August 3, 2003 - Archives

"I feel that on the whole, Black people’s dependence on religion was such a great part of the Civil Rights Movement because of its roots in the institution of slavery. As Africans and African-Americans were enslaved in the United States, everything, including their very identity, was stripped from them gradually but deliberately. Christianity, which ironically was the religion of those who enslaved Blacks, offered a possible life and definite afterlife full of endless rewards. Particularly in the Old Testament, there were accounts about the deliverance of Moses and the Egyptians; becoming familiar with these Biblical anecdotes, slaves finally experienced the chance to be free and prosperous. This reliance on religion as a means of escape was maintained throughout slavery and into the Civil Rights era." <Read All>