Dr. Charles W. Ferguson

Say It Loud
James Brown

Uh! Your bad self!
Say it loud! I’m black and I’m proud
Say it louder! I’m black and I’m proud
Look a-here!

Some people say we got a lot of malice, some say it’s a lotta nerve
But I say we won’t quit movin’ until we get what we deserve
We’ve been buked and we’ve been scorned
We’ve been treated bad, talked about as sure as you’re born
But just as sure as it take two eyes to make a pair, huh!
Brother we can’t quit until we get our share

Say it loud, I’m black and I’m proud
Say it loud, I’m black and I’m proud
One more time, say it loud, I’m black and I’m proud, huh!

I’ve worked on jobs with my feet and my hands
But all the work I did was for the other man
And now we demands a chance to do things for ourselves
We tired of beatin’ our head against the wall
An’ workin’ for someone else

Say it loud! I’m black and I’m proud
Say it loud! I’m black and I’m proud
Say it loud! I’m black and I’m proud
Say it loud! I’m black and I’m proud, oh!

Ooh-wee, you’re killin’ me
Alright, uh, you’re out of sight!
Alright, so tough you’re tough enough!
Ooh-wee uh! you’re killin’ me! oow!

Say it loud! I’m black and I’m proud
Say it louder! I’m black and I’m proud

Now we demand a chance to do things for ourselves
We tired of beatin’ our heads against the wall
And workin’ for someone else look a-here
There’s one thing more I got to say right here
Now, now we’re people, we’re like the birds and the bees
We rather die on our feet than keep livin’ on our knees

Say it loud, I’m black and I’m proud huh!
Say it loud, I’m black and I’m proud huh!
Say it loud, I’m black and I’m proud Lord-a, Lord-a, Lord-a
Say it loud, I’m black and I’m proud, ooh!

Uh! alright now, good God
You know we can do the boogaloo

14,195 days. This number represents my time spent on this earth as the son of Teresa Ferguson. This number of days represents the span of time that encapsulates my experiences from birth to adulthood. 14,195 days is the number of 24 hour periods that my body, mind, and soul have traversed attempting to be the best representative of what God intends. 38 years, 10 months, and 11 days.

Throughout this time, I have attempted to navigate multiple spaces. I am a husband, father, son, grandson, pastor, teacher, preacher, writer, and scholar. Those attributes are enhanced in a greater sense by one thing. I am a black man. I have been black for 14,195 days. Unless God calls me home after publishing this blog, I will remain black until the moment my eyes close.

Here is the issue. I live in a world that after 14,195 days does not welcome, love, or embrace fully the uniqueness and divinity of my blackness. I know some people will approach this writing, try to speak to me privately about how this is not true with them, and explain away many other issues around what I am talking about. Just listen to me for a moment.

Imagine for a moment that you are told all of your life that being a good person would grant you access to success and prosperity. While you attempt to do all that you can to do the right thing, you are constantly told to your face or through microaggressions that you are not good enough. You are told that what you feel is too emotional. You are doing enough don’t rock the boat. What do you do with that?

Welcome to the Good/Token Negro Indoctrination Program. As long as my introverted nature and low self-esteem kept suppressing my anger and angst about my circumstance, I would always keep silent. That mentality was the first part of my private school existence. Keep the rules. Don’t rock the boat. You will get through just fine.

One day, my anger and angst was met by an ally. I will never forget that I was in history class. We were reading content on famous black people. The issue was that the history book decided to paint Nelson Mandela in the light of being a rebel without a cause or clue. It was the moment that I realized that my village was right. Never let anyone tell your story.

I sat in the room with a look of disgust as we approached the material. Then a strange thing happened. My homeroom and history teach, Eric Buell, gave me a unique opportunity. Rather than continue with the given material, Mr. Buell looked at me and asked if there was anything else that I could contribute to the conversation. I stated everything that I knew at that time about apartheid and injustice happening in South Africa. After that moment, any time a figure was brought up with an incomplete or improper stating of his or her history, he called on me for more details.

Mr. Buell may not know this (unless he reads this article), but it was one of the first times that I was in an uncomfortable space and was pushed to be authentically myself. I was able to take pride in my blackness and be unapologetically black. It was also one of the few times that my blackness was honored and accepted.

So what does that memory from almost 25 years ago have to do with what is happening today?

I see so many people that are attempting to silence and dictate the appropriate way of express the Black experience. Some people think that they are being supportive by offering alternative methods to casting a message. People are attempting to find ways to dismantle and reshape the cries of the disenfranchised constantly. I need people to understand one major premise. You cannot speak to a life that you have not lived.

I have encountered many white people that have decided to find new ways to maintain the status quo while attempting to offer token gestures as a pitiful penance for 401 years of inequality and inequity. People continue to try and use semantics and justification for stating that Black Lives Matter is a three word phrase of hate speech. People clamor to hold fast to their monuments of defeat, systems of legal inequity, and profits from the suffering.

How can anyone begin to attempt to dictate to me how to be a black man in America? How can anyone begin to say to me what is the proper protocol for displaying my displeasure for the suffering of those who are descendants of those brought to the Americas in the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade? How can you tell me that no money or compensation exists for reparations in this nation when billions have been given to others who have been treated inhumane ways?

I have 14,195 days of being Black. I can speak to my experience as a Black man. I don’t need anyone to establish the scope of my experience. I don’t need anyone that lacks the time or experience to speak on my behalf. What this season requires is that you silence your opinion and become informed about this experience.

You must acknowledge that you are not qualified to the varied challenges of Black culture. I want you to stop referencing people like Candice Owens who decides her side of outrage based on the dollars in her bank account. I need you to quit blaming the media (all forms and slants) for uncovering your bias, hypocrisy, and racism.

Just admit one of two realities.

1. You don’t want your world to change. You want the utopia that allows you to remain ignorant to any other struggle. You desire to hold on the propaganda that believes in a meritocracy. You are willing to victim shame anyone mistreated. You wish to co-opt the message of Melaninated Jesus and repackage it with Empire packaging.
2. You are tired of being blind to the circumstances. You will exercise your right to remain silent. You are prepared to learn about what you don’t understand. You are preparing to unlearn some indoctrination that has veiled your understanding of the Imago Dei that surrounds you. You are ready to embrace that Black is not a curse, but a blessing.

My pride in who I am maybe articulated best by James Brown. Yet, I submit to you that it has taken me a long time to arrive at the moment in time that I will no longer wait or long for the approval of anyone regarding who I am as a person, a believer, or as a Black man created in the image and likeness of God. My awareness and pride is not at the cost of making anyone feel small.

I have no desire to entertain the rise of supremacy. The truth is that I don’t need artificial means of importance to justify my existence. Supremacist ideology is about domination. It’s about perpetuating the idea that your existence of not important. It is about oppressing the powerful by feeding the idea of division that leads to powerlessness. The obstacles are not about my weakness. They are about the recognition of my strength and fear of equivalent retaliation.

However, I will make it known to my son, his generation, and generations to follow that engagement with this world will require an undeniable understanding of who you are. Nobody has the right to define you according to their comfort. Your responsibility is to hold people accountable for their lack of desire to know the truth and engage in the establishment of a reality that embraces the complete view of world that God intends. That hope can’t be fulfilled until we see the evidence of a fulfilled prayer. Thy Kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven… For that manifestation to happen, we can not allow the alteration of our message. Why? Our pride, self-respect, and experience is necessary to guide the world to Heavenly Fulfillment on this Terrestrial Ball.

Some people say we got a lot of malice, some say it’s a lotta nerve
But I say we won’t quit movin’ until we get what we deserve
We’ve been buked and we’ve been scorned
We’ve been treated bad, talked about as sure as you’re born
But just as sure as it take two eyes to make a pair, huh!
Brother we can’t quit until we get our share!

Definition of empire
1a(1): a major political unit having a territory of great extent or a number of territories or peoples under a single sovereign authority
especially : one having an emperor as chief of state
(2): the territory of such a political unit
b: something resembling a political empire
especially : an extensive territory or enterprise under single domination or control

Definition of kingdom
1: a politically organized community or major territorial unit having a monarchical form of government headed by a king or queen
2often capitalized
a: the eternal kingship of God
b: the realm in which God’s will is fulfilled
3a: a realm or region in which something is dominant
a cattle kingdom
b: an area or sphere in which one holds a preeminent position
The office was his own private kingdom

In the lexicon of the Christian Church, many people use the term kingdom to define the expanse of the reach of God in the Earth. We promote the necessity of spreading the Gospel that people may come into a relationship with the Creator. We also intend that people would spread that message to those seeking a transformative encounter with the Almighty. The hope is that the transformative experience with Christ will compel others to spread the message of Good News to the masses.

While that basic premise is a necessary motivation, we must consider for a moment the line of demarcation that we approach with this mentality. It is possible that the genuine desire of many believers is to get the Gospel to everyone. Yet, some individuals see the mission as a vehicle to attach trailers of a different mentality for the journey.

For many centuries, the clarion call to Christ has been associated with various aspects of contrary beliefs. While people are trying to advance the Kingdom of our Christ, some persons have (in many instances) adopted a mentality of the empire. Most people may not know that there is a difference between a kingdom and an empire.

In the beginning of this piece, I offered dictionary definitions as a backdrop for context. Permit me a moment to take the concepts a little further. The concept of the empire allows an indoctrination of domination. An emperor is motivated by the need to spread colonized ideas of his or her philosophy. The ingraining of this concept breaks up the strength of an individuals identity.

If my generalization is true, the goal of the empire is to raise a singular idea by any means necessary. People be damned. Culture be rejected. The empire must be raised high. Commitment to the empire and its ideas grants access to the distinction of being a citizen. That’s right! Citizenship is freely given to those dedicated to the project of colonizing people mind, body, environment, and spirit.

The Apostle Paul was not just the writer of two thirds of the accepted New Testament text, but Paul was also a citizen of the Roman Empire. His ability to spread the Gospel was under the privilege of citizenship. Citizenship required the empire to protect the citizen at all cost due to their allegiance. Paul was able initially to move with impunity because of this level of privilege.

In scripture, we generally attribute two major moments to the life of Paul. One, he is seen as a different man who was apart of the chastisement and eventual lynching of Stephen. The deacon spoke with clarity to the Sanhedrin court about their unjust participation in silencing the masses, perpetuating oppressive religious activity, and aligning with the empire in word and practice. Stephen was carried out and stoned to death for speaking truth to power. The one holding the coats was Saul. He was in agreement with such action. He stood with privilege and affirmed the murder of an innocent man. No punishment for those knew that murder was sinful. It was an act to maintain the supremacist idea of the empire.

Two, we see Paul (Saul still) on the road disrupting the growing movement of Jesus Christ. Saul carried out legal documents to disrupt and dismantle organizing people bound by common belief and brought together by the Holy Spirit. The desire was to eliminate all who were advance different idea of what live and hope looked like.

While traveling with destructive motives, God stops this man’s progression by taking his sight. He was now quarantined in the home of a man named Ananias. This gentleman heard God’s voice and brought in this agent of the empire to heal from his affliction. Please understand that Ananias was not in favor of bringing in Saul. The reputation was known. The agenda was understood.

Yet, God said something quite interesting to Ananias. Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name. (Acts 9:15-16) God was placing Saul in a position to make a decision about his life. This quarantine moment cause Saul to confront his inadequacies to be converted from his allegiance to the empire. Saul placed his persona down to gain new identity as Paul to serve only Kingdom interests.

The idea of kingdom focuses on commonality of a people. The people have a monarch with the soul purpose of growing and making their region better. A kingdom is not an expansive area. It is a very focused, compact region for those who ascribe to the culture, law, and rule of said area. In a kingdom, everyone is a citizen with the opportunity to see and participate in the betterment of its ideals.

By this logic, Paul’s conversion was treasonous. He no longer could defend the ideology of the empire. He began to encounter the painful nature of the colonizing people. He began to witness the tragic fall out of keeping people in bondage to oppressive theology. He became the target of ire when participating in the project of liberation. The very nature of following the Will of God made Paul a public enemy.

When we make the conscious, informed decision to carry out the mission of the Kingdom of God, we subject ourselves to forfeiting our privileges held under empire rule. We can’t cover ourselves from conflict. We can’t take our ball and go home when things do not go our way. We are not able to simply function in our predetermined lane with oppressors. We are no longer tolerable to the empire. We become public enemies.

I believe that is why the empire of 2020 is finding significant cracks in its structure. People realize that their previous citizenship only guaranteed benefits based on the success of colonized practices. Too many people see that commission pay is only good for great salespersons not civil rights. People now understand that equality with provision is not truly equality. Equality without admission of a 400 year headstart is not equality. It is missed payment in arrears. It is cheap purchases of life with instant equity for the oppressor. It is the call to collect in full with interest.

Empires crumble when the people realize the price to be paid for minor protections. Empires crumble when people understand that nothing is worth selling out the beauty, uniqueness, and power of your individuality. God can use the formerly imprisoned minds and souls of converted empire citizens. I believe that they need to be in a place to be quietly confronted by their thoughts, actions, and alignment with the empire. I believe that God must speak to them and raise the question, Why are you persecuting me?

Well look what we have here? 2020. A quarantine. Protests. I hear systems breaking. The Kingdom is rising now….

Jesus loves me, this I know
For the Bible tells me so
Little ones to Him belong
They are weak, but He is strong
Yes, Jesus loves me
Yes, Jesus loves me
Yes, Jesus loves me
The Bible tells me so
Jesus loves me, He who died
Heaven’s gate to open wide
He will wash away my sin
Let His little child come in

This song is to be the greatest illustration of the univerality of Jesus Christ to all people. It is the indicator that Christ is available to all who seek him. It is the standard that reminds us that came to save all humanity from the pain, penalty, and damage of sin. This children’s song is to project the utopia that individuals desire to see in this world. What an image. Total acceptance by someone who sees me.

The interesting thought that crosses my mind today is that this hope is painfully nonexistent in the hearts and minds of many individuals who purport following the ideas of Jesus. It appears that in order for your heart and soul to catch on fire from this type of song, you must be willing to sacrifice your reality for the hope beyond this earthly realm. It seems that you must be ready to deny every heinous act perpetrated as just a result of human nature, justified by damaged logic, or dismissed to preserve the sensibilities of the uncomfortable. To quote the football great, Mike Singletary, Can’t do it!

I no longer find it shocking that people are in disbelief when Black people are vilified, killed, scapegoated, and other things. Why do white people suddenly feel this fear when we simply speak clearly about our experience? Why do white people who claim faith in Jesus Christ get silent when I question their sincerity on the subject of human decency? I know exactly why.

Imagine different groups of people reading the same book. This book is to be a key to give individuals guidance on how to live in the world. It grants ways of gaining access and connection to the Creator of Everything. It teach people how to engage people from every corner of the Earth while growing in demonstration of the principles of faith and love. Yet, somehow each group takes the message and attempts to conform it to the strict perspective of their experience.

By doing so, the improper usage of the text becomes a weapon of destruction. At the same time, it becomes magnifying glass of the structures and inequality established to gain levels of supremacy and maintain separation. People begin to seek out ways to break through those inhuman structures to attempt to make them more humane. In the process, people die trying to change the ungodly rather than present before the world the example of who God through Christ really is.

While I recognize that many people are looking for a sweet spot to be comfortable, it is my responsibility to make sure that you feel that heat right up under you to change the approach. My job as a Black man is not to make you feel better by coddling your feelings of discomfort. My job is to speak truth to power. You don’t have to love me. You don’t have to even respect my existence, because I know that many white people don’t care. However, I refuse to have anyone to attempt to feed me or anyone else the false narrative that Christ was about supremacy.

Jesus was about the hurting, maligned, disjointed, disconnected, and rejected. Christ was not an agent of the monarchy. Jesus was a revolutionary who disrupted the colonial mindset of natural and religious governments. His crucifixion was not just a sacrificial act of spiritual fulfillment.

Jesus shook the religious right. When they were disturbed, religious right went to the government to shut down the voice of the people. The government then put the responsibility back into the hands of the people in order to save face. The people voted to free a murderer and keep the Savior in bondage. The government supported the measure. Yet, the death and resurrection of Jesus did not keep the oppressed silent for long.

The very nature of Jesus rising from the indignity of his treatment ushered in a new day of establishing the truth and genuine nature of what God’s kingdom ought to reflect in the Earth. Jesus did not co-op with any establishment to make equity and equality fashionable. Jesus and his followers did not ask for their dignity and self-respect. They created an environment that reflected those principles daily (Read Acts 2 in its entirety).

Whether or not you decide to be converted from implicit bias, deep seeded racism, imperialist tendencies, or any other nationalist view, I am convinced beyond anything that God loves me even if you don’t. I am also convinced that I am no longer waiting on anyone to convert broken places into stable dwellings. Life is not like flipping homes. My life is not cheap. No price can be paid for my silence against the injustices demonstrated daily. No credit can be offered to co-op the struggle that many feel daily.

In order to be more like Christ, my responsibility is to demonstrate in the Earth what it looks like truly serve God. While I know that another song is hopeful:

Jesus loves the little children
All the children of the world
Red, brown, yellow
Black and white
They are precious in His sight
Jesus loves the little children
Of the world
Jesus died for all the children
All the children of the world
Red, brown, yellow
Black and white
They are precious in His sight
Jesus died for all the children
Of the world.
Jesus rose for all the children
All the children of the world
Red, brown, yellow
Black and white
They are precious in His sight
Jesus rose for all the children
Of the world

I recognize that reaching that day begins with being resolute and uncompromising about the liberation of people–mind, body, and soul.

Just to be clear, I want the eventual day of equity and equality to be realized. However, this day is the day of salvation. I am not talking about just your soul. This grace that God offers is not cheap. You can no longer circumvent the human experience by saying, Lord, save me for Heaven. You are redeemed not only to make it in the gates, but you are saved to reset your environment before the judgement.

I don’t want your pity when I lament about my racially charged experiences. I don’t want your sorry when I weep for a brother who died. I don’t want your wait and see when my sister is killed before a prison photo. I don’t want to hear about compliance when laws are still unjust. I don’t want to hear they had paperwork, when they didn’t demonstrate discipline. I don’t want to hear about his alleged crime when you want God to show you grace.

The inward change that leads to external action begins like this: Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” (Acts 2:37-40, ESV)

Until then, we have nothing to talk about…..