We Can't Afford to Forget

Today, I went to see the new Denzel Washington film, The Great Debaters. As sat through the more than two hour movie, I experienced a range of emotions: sadness, anger and most of all PRIDE. Though the film is called fact-based fiction, and there is artistic license in the film, the film is a true story. The actual final debate took place at USC and not at Harvard, and other than the Farmer characters, the other characters are composite characters. Nonetheless, it is a story of triumph. It is a story of courage. It is a story of those who paved the way for us.

African-Americans have experienced AND overcome so much in this country. What other group of people could still exist in 2008? All of us today are standing on the shoulders of the ancestors who came before us. Ancestors who were stolen, enslaved, beat, lynched, and dehumanized in every conceivable manner; ancestors whose children were taken from them; ancestors whose families were torn apart; ancestors who witnessed lynchings for no other reason than the color of their skin. The image to the left is the lynching of Laura Nelson in Oklahoma in 1911. It is from the book, Without Sanctuary. Difficult to view, but we need to, we MUST remember our ancestors and what they endured that enable to be who we are and where we are today. Our lives should honor the legacy of those who came before us, as should the lives of our children.

Yet, our ancestors persevered. Yet our ancestors did not give up. Yet, our ancestors were able to carve out a legacy in a country that thought them less than fully human. Every one of us, everyone of us, has ancestors who stood, fought and even died so that we could be where we are today. We need to remember the legacy of those who came before us and honor it. We need to remember and we need to inform our children so they are aware, don't forget and pass it on to the generations who follow.

I admit to not being a big Tyler Perry fan until I watched his Madea's Family Reunion. There is a part near the end where Maya Angelou and Cicely Tyson talk about ancestors and those who came before us and how many of us today dishonor them because we have either forgotten them or are ignorant of their struggles and accomplishments.

The Great Debaters is just one story out of thousands of stories of the people who came before us. I urge all of you to see it ....... and remember ..... and honor the legacy of our ancestors by our behavior.

T