Black church continues writing Black history
Over the years, the Black church has been a place for the community to assemble, to be motivated, and to get excited about bringing change to society.
OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - The Black church has played a major role in writing Black history.
“The Black church is at the core of Black history,” said Pastor Emeritus Dr. Ralph Lassiter of Mount Moriah Baptist Church. “You can go back to early formation of this country and the church was part of that. Even though it was difficult, and in some cases impossible, for enslaved people to find a way to worship, they still found a way.”
The walls of Mount Moriah’s heritage center are lined with the history of North Omaha churches.
“One of the things we have on display here is information about the first congregation in the early 1700s that met in a field, and they met secretly,” Lassiter said.
Over the years, the Black church has been a place for the community to assemble, to be motivated, and to get excited about bringing change to society.
“Everybody is familiar with the role of the Black church relative to the Civil Rights Movement,” said senior pastor T. Michael Williams. “Dr. King and all of the other leaders, many of whom were pastors and ministers, they were all key to the Civil Rights Movement.”
Williams is also president of the Omaha chapter of the NAACP. He says we missed the assignment on some issues handed down by past church and civil rights leaders.
“It’s an old issue, but it’s an issue that we’ve failed to heed the instruction of our elders, because they told us each generation to fight that fight over,” Williams said.
Williams says we are once again fighting the voter rights issue. He believes lawmakers in Nebraska and other states are again making it more difficult for people to vote.
“The mindset that wants to keep certain people from voting, that mindset never goes away, so we still have to be vigilant, we have to be thoughtful, and we have to be proactive,” Williams said. “That’s something I’ve learned from this.”
He says the Black church is the foundation of the Black community, and faith has always been the foundation of leading the community through difficult times.
“The Church will always be here, and the church will always be engaged in those kinds of activities,” Williams said.
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