December 2 In African American History
December 2 In African American History
John Brown & James Baldwin
Two souls dedicated to the same objective emancipation and equality of rights for our African American ancestors. One used gunpowder and a sword to fight the sins of slavery in this nation that oppressed African Americans. The other used his pen and his voice to battle the sins of Jim Crow that oppressed African Americans. Neither man was or should be deemed a savior to the race of African Americans. But both men stand high on the throne of rebellious acts that at least slightly toppled the pervasive nature of racism in this country that was deemed by its founders as the home of free and land of brave expect if you were black. John Brown and James Baldwin died exactly 137 years ago on the second day of December. John Brown died with the rope of the government tied tightly around his neck in 1859. While James Baldwin died of natural causes away from the home of his birth because he decided that living in a land marked by racial hatred wasn’t a home he could no longer bare. Today, I remember both men on the dates of their home goings as two men righteously dedicated to the freedom of the African American people. One man was white and the other man was black. Both men were ostracized by this nation for different reasons. Brown for his dedicated efforts to end slavery and Baldwin for the color of his skin and his sexual identity. I remember both today and hope that neither’s acts dedicated to rebellious equality is ever forgotten.
