems, fire and lightening don’t really say blackness in a literal sense. I had to look beyond the literal.
I had to pay close attention to the word “like” and I also found other translations that specified the precious stone as being topaz. Using those context clues, it became a little more evident that the description of this individual in Daniel’s vision could be perceived as being a person of color. It is such a beautiful and powerful description. It is a description and encounter rarely seen when thinking about the larger context of blackness in the Bible.
As we move through Treasures of Darkness and the month of February, we will be unceremoniously reminded of the enslavement, subjugation and genocide of people of color. However, through all of these painful reminders and representations, I pray that you are able to think back on this devotion to remember that your black is beautiful!
It’s tough to move in a world, a dominate culture that constantly vilifies your very existence. Trying to operate in a system designed to make you feel inferior can be tedious. However, in those times remind yourself that “my black is beautiful!”
