Fort Wayne Pain

By Bishop Bill McGill, Founding Senior Pastor
Imani Baptist Temple

These are somber days in Fort Wayne, as we are dealing with an onslaught of homicidal pain. With each passing day our skies are becoming increasingly gray, and many are wondering what it will take to push this tide of destruction away. As a Christian minister for more than 50 years now, some might expect me to say there is a need for more spiritual ground to plow. And make no mistake, in the words of the late Dr. Samuel Proctor, “I am unashamedly Black and unapologetically Christian”, but I also recognize that some find the contemporary church filled with contradiction. Yes, we have not always practiced what we preach, but there was a time when we had an undeniable community reach that sought to repair our social breach. Some of that was driven by a Biblical passage in Psalm 11:13, in the King James Version, “If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?” The New International Version sets a more cynical tone by saying, ‘When the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?” But my thesis for our present age and stage is supported more by the Contemporary English Version: “What can an honest person do when everything crumbles?”

Listen, a lived out faith-belief is only part of the solution, because we’re traveling through waters of social and political pollution. And let me pause for station identification, in the words of the late Dr. E. V. Hill, “It doesn’t matter whether you’re flying on the left-wing or the right-wing, it’s a broken bird!” I have not come to debate any particular partisan issue, but to recall a time when African Americans fought with a more solidified moral tissue. A time when we were driven by the energy of Malcom X who declared we had been “Had! Took! Hood-winked! Bamboozled! Led astray! Run Amok!” A time when we were inspired by the brilliance of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. who reminded us that “A man can’t ride your back unless you’re bent over.” And yes, a time when we were challenged by Congresswoman Shirley Chisolm, to be “Unbossed and Unbought!” Oh, beloved, those were the glory years when we pushed beyond our fears and made momentous strides despite shedding streams of tears. So, maybe it’s time to go back to the old landmark, and get our self-love and self-awareness out of park. To put the earlier referenced scriptural text in context, perhaps our community foundations were destroyed when we stopped thinking the truth about our identity no longer had to be deployed. We began to take African names but started playing European games, and somewhere along the way our continuity went up in flames. We put on our Kente cloth once or twice a year, as if that is enough to make our identity clear. No, we must start teaching our children that Marcus Garvey was right: “Black men, you were once great; you shall be great again. Lose not courage or faith, go forward.” We must start teaching our children, from infancy, that every task must be approached with a sense of efficiency. That the unfortunate reality is that they will have to be exceptional just to be considered equitable. We must start giving them productive tools from the moment they arrive, or it will be a challenge for them to simply survive. Please remember the wise council of Frederick Douglass who said, “It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.” Yes, we must begin making deposits from their very beginning, if we hope to position them for professional winning. Heed the words of Mamie Gene Cole, if we hope to retain our legacy that years ago was stole. “I am the child, you hold in your hand my destiny. You determine largely, whether I shall succeed or fail. Give me, I pray you, those things that make for happiness. Train me, I beg you, that I might be a blessing to the world.” Amen