| Show S How we become brothers and sisters of the soul J I am black and comely o Q ye daughter o of Jerusalem f as the tents o of f Kedar as the curtains o of f Solomon r 1 AMERICAN AMERICAN AFRICAN of raising raising raising rais rais- J- J women today are ing their children as a roy royal l lineage This they do no doubt as Sheba the great love of Solomon did According to legend t their famous love- love match produced the en entire tire nation nation nation na na- na- na tion of Ethiopia Sheba is so O BODY SOUL 1 M j Terry Dillon renowned sh she is even mentioned mentioned mentioned men men- in the New Testament The Queen of the South shall rise again f for r behold she came from the ends end's of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon Sheba an African queen came in strength but humbled herself to learn a new tradition tion tion-a tion a gospel about a supreme almighty God She did not humble herself to be despised and spit upon but to be exalted exalted exalted ex ex- ex- ex alted above all women of her time Today I watch with great pride a renewed vigor of this tradition as women of color teach their children of their exalted exalted exalted ex ex- ex- ex alted roots As a southern woman this comes as no surprise For a long time southerners have known that 11 aristocracy doesn't come merely from money or from the color of of your s skin in This is a lesson learned from the post-civil post war years Aristocratic southern families teach their children to tobe tobe tobe be above pettiness avarice varice greed and bigotry They are parents of children who can humble themselves for wisdom wis wis- dom for dom for God God but but not to be made doormats When I see African- African American women raising their children to be proud of their heritage and to think of themselves themselves themselves them them- selves not with arrogance but with a self-concept self that is regal I am proud to be an American In hi Great Britain people are born into a class royal class royal noble or commoner To rise above the common class is a great feat Sometimes the Queen bestows a knighthood or a peerage to a commoner But these are rare exceptions In America one has only to reach out to accept a royal status Aristocracy in America is isa isa isa a matter of the mind It is beyond money I It t is about self- self reliance self-determination self and unconditional demand for truth justice love and compas compas- sion It is about true greatness great great- which ness ness eminence which g geneticists geneticists genet genet- net net- may search but fail to to discover under undera a microscope Families of African descent teach the same lesson as the ancient Gnostic philosophers that one may take a nugget of gold and submerge it in filth even dung but it iJ remains pure gold In the same way these families counsel their children that although the world may try to heap abuse upon them they are golden These children are royal treasures and precious gifts to a world that may try to defile them In the South among those who take their aristocracy very seriously the use of certain certain certain tain racial epithets are viewed as common vulgar and low- low class Among these people who have worked most closely with descendants of slaves there is true and unrelenting com- com These are white people who have known the intimacy of living breathing and sharing life with African They have known the shelter and protect protection on of being embraced and corrected by African matriarchs They have loved and been loved by African mothers since birth They have experienced the deep spiritual wells that African women women and and men men have have inside inside inside in in- side them metaphorically perhaps per per- haps hapsas as a legacy In the South there is a different dif different different dif dif- ferent paradigm regarding persons persons persons per per- sons of color There the thinking thinking thinking think think- ing is that slave de descendants are more spiritual than w white ite people people closer closer to God clos closer r to the Redeemer assured of salvation salva salva- tion because tion-because because of deep suffering and in part from white guilt From my own heart heart- I 1 do apologize for the sins of my forefathers As a southern lady I can afford to listen to the struggles and complaints of my brothers and sisters of color I never have known what it is like to have a hate stare While I may not be welcome in certain districts generally speaking I 1 am free to walk almost al almost al- al l- l most anywhere in the world r r. r i X rB r I B Because ause of my light sk skin a and d 1 blue eyes I 1 have been wel we 1 1 corned I 1 have had every ad- ad i vantage i Persons of color still suffer We are liars if we say they do not We lie to ourselves just as southerners iu justified slavery saying They will be saved in J Heaven because of their misery Heaven is s on oh earth it is spread out before us if only we had the eyes to see Those of us s who will experience the r rapture will know this of a certainty To become brothers and sisters of the soul the message message message mes mes- sage is simple How can call we love How can call we listen How can we be believe e i |
