In the New Testament book of Hebrews, these words are recorded: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.” The writer of Hebrews is trying to strengthen the faith of his listeners and put steel in their backs, not just to endure the persecution they are experiencing, but to overcome it by drawing from the examples of the ancestors who came before them.
The writer describes those ancestors as a “great cloud of witnesses” to paint the picture of a sports arena where thousands of fans are seated, cheering their home team to victory. The names that the writer lists have come to be known as “the hall of fame of the faithful,” and all of them have a testimony of overcoming various adversaries and adversities forced upon them by oppressors.
In Chapter 11, he mentions names like Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Moses, David, and many others as an illustration of overcoming power, a resource to remind the listeners that the same God who assisted their ancestors is the same God who will assist them.
Perhaps it is time in America for Black people to engage in a “Sankofa moment”, to look back and fetch what we missed in order to move forward, looking back at the struggles of heroes and heroines who have left an indelible legacy from which to draw. The great Jegnas (Jegna is an Amharic term from Ethiopia that means “warrior for the people”) of the 19th century were some of the most profound warriors for justice this country has ever known.
Dr. John Henrik Clarke and other Black scholars have pointed out that Black people have always had people of great courage and tenacity, but there is something particularly intriguing and inspiring about those Jegnas of the 1800s here in America. It was the 19th century that produced bold and valiant names like Araminta Ross, aka Rev. Harriet “44 Pistol Packing” Tubman.
There was Sojourner Truth, Frederick Douglass, and Martin Robison Delany. There was Rev. Henry Highland Garnet, David Walker, and Rev. Jarena Lee. There was Bishop Henry McNeal Turner, Mary Church Terrell, Ida B. Wells, and Robert Smalls. These are but a small segment of our “hall of fame of the faithful” who are in the stands cheering us on right now.
We can also look back to those brave and focused souls who marched to the polls to vote after the Civil War in numbers that hovered just over 90%.
They can teach us that our faith is not just for good worship, but for speaking truth to power and voting in record numbers. Their lives show us how the church was never meant to be a private space for a single congregation, but a public space for the community to hold politicians and leaders accountable.
Finally, they can show us the power of solidarity to protect the most vulnerable and to press forward for the benefit of all. It might be a good thing for many of us to form book clubs to read the books that are being destroyed to erase us and our story, books that far too many of us have never read, so that we can cherish the nobility of those who faced an even darker night than we currently face under a hateful and greedy administration fueled by anti-Black sentiments.
Be in Solidarity, Be Authentic, and Stay Woke! Uhuru Sasa!!!
The Rev. Dr. John E. Jackson, Sr. Senior Pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ-Gary, 1276 W. 20th Ave. Gary, IN. Contact the church at [email protected] or by phone at 219-944-0500.