Why Should I Care About Black History Month?

What will you do to commemorate Black History month? I plan to learn about a new African/American ancestor who made a difference in history: Carter G. Woodson, who helped initiate the very first month commemorating Black history. 

Black History is our history because we are all descendants of ONE family. The concept of race is arbitrary. One of my favorite poets is Maya Angelou. She suggests we “see past complexion to community.”

         When I engage in mission outreach work in Kenya, Haiti or the Dominican Republic, I am in the minority of white skinned people there. But after working alongside the people of the country where we serve, any differences in the way we appear on the outside melts away as we discover so many commonalities. We love to laugh and sing, love to eat, and drink, and have many of the same goals and dreams. We become comrades because of our common cause to improve the lives of those in need on behalf of the church and due to our common ancestry.

         An article by Mark Schoofs from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology entitled: What DNA Says About Human Ancestry—and Bigotry
(Part 3, The Myth of Race) states: “Mitochondrial DNA indicates that all living humans descend from one maternal source—christened Mitochondrial Eve—who lived in Africa between 100,000 and 200,000 years ago. Similarly, the Y chromosome shows that all men have a common ancestor, Y-chromosome Adam, who lived at the same time.”

         Schoof goes on to say: “Not only is our concept of race arbitrary, but it is based on a relatively insignificant difference between people.” Over time, ''genetics will help beat down racist arguments,'' says Eric Lander, a geneticist at M.I.T.

         The Bible affirms our oneness through our common faith in Christ:

Galatians 3:26-28
”For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.  For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.  There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

         Together let us promote unity by celebrating Black History month with intentional outreach to make new friends who have a different skin color. Invite them to church! Expand our global family of friends by welcoming someone new. Here at the Church of the Roses, we strive to reach out with nurturing love to all in need. Let’s continue to work for true freedom for all of our family by eliminating racist practices, jokes, and demeaning behaviors in our society. YOU can make a difference this month and always by remembering genetically we are all connected to the same African ancestors as brothers and sisters in the family of God.                  

(For the full article see: http://web.mit.edu/racescience/in_media/what_dna_says_about_human/)