This Black History month of February 2025 presents this nation with the greatest challenge of change since the ratification of the 13rh Amendment of its Constitution on December 18, 1865, formally abolishing slavery in the United States, as initiated by President Abraham Lincoln.
Despite the undeniable fact that the abysmal state of the economy of the entire nation has never plunged to such depths, millions of Americans are still unable or unwilling to accept the historic change that occurred with the inauguration of our nation’s first President and Commander-in-Chief of African descent.
Absolute repose in nature does not exist we are reminded in the Baha’i Holy Writings. All things make progress or lose ground. Everything moves forward or backward. Nothing is without motion. From birth man progresses physically until reaching maturity then, having arrived at the prime of life, begins t decline until he gradually arrives at the state of death. The same applies to all plant life that progresses from seed to maturity then begins to wane until reaching its state of death.
In its infancy mankind was spiritually strong but scientifically and technologically weak but as the situation reverses is finding itself on the brink of self-destruction through misappropriation of its wealth and from using all the right discoveries for all the wrong reasons. “As the black pupil gives sight ot the eye, so shall the Black people bring religious sight to the world,” we are shockingly also made aware of through the Baha’i Holy Writings of this new era also. Yet, there are none so blind as those who will not see.”
When an intellectual, charismatic, competent man of distinction appears on the political horizon with a demonstrated history of service, humility and love for his own family and the family of mankind, he is still rejected by those who will not see, the worst kind of limitations – that are of three kinds, those imposed by nature, those imposed by others and those self-imposed, the hardest to change of cope with.
Stubborn resistance to changes strips us of achieving fullest potential and robs us of the unimaginable bounties of life. A resistance to change breeds rebellion, discontent, disrespect, fear, hatred and easily warring mentality. It also creates a competitive environment that is not conducive to cooperation, thus destroying the foundation of unity (through diversity and not uniformity) on which all healthy growth depends.
Each of us is a unique part of a complete whole whether of different races or the same race. Each one possesses different strengths and different weaknesses, as mankind is not perfect.
Therefore the supreme challenge is learning to pool our individual strengths to minimize our collective weaknesses. In the words of Jesse Jackson, “It doesn’t make any difference what ship our ancestors came over here on, we’re all in the same boat now.” (Investigate!)
