May 7, 2018

Proud big brother walking his little sisters to church in Harlem (1920s)

GRANDMA BELL
My brothers, cousins and I pose in suit and tie for family picture in church with Grandma Bell. Top Left-Right Cousin Carol, me, brother Earl, and brother Bobby. Bottom Left-Right Cousin Ronnie, Grandma Bell and cousin Tommy (1950s)

PANTS HANGING DOWN
Inner-city youth seen on any street corner in U. S. with pants hanging down and no church in sight (2018).

When I saw the top photo taken in Harlem in the 1920s it reminded me of my family’s church on Sundays at Mt. Airy Baptist Church in NW Washington, DC. The photo looks like big brother is proudly escorting and holding hands with his sisters on the way to church. It was how me and my cousins attended church on Sundays leaving Grandma Bell’s house in NE DC. The other photo reminded me how we have hustled backwards in time. In the 1920s black children in Harlem, could not wait to get to church and now in 2018 children are standing on street corners on Sundays in inner-cities across America with their pants hanging down waiting to go to jail, harden criminals are waiting there to pull their pants down further.

My question is, where and how did we lose it and why? Lets start with the greedy black church, black politicians taking money under and over the table and Justice & Just-Us and lets not forget black folks who think they have made it, especially the dysfunctional black family who steal from each other.

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