“Still, We Rise”: The Struggle Never Ends, and Neither Do We
Trump and his band of rioters should take note, history will record that we fought against many and never gave up. African slaves were forced to work for free so that rotten American slave owners could become rich. Though all slave owners should have been executed after the Civil War, those opposed to white supremacy never gave up in the struggle to see justice done. Black people, Brown people and others, learned that to battle against injustice is hard, but pleasing, so many of us learned to keep a smile on our face, a song in our hearts, and God in mind.
We are still WOKE and not about to go to sleep during this time of racist trouble by white supremacists who empowered by the president and his lunatic followers. Trump or nobody else will stop us from celebrating Black History. We will celebrate Black History until it becomes American History, so as the song goes, “No Matter How Hard You Try, You Can’t Stop Me Now.”
A History of Resistance: From Slavery to Reconstruction
As sung by the Temptations, “Yes, my skin is black, but that’s no reason to hold me back.
Why don’t you think about it? Think about it, think about it, think about it, think about it…
I have wants and desires, just like you. so move on the side, ‘Cause I’m comin’ through, oh! No matter how hard you try, you can’t stop me now . . .”
Since the beginning of American slavery just how many were murdered only God can say, but still we fight back. Slavery created the legacy of white supremacy, but we never gave up. The first Reconstruction took place after the Civil War, which was a war to end slavery. The first Reconstruction was about finally giving Black people the human and civil rights that they had been denied for centuries. During this short period of positive advance, about 10 years, Black people were being registered to vote, electing Blacks to various positions in the Reconstruction governments throughout the South, and providing educational opportunities through the Freedmen Bureau. This refuge was created by the brave Black soldiers that fought the slave owner army of the Confederacy
”I Saw Death Coming”
It orders to destroy Reconstruction vigilante lawless men carried out night raids, terrorist attacks to prevent Blacks from voting. These “night riders” attacked Black families in the middle of the night, beating some, murdering others, raping mothers and daughters, and kidnaping of small children. In this way they could put back into office the very slave owners that lost the war. One victim of this terrorism was quoted as saying, “I saw death coming.” I might say we need to be wary, for we might end up saying the same thing in 2025.
However, even though Reconstruction was destroyed, Black Freedmen schools burned down, and Jim Crow law enshrined in the Supreme Courts case of Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896, we fought on. Black people fought back, sometimes with guns, sometimes with civil protest and never gave up in the fight to create a non-racist society.
Still We Rise: The Fight for Justice Continues
I see injustice coming now in a mighty wave, and perhaps death once again as the attempt to roll back human and civil rights has begun in 2025. You know their PROJECT 2025! “Still, We Rise,” you know the quote, not just for ourselves but for the future generations that deserve to live in a just and anti-racist society. We have to live out a righteous judgement that comes with the battles against racist tyrants who believe in hatred against people of color.
