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(06-09-2018 06:55 AM)Gene C Wrote:  I found this interesting, and I don't usually watch CNN. This seemed as good a place to share it than any other

https://www.cnn.com/videos/health/2018/0...ed-shades/

Great piece, Gene. Thanks for posting the link. It reminds me of all the history that surrounds the original black churches which still exist today in my area. The churches (most of them AME) were the cornerstones for emerging black communities as soon as emancipation came, and this is where many of the leaders of the community got their start. I can point to at least 5-6 within a close radius of us, and one has actually been saved by the gov't. agency that owns Surratt House, and it is restored and open for tours by appointment - as well as weddings and baptisms for future generations.

One church near my former home held Freedom Day parades in the fall to commemorate the emancipation of Maryland's slaves in November of 1864, after the passage of a new state constitution that outlawed slavery -- almost two years after Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation went into effect. There were usually camp meetings or tent meetings in our village several times a year, and one particular church held "chit'lin" dinners that you could smell a half-mile away!

In the early-1900s, there was one particular family that had so many members that they practically filled their little country church each Sunday. They were also very active in the Republican Party and did a lot of campaigning. In the 1950s and 60s, when my family took me along to the polls, I would always see the Moores staked out across from the elementary school polls in a white church parking lot soliciting votes. I also recall a lot of handshakes, which I now suspect included exchanges of incentives, and some trips to the car where the men circled around. Pass the bottle anyone? Above all, however, it was sedate and proper. Great memories...

I was not aware of this CNN program, but was surprised to see its name: United Shades of America. Last year, I gave a training talk (outside the realm of just Surratt House) on valuing diversity in the work place, and I began by telling folks to toss out America's old nickname of "The Melting Pot." Many now use the "United Shades" reference or another that is rather clever -- The American Salad Bowl, where each ethnicity retains its own special features and heritage while working towards a unified country. Now, if we can just make that work.