The greatest testimony of Black people has been our ability to thrive in spite of obstacles placed in our way for our failure. We work twice as hard for half as much, and as Mya Angelo said, And Still We Rise, like the proverbial Phoenix from the ashes, like a mighty army from the valley of dried bones, we rise.

We have risen from the holds of slave ships, from the plantations of suffering, from the bonds of Jim Crow legislation, from the demonic evils of brutal assaults and lynchings, from injustice to injustice, from oppression and victimization to victories, and from the blood of our forefathers left on the battlefields seeking a brighter tomorrow for our future generations, still, we rise.

And we know why the caged bird sings; he sings a song of hope in a Sovereign God who has brought us safe thus far on our way, a God who delivered us from the hand of a modern-day Pharaoh who enslaved our ancestors, a God who has kept us in spite of.

And yet our fight carries on. We push past the relentless obstacles littering our pathway to progress. We push through closed doors and nay-sayers. We have become accustomed to struggles and have earned a Ph.D. in overcoming obstacles. We have excelled at every given turn and outshined our lesser-melanated peers once we have broken down the doors that said keep out.

When told, “You can’t,” we responded with, “Yes, we can,” and have gone on to prove it.

We won’t allow anyone to deny us our dreams. We have come too far to quit now. Quitting is not an option. It is not in our collective DNA.

Fortunately, our in-house detractors are few, those who suffer from Stockholm Syndrome, what Malcolm referred to as the House Slave mentality. Those who would sell their souls and sell out their own people for a few extra crumbs from the master’s table and an honorary seat to enjoy a meal of white privilege. Those who possess a brown face but promote a white supremacist agenda. Those who have infiltrated movements of progress in efforts to stop a revolution and move toward equality.   

“Not all skin folks are your kin folks,” as the saying goes. And yet, still, we rise, in spite of. In spite of being targeted by the slings and arrows of racism/“white” supremacy. In spite of Judas-like betrayals with a kiss. In spite of the hijacking of narratives used to delegitimize our struggle. In spite of shapeshifting strategies used to promote the continuation of a systemic and institutionalized cancer that has polluted the body of America, which pledges that all men stand equal as one nation under God.

As Dr. King stated in his speech from the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC, we are still looking to collect on a check marked insufficient funds.       

And we are geared up with the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, with our loins girded with truth, and our feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace and carrying the sword of the Spirit and the shield of faith with which we are able to quench the fiery darts sent our way.

Our armor is polished, and we remain ready and alert as the enemy stands at the gate seeking to kill, steal, and destroy with divide and conquer strategies and attempts to push back any forward movement toward the goal of equal opportunities. Our troops have been targeted based on skin color and differences in religious and political beliefs. Efforts have been made by the enemy to redirect our attention via disinformation and faulty intel toward brown-skinned immigrants and impoverished, lesser-melanated individuals.     

Our Affirmative Action has been under attack, as has DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion). For every one step forward, there have been those waiting at the door of opportunity and equality to push us back two steps in an effort to maintain the status quo of oppression. Yet we are not supposed to believe our eyes and ears and our personal experiences, as we are told that racism/white supremacy is a thing of the past, and we’ve had a twice-elected Black president to prove it.

It’s an uphill battle, but we have been promised and assured that not even the gates of hell will be able to overcome us, and no weapon formed against us shall prosper.

When we come together across “racial” lines, political lines, religious beliefs, and philosophical ideologies and just relate to each other as people made in the image of God, we stand a much better chance of eradicating, once and for all, this cancer from the body of America. Perhaps then we can truly become the UNITED States of America.