(The following “PrayerNote” comes from Oasis Ministries for Spiritual Development) Juneteenth—Black Independence Day On June 19, 1865, in Galveston, Texas, enslaved African-Americans were told by the Union army they were free. It was two and a half years after President Lincoln gave his Emancipation Proclamation. Texas was the site of the last skirmish of the Civil War and the last state to receive the Emancipation Proclamation. The image above is a diagram of the ‘Brookes’ slave ship, c. 1801. It was an image used widely in the abolitionist movement. I enter prayer with it before me this day and this poem from Lucille Clifton (1936-2010). “Jesus,” “Angel,” and “Grace of God” were the names of slave ships. slaveship loaded like spoons into the belly of Jesus where we lay for weeks for months in the sweat and stink of our own breathing Jesus why do you not protect us chained to the heart of the Angel where the prayers we never tell are hot and red as our bloody ankles Jesus Angel can these be men who vomit us out from ships called Jesus Angel Grace of God onto a heathen country Jesus Angel ever again can this tongue speak can this bone walk Grace of God can this sin live –Lucille Clifton In an interview for the Antioch Review Clifton said: “Writing is a way of continuing to hope…perhaps for me it is a way of remembering I am not alone.” When asked how she would like to be remembered Clifton said: “I would like to be seen as a woman whose roots go back to Africa, who tried to honor being human. My inclination is to try to help.” To read more on Lucille Clifton and her award-winning poetry go to: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/lucille-clifton ~Glenn Mitchell To learn more about Oasis, visit https://www.oasismin.org/ |
