My Juneteenth 2020 Speech in Black Mountain Square (NC)

Good evening!


Being with you tonight is nothing less than a privilege and honor. Juneteenth is such a special day in American history. From 1619 when the 1^st Africans arrived on the shores of Lynchburg, VA until January 1, 1863, Africans were declared slaves, beings who were considered 3/5 a human being whose destiny was to work brutal hours and jobs without pay for life. They were owned by those who purchased them and could be sold to another who purchased them.


Some have said to me, “What was SO wrong or bad with slavery? Wasn’t there slavery in the Bible and other cultures?” While there was slavery in the Bible and other parts of the world, one could only be a slave for 7 years and most times you were paying back a debt you owed or paying the penalty for a crime committed.


I wish we had not called what happened to Africans in America slavery, because it was not traditional slavery. It was legalized terrorism. Not only was the slave owned by their master, but your children were automatically slaves, as well as their children. This institution was evil to the core, meant to torcher the slave physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually into submission, many times just shy of their lives.


While President Lincoln believed in and supported slavery, I believe he was sent by God to release these oppressed human beings, made in his image, from the bonds of slavery. President Lincoln valued more an intact Union than the financial benefits of slavery which led him to declare a Civil War. From April 12, 1861 to April 9, 1865 America fought its bloodiest war. The North against the South.


In the middle of this war, President Lincoln penned the words, “I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves, are, and henceforth shall be free” on January 1, 1863, known as the Emancipation Proclamation. Africans who had been slaves in the South, owned by another human being for almost 250 years, were now free!!


Guess what? Many southern slaves did not know about this declaration. Sadly, they did not know for 2 ½ years. On June 19, 1865 in Galveston, TX Union army general Gordon Granger announces federal orders that all slaves in Texas were now free--known now as Juneteenth! This was the last group of slaves in the South to learn of their freedom. There are theories of how this happened. Suffice it to say, June 19, 1865 was the date that ALL slaves in the South knew they were free. Side note: The 13^th Amendment to the Constitution freed ALL slaves, no matter where they were in the US on January 31, 1865.


Governed from a federal level, newly freed slaves entered in what we know to be the Reconstruction Period—1865 to 1877. For the first time in their lives, Blacks were equal with whites. We could own land, vote, work in government by winning elections, own a business, educate our children, earn money and it was all legal. After President Lincoln was assassinated on April 15, 1865, VP Andrew Johnson became President. He established the Reconstruction Act that had two goals: reintegrate Southern states from the Confederacy and integrate 4 million newly-freed slaves into the US.


Unfortunately, within a decade groups like the Ku Klux Klan along with President Johnson would reverse the change brought by Reconstruction in a violent backlash that restored white supremacy in the South. While slave owners received reparations for the loss they incurred with slavery ending, Blacks were promised 40 acres and a mule to get them started and back on their feet. The White slave owners received payment for their losses, but Blacks did not. We never received payment for our losses.


How incredibly devastating must it have been to experience the freedom they knew in their souls to be right and the freedom their ancestors would talk about in Africa only to have it taken away in such a short amount of time—12 years! Now what? More legalized oppression. While the 13^th Amendment freed all slaves, there was an exception clause—unless you were a criminal. This exception not only was exploited, but was applied to these newly freed slaves, especially Black men.


The South was hit hard once the lucrative slave (and cotton) industry was abolished and there was a need for labor to work the fields, etc. The solution—criminalize practically anything a Black person did and place them in jail or prison. So, these Black Americans could not own land, vote, become educated, run for office, own their own business any longer. All of these things were now illegal. This era became known as the Jim Crow Era and it lasted almost 100 years (post Reconstruction [1877] to 1968) .


Shortly after Reconstruction, state and local statutes/laws legalized racial segregation. If African Americans resisted Jim Crow laws, they could be arrested, fined, jailed, experience violence and even murdered. Black Codes were established solely to control where a Black person traveled and worked and how much they made on their job. Former Confederate soldiers worked as police and judges, making it difficult for African Americans to win court cases and ensuring African Americans were subject to black codes.


These codes worked in conjunction with the penal system. Black offenders typically received longer sentences than their white equal and because of the grueling work, often did not live out their entire sentence before dying. Violence was on the rise against African Americans and Presidents, local governments and even the Church, did very little to combat this terror. Black schools were vandalized and destroyed, and black citizens were attacked, tortured and lynched in the middle of the night. Families were attacked and forced off their land across the South. The KKK was the ring leader in orchestrating this terror while occupying the highest levels of government to the lowest local positions (like a community watch individual).


One statute or law during the Jim Crow Era was redlining. We all know when buying a house, zip code is everything as it relates to property values growing. Well, there were laws that kept Blacks from buying homes in certain zip codes. We could only buy in a certain area. Many times streets were not kept up, property values grew slowly and policing was either non-existent or harassing. My parents were born in 1943 and 1947. They both lived through Jim Crow and have some stories to tell.


Thankfully, their children were born after the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act of ’64 and ’65. I, along with my siblings, don’t know what it feels like to not be able to walk through the front door of any restaurant or go to school and learn no matter where we went to school, or vote in local, state and federal elections, attend college if we wanted, own a business, or travel from state to state without being stopped and asked for our papers.


Have we experienced discrimination based on the color of our skin? Yes, all of my siblings have. But now we can sue or write up a complaint against a business or college or industry or boss if proven to be discriminatory, where this was not an option prior to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Have we come a long way since June 19, 1865 when all slaves in the south knew they were free? Yes, we have. African Americans can vote, own land, own homes in neighborhoods where our property values steadily grow over the years, own a business, go to college, work in leadership roles, serve in government, marry interracially, etc.


We’ve come a long way for sure. However, with the recent deaths of George Floyd. Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Aubrey and the encounter in the flower garden of a white woman and a black male in NYC, we all know there is something wrong systemically, especially with the justice system, for these occurrences to happen the way they did, let alone the hundreds we don’t know about because no one captured it on film. In real time and full color, we witnessed a police officer murder a black man on the streets in the middle of the day while being videotaped. We also witnessed a white woman use her whiteness as a weapon to bring harm to another person. And neither one feared negative consequences for their actions.


America is changing ethnically and there are some who do not want this to occur. They are trying all kinds of ways to keep this inevitable occurrence from happening, to no avail. I know God is up to something good and I believe it is going to be a painful lesson for the Church. God has given the Church in America over 400 years to denounce the evils of not just slavery, but the aftermath of terror brought upon African Americans during Reconstruction, Jim Crow and Segregation Eras by White Americans. We have yet to do this. Do I believe that reckoning is coming and coming soon? Yes, I do.


All the Lord wants us to do is to confess the wrongs, not only past, but present and ask Him to help us turn from the evil of racism (or dehumanization) and trust Him to enable us to truly love the way He intended us to love one another. I know He can do this in us. The question remains. Do we want Him to do this in us? Racism has benefitted White Americans, to include Christians, for centuries. Are we ready to let go of those benefits for the sake of righteousness? Fighting against systemic racism, or dehumanization, is right and good, and it will be costly. The question at the end of the day is—are we ready to pay the cost to dismantle this evil or will we wait for the Lord to humble us?


My prayer is we will choose to humble ourselves and pursue righteousness no matter the cost!

Why the uptick in white supremacists makes sense!

Friday, March 15, 2019 the President was asked during a briefing if white nationalism was a growing threat worldwide. He said he did not believe it was growing. Why would the President respond this way when all data over the last two years say the opposite? Why would anyone say white supremacists are not growing worldwide when we see their presence and hate-filled impact almost every week in some way?

I will start by defining white supremacy. Then I will chronicle empires that have ruled the world from 2400 BC to present day. I will share stats that will give a panoramic view of how the world is changing ethnically, especially in the US. Finally, I will share two stories from my past that gave me insight into the mind and heart of white men, or at least white men in the America.

White supremacy 

Merriam-Webster defines a white supremacist as a person who believes that the white race is inherently superior to other races and that white people should have control over people of other races.

Sidenote: Ever wonder why hate and violence is associated with any ethnicity that deems themselves superior to another ethnicity? This definition sheds some light on why this is so.

Empires that ruled the Earth since 2400 BC

Egypt--2400 BC (Part of AFRICA) (ruled about 1280 yrs)
Shang--1122 BC (Part of CHINA) (ruled about 450 yrs)
Assyria--670 BC (Part of IRAQ) (ruled about 100 yrs)
Median--585 BC (Part of IRAN) (ruled about 50 yrs)
Achaemenid--539 BC (Part of INDIA) (ruled about 350 yrs)
Xiongnu--176 BC (Part of CHINA) (ruled about 900 yrs)
Umayyad Caliphate--720 AD (Part of North AFRICA and CHINA) (ruled about 500 yrs)
Mongol--1227 AD (Parts of EUROPE and ASIA) (ruled about 650 yrs)
British--1880 AD to present (Part of EUROPE) (has ruled about 140 yrs)

Africa, China, Iraq, Iran and India ruled the world for the first 3600 (of  almost 4400) years of world history. Europe has ruled the world for the past 790 years.

So, if European ethnicities are presently ruling the world, why do some people of European decent feel the need to preserve their rule by exploiting and killing other ethnicities like Muslims, Jews and Africans, while demanding that Hispanics not migrate to the US, etc.? Why would European men want to preserve themselves and their influence if they have ruled the world for the past 790 years? Is there another country encroaching and threatening to replace their empire?

Let's see.

Seven countries make up 52% of the world's population--USA, Brazil, Nigeria, Pakastan, India, China, and Indonesia (notice no European country is listed).

According to Pew Research, US growth from 1950 to 2010 doubled mainly because of Hispanics and Asians. Hispanics are growing the fastest because of births and Asians are growing because of immigration (notice European descendants are not mentioned as a group that is growing significantly). 

I have had two experiences in the past 35 years that gave me a glimpse into why some, if not many, white males feel their reign might be coming to an end. I attended a high school 35 years ago that was probably 97% white. I was voted Junior class president and then Student Body President my senior year. 

Soon after my senior win, one of my white male friends while standing in the middle of the hall said, "Melody, you aren't going to treat the white people badly?" I told him no, that I would not do that. I did not think much of his question at first, but eventually I realized that my friend gave me a glimpse into the mind of a white male, but more specifically a white male in America. 

If minorities in America ever gained power and authority, would we treat white people the way some white people throughout our history have treated us? Would we enslave them, tear their families apart, rape their wives and daughters, advance economically on their free labor, perpetuate the lie that they are not smart, innovative, and thought leaders, etc.? I can see why the thought of losing power would cause anyone with this history to fear a switch in power and want to do anything to include violence to remain in a position of authority.

Fast forward a decade. I was a missionary to college students and I was practicing a speech I had to give later that evening. I was expressing to a white male friend that I was nervous. He said, "have you practiced? If so, you shouldn't be nervous." I can't remember what I said after his response that generated his next statement, but he says, "White males don't have an advantage anymore. We don't have as much influence as you think." 

I honestly did not have a context to process what he was saying at the time. At that point in my life, white males had more advantages than any other people group I knew. I did not understand then, but I do now. 

I think my white male friend knew 25 years ago that European influence and rule at least in America, if not around the world, was coming to an end. He felt this enough to say it out loud (to someone he apparently felt comfortable enough to say it). I think white males all around the world feel their power and influence is ending and many are retaliating; they are fighting back. They are demanding that their empire remain. 

The problem with this position is all empires come to an end eventually.

Who will rule the world after Europe? I don't know. But what we as Christians, true followers of Christ, know is regardless of who 'sits on the throne' in this world, Jesus sits on THE throne and rules His empire/kingdom. The question for us is--which empire/kingdom will we want to build? The one on earth or the one in heaven? 

My prayer is we, as true followers of Christ, will want to build God's empire/kingdom!

If you want to learn more about politics and its impact on the Church, click here.

Why racism and abortion are entrenched in same evil system!

Comparing abortion to racism may seem like a stretch, but they are actually part of the same atrocious system. Here's why and how.

I will only use the incarceration rate of men and boys of color in America and the number of induced abortions performed annually worldwide to explain how racism and abortion are fueled and justified by the same evil system. 

The Aspen Institute defines systemic/structural racism as "A system in which public policies, institutional practices, cultural representations, and other norms work in various, often reinforcing ways to perpetuate racial group inequity. It identifies dimensions of our history and culture that have allowed privileges associated with “whiteness” and disadvantages associated with “color” to endure and adapt over time. Structural racism is not something that a few people or institutions choose to practice. Instead it has been a feature of the social, economic and political systems in which we all exist."

Using this definition for systemic (racism), you decide if it applies to the incarceration rate for men and boys of color in America and the number of induced abortions globally. According to the NAACP 2015 fact sheet, 'the US makes up 5% of the world's population and has 21% of the world's prisoners. 1 in 37 adults in US are under some form of correctional supervision. African Americans (AA) constituted 34% of the correctional population and are incarcerated 5x that of white men. 

Sidenote: AA children represent 32% of children who are arrested, 42% of children who are detained, and 52% of children whose cases are judicially waived to criminal court.

While AAs and Hispanics make up approximately 32% of the US popl'n, they comprised 56% of all incarcerated people.

Sidenote: If AAs and Hispanics were incarcerated at the same rates as whites, prison and jail populations would decline by almost 40%.".

Ex. Paul Manafort's almost 4-yr. sentence for his corruption over decades and Kwame Kilpatrick's, AA former mayor of Detroit, 28-yr. sentence for similar crimes over a decade.

Now for abortion. 

According to the Guttmacher Institute, "during 2010–2014, an estimated 56 million induced abortions occurred each year worldwide. Globally, 25% of all pregnancies ended in abortion."

We have a severely disproportionate number of men and boys of color populating our prisons with sentences that last decades and 56M+ abortions performed every year worldwide! The tie that binds these two industries is money and worth, entrenched in an evil system. Black men and unborn babies are not viewed as fully human, worthy of dignity, respect and preservation, therefore, they are disposable. Unfortunately, our laws, policies, legal system and law enforcement perpetuate this reality.

When you view someone as less than human, you can kill 6M Jews because you deem yourself superior and they, subhuman; you can kill 56M+ unborn babies each year because they are an 'it', not a person; you can let 2-4M African slaves die on route to the Americas because they are seen as chattel or property, and not human beings worthy of care and attention; you can make 1.2M children sex slaves annually; and you can put men and boys of color in prisons for long sentences and minor crimes because they are deemed worthless and a menace to society. 

It is difficult for some to understand how an individual decision can have consequences that stem from a corrupt system. How can a system send you to prison for decades or get you shot and killed by a policemen if you were not doing something wrong? 

If you view an unborn baby as human, worthy of dignity and preservation and became infuriated when Congress did not pass the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act recently, you now know how something can become systemic. We are screaming at the federal government to do something to change the laws around abortion, not necessarily our local officials. Why?

Because our legal system and cultural practices support and champion abortion. Abortion has been a part of the American fabric (entire industries and divisions of government profiting from this practice) for almost 50 years. Too many institutions make money off incarceration and abortion. They are too entangled in our day to day lives to rid them on an individual, and even state level.

While racism and abortion may be too big for our government to eradicate, they are not too big for the Church! The same power that raised Jesus from the grave lives inside each of us. We can pray. We can confess and repent of our sins. We can adopt children. We can support nonprofits that care for pregnant teens. We can visit those in prison. We can offer newly released prisoners a job. We can mentor our youth and remind them of how God sees them (and any future pregnancy that might happen won't change how He sees them). We can become police officers, lawyers, policy makers, and judges. 

Let's be who we are made to be--salt and light!

If you want to learn more about politics and its impact on the Church, click here.

Is Candace Owens Right?

Video above: Candace Owens, a Republican spokesperson and activist, speaking at CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference) 2019.

I decided to respond to Mrs. Owen's speech at CPAC mainly to acknowledge what I agree with and what causes concern. I will start by communicating the things I appreciate about her speech and then communicate my reservations.

The things I appreciate:

1. Her stance on abortion and that it is murder (click here if you want to understand how, from a scientific, biological, and biblical perspective, abortion is murder)
2. The absence of father's in black homes (and any home) is a problem that perpetuates bad behaviors (in boys and men). While I agree with this statement, I disagree with how she linked it to police brutality being a myth (more on this below)
3. We must get back to Judeo-Christian principles in politics
4. We need to apply common sense and protect freedom

The things that cause concern:

1. Equating conservative principles to the Republican party--Why do I say this? I posted an article in the past two weeks that explains why Black and White Christians in America vote so differently. The findings show that African Americans not only attend church more often, read our Bible more often, pray more often, and believe more strongly in the literal interpretation of the Bible than our white counterpart (Pew Research Center Religious Landscape Study), we also vote mostly for a party that does not hold our same values. WHY? The answer lies in the #1 difference I see distinguishing the two major parties in America--the size and influence of government in the lives of its people. Going back to slavery, then Jim Crow, then segregation and now the incarceration business, the only way these horrific institutions came to an end (except the incarceration business) was not on a state or local level. Left up to the state, most southern states would still be making money off slavery and equity in education, housing and loan lending would most likely be non-existent in most states (humans, unless radically transformed in our hearts and minds, are Dawinist--Survival of the Fittest). Discriminatory practices were deemed illegal on a national/federal level. It was disingenuous of Mrs. Owens to speak of the Dem. party as the one that supported slavery, etc. without explaining why Lincoln, a Republican president (the 1st Rep. president as a result of a deeply divided Dem. party in the south), abolished slavery. And how blacks stood against the Dem. party and their stance on slavery. Black Americans know if the federal government does not 'protect' us, we won't be protected on a state or local level. We never have, so why would we start to believe differently. This is the primary reason, whether known consciously or subconsciously, I believe that we vote overwhelmingly Democrat, the party that believes the federal government should govern the people (and business, and Wall Street, etc.). Trusting the state to do the right thing (which is an ideology of the Republican party) is not an option.
2. Using labels to sum up an entire group of people--Mrs. Owens repeated the label 'Left' not to explain an ideology that is different than the one she espouses. She used the label in a derogatory or condescending manner; like there is nothing good about the Democrat party and there is everything good and righteous about the Republican party. If the Republican party is the good, righteous party that Christians should support, why is our national debt $22T (without pointing the finger at Democrats)? Why has there only been two changes to adjust the abortion laws in favor of the infant since 1973 (2002 and 2003 under President George W. Bush)? Why is poverty rampant and wealth accumulation becoming more and more out of reach for many Americans? Why are there thousands of homeless veterans (60-70,000)? Contrary to Mrs. Owens comment that police brutality is a myth, why have black people, especially black men, been killed by policemen disproportionately to white men as well as sent to prison 5x more often than white men since we arrived in this country 400 years ago (If African Americans and Hispanics were incarcerated at the same rate as whites, prison and jail populations would decline by almost 40%)? I understand that this was a conference and you want to wake folks up and get them energized by your speech, but Mrs. Owens did not respect the audience listening enough to give context and perspective to her comments. 
3. Saying the Black community hailed Donald Trump as the 'god' of the American dream--There was a time, about 30+ years ago, when Donald Trump  was herald by many people in general, but also those in the Black community as the epitome of financial success--the American dream. While I could not find quotes or images where Jay-Z and Beyonce sipped champagne at the Mar a Largo hotel or a literal quote by President Obama about Donald Trump being the American dream (he used him as an extreme caricature for wealth accumulation in America in 3 periodicals), these statements being factual and contextual was not Mrs. Owen's aim. She was attempting to connect the Black community to an allegiance to President Trump to show the mad exodus around 2015 as impossible. Surely the distaste for Mr. Trump could not have happened overnight? It did not happen overnight. It happened over the past 30 years. If there was a genuine connection to Mr. Trump, it was over 30 years ago when we did not know some of the things he said about black people (we did not have cell phones with video capabilities). We did not know he discriminated against blacks in his apartment business until the '80s and '90s. But we began to know and now we really know. Most Black Americans, to include Christians, believe Donald Trump is a racist. But that is not where we as Christians stop. If we believe he is a racist (which I believe he is), then we are called to pray for him, which I do. None of us change, for real, unless someone higher and more powerful than us, helps us change. This is my prayer for me and this is my prayer for President Trump.

So that you know where I come from, I am an independent voter. I vote person, not party. Some see this as a good alternative, while others say I am not helping to change anything if I vote for someone who is going to lose. The one thing I know I can do after I vote is lay my head on my pillow knowing I voted my conscience (Ro. 8).

If you want to learn more about how politics is impacting the Church, click here.

MUST the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act become law?

I have learned a lot since creating an account on Facebook in 2009. The primary lesson is always check the credibility of the article or argument before sounding the alarm. 

This is what I did to understand the most recent legislation passed called the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act of 2019. You decide whether a 'foul' needs to be called on those who drafted this bill OR that this bill MUST become law.

Born Alive Infants Protection Act of 2002

This law requires equal medical treatment of infants born alive

President George W. Bush passed this law in 2002. It requires doctors to treat any infant born alive with the same caliber and urgency of medical care no matter how they were born (natural, induced labor, cesarean section, or induced abortion).

Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003

This law is about the location of the infant when determining if they are dead or alive

President George W. Bush (with bipartisan support from Congress) passed this law in 2003. It says that the doctor can not push a rod through the brain of an infant on its way down the birthing canal after an abortion to ensure the infant is dead. Why? Because the doctor can not see if the infant is alive while passing through the birth canal. 

Before this law, it was and still is illegal to kill a baby once they are fully born (outside the mother's body). This law requires the doctor to wait until the infant’s full head is outside the mother's body or if breach, the legs and torso up to the navel are exposed before determining if the infant is dead. 

Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act of 2019

This bill requires equal medical treatment of infants born alive after an abortion with penalties

This bill requires equal medical treatment of infants born alive after an abortion AND includes criminal penalties for doctors who do not comply AND imposes specific requirements on medical care.

So, your call. Does the 2002 law serve as an umbrella for what is being required in the 2019 bill? Is the purpose of this bill to create fear and confusion? Must this bill become law?

I believe the 2002 law serves as an umbrella for medical treatment for ALL babies born alive. However, if the law is not specific enough, this can cause loopholes, which is the case here. I believe the 2019 bill was created, in part, to cause panic and fear AND I do not believe the House of representatives that voted against it read the bill. 

Should the House have passed the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act of 2019 bill which would have been placed on the President's desk to become law? Yes, I believe it should have. 

Do I believe this bill should have generated as much fear as it did? Yes, without context. But ultimately, I do not. The Born Alive Infants Protection Act of 2002 law still stands. Babies born alive, no matter how they are born alive, are treated medically the same. 

If you know of situations where doctors are not compliant, write your Senator and Representative and tell them to pay closer attention to this matter!

If you would like to learn more about politics and its impact on the Church, click here.

Introduction (Part I): 

Have you ever wondered how we as Christians became subject to the rule and reign of our political system and those systems around the world? 

Have we, as God's people, always been governed by the political system of the country in which we live? 

Why, regardless of our party affiliation, are we so bitter and sometimes hateful over the decisions our government makes? 

Does God have anything to say about the political systems around the world, how they work and His expectations for us as we submit to these systems? 

The answers to these questions and many more similar questions are found in two small books in the Bible: I Samuel and Judges. 

My position and perspective come mainly from the book of I Samuel.

More next week.

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