What comes to mind when you hear the word April? Quite naturally, you would think about the month of April, with its spring showers and budding plants. Some people will think of Easter and what the resurrection of Christ means to them. Parents of young children think about Easter bunnies, Easter egg hunts, and fresh new spring duds for their children to parade in during church service.

Many Christians think of April as a time to reflect on the cross and suffering of our Lord and Savior. The word April elicits so many thoughts in people’s minds – from turning the page from old man winter, to the renewing of the earth as the warmth of the sun returns, bathing the earth with everything new and yet undiscovered.

Merriam-Webster defines the word April as an English word, originating from the Latin word Aprilis, which the Romans named as a month. Some Roman authors believe that the Romans named April because that month “opened” the buds of leaves and flowers. Other authors believe that April was named after the Greek goddess Aphrodite.

Most people think of April as a month of beauty and earthly renewal, but I challenge you to think about the less thoughtful and maybe even difficult struggles that have been associated with this month.

April 9, 1865, marked the end of the Civil War. Although General Robert E. Lee did surrender at the Appomattox Court House, and his surrender did mark the official end to the American Civil War, the fight for Black liberation was far from over. The Union versus the Confederacy was thought to have been laid to rest, but the fight for freedom for Black Americans continues to this day. Nearly 200,000 Black men served in the Union Army and Navy. It was their brave actions that paved the way for the 13^th Amendment.

The month of April holds much significance for Black Americans. It was April 4, 1968, when a vibrant Martin Luther King was shot and killed on the balcony of the Loraine Hotel. Martin’s assassination was a critical inflection for the civil rights movement.  I can remember as a young girl, the look of grief in my mother’s beautiful face and the sheer anger in my father’s face as he took to the streets in Cincinnati to voice his anger over the assassination of our great leader. Martin Luther King’s death still inspires many to stand up for racial justice in America today.

It was April 11, 1968, that the Fair Housing Act became law. This act was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson, and it addressed racial injustice in housing. This law made it illegal to discriminate in the sale, rental, or financing of housing based on race, color, religion, or national origin. Once again, federal measures were put into law to stop racial discrimination practices, but the hate still prevailed. Redlining, unequal lending, and racial appraisal gaps continued to leave Black families marginalized and shut out of fair housing. The average Black family today owns about one-eighth of the wealth of the average white family.

In April 1975, the Fall of Saigon still holds significance in the lives of many Black families who lost loved ones in the Vietnam War. What the news headlines do not report is that during the Vietnam War, Black Americans only represented 11% of the American population, but accounted for a significant percentage of American casualties. Roughly 7, 263 Black men died during the Vietnam War, representing about 14.1% of all United States military fatalities. It is noteworthy to mention that Black women died in the Vietnam War as well, but not to the degree that Black men died.

There are also beacons of light that shine in the history of Black Americans that happened in the month of April. Jackie Robinson broke baseball’s color barrier on April 15, 1947, and challenged white America’s assumptions of what a truly great and gifted athlete looked like.

A nod to global Black history came on April 22, 1994, when the country of South Africa held its first multiracial elections. This action paved the way for Nelson Mandela to become President of South Africa. This election taught Black Americans that no system of oppression was too big to fall.

And we cannot forget the pebble that was thrown into a lake, and the weight of that pebble became a tidal wave that brings us together today. Three Fifth’s Magazine was born in April 2021, from a vision and since its inception, a voice much like that in John 1:23 when he said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”

April can be remembered as a month of new beginnings and tragic endings. April is a month that holds many lessons for Americans if we only take the time to listen.