Time for a History Lesson
We celebrate February as Black History Month. Why? The answer is simple: because we have a history to make known. We are part of the story of America.
It might be a good idea to buy and read a book of history concerning Black people in America. There is a rich history if we would unveil it. We as a people are still making history.
We could approach this history from the Catholic perspective. Father Cyprian Davis, O.S.B., of St. Meinrad Archabbey, has written and recently revised his book The History of Black Catholics in the United States. It is accepted as a masterpiece. It is filled with history that lovers of the Church should read. He has written other books on Black history as well, and many articles for various publications
In his book, Fr. Cyprian highlights the courage of Archbishop Ritter of St Louis, Archbishop O’Boyle of Washington and our own Bishop Vincent S. Waters of Raleigh, who between 1947 and 1954 ended segregation in their Dioceses.
Recently another chapter in Black Catholic history was written. Dr. Joseph Francis, President of Xavier University in New Orleans, is celebrating forty years as the only Black president of a Catholic institution of higher learning. This university was founded by St. Katherine Drexel.
Catholics also took part in the crusade of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. The TV screens were filled with the pictures of priests and religious women in their habits on the march for freedom and equality for all.
There is also a rich history in the broader spectrum of our nation and our state. There are the unsung heroes who put their lives in danger to end segregation in our nation and in our states. In the universities of our state there are now black professors and scholars in residence. Dr. John Hope Franklin at Duke University is a recognized historian of the Black presence in our country. He has recently written Mirror to America: The Autobiography of John Hope Franklin. There is Dr. Maya Angelou, a poet who is the Artist in Residence at Wake Forest University.
A visit to various bookstores online or on foot can be rewarding. Don’t leave out the Catholic stores.
Msgr. Thomas P. Hadden