3 Reasons Why Black Lives Matter

By Sharon Norris Elliott – June 15, 2020

#1: Black People are Human like Everyone Else [Click the link to watch the movie Human.]

            All kinds of lies have been perpetuated over the years defining Black people. The original lie grew from a perception within one man that he was better than another. Simply stated, when it came to the settlement of the United States of America, lots of white folks somehow internalized the notion that they had the right to redefine the humanity of African people.

Slave masters justified their treatment toward their slaves such as:

• forced labor
• breaking up families
• merciless beatings and punishments
• denial of education and the ability to advance or break free
• forced deplorable living conditions, and even
• murder when deemed necessary for control.

White slave owners had to convince themselves they were not doling out this treatment to human beings. God had put man over the animals to subdue them, so if white people defined Black people as animals, they could justify treating them as animals.

            But the redefinition was and still is incorrect. Black lives matter because the original African and their African American descendants were and still are human beings. In Genesis 1:26, God says, “Let us make man in Our image according to Our likeness; let them have dominion…”. Black people were created by God, are infused with an eternal soul, and are filled with innate value.

#2: Black People are Significant along with Everyone Else

            Why are so many inventions attributed to Black innovators? Simple. Black people were doing the work; therefore, Black people had the best incentive to make that work easier. Why don’t we know about them? During slavery (remember, a time when Blacks’ brains were considered to be smaller), slaves were not allowed to apply for patents, but they kept inventing. Some of them, and free Blacks after them, invented some of the most important inventions of the day:

• An effective, innovative cotton scrapper – invented by Ned, a slave. Ned’s master, Oscar Stewart made lots of money selling it.
• The Boyd Bedstead – a corded bed made with wooden rails connected to the headboard and footboard: invented by Henry Boyd who was born into slavery, purchased his freedom in 1826, and ended up employing 25 black and white employees.
• A steamboat propeller designed for shallow water – invented by Benjamin Montgomery to help boats get through with needed supplies.
• Dry cleaning – invented by Thomas Jennings in 1821
• A revolutionary sugar-refining process – invented by Norbert Rillieux in the 1840s
• The traffic signal and the smoke hood (precursor to the gas mask) – invented by Garrett Morgan in the early 1900s
• Etc.

(See “The hidden history of African American inventors,” The Chicago Reporter, February 27, 2018) https://www.chicagoreporter.com/the-hidden-history-of-early-african-american-inventors/

            Black lives matter because our existence is significant. Not only has our physical strength literally built this country, but our intelligence, wisdom, and power under control have cemented our insistence upon surviving, thriving, and continuing to stubbornly contribute in positive ways to a society that must be forced to treat us equitably.

#3: Black People are Connected to Everyone Else

            When COVID-19 hit the United States, one phrase surfaced as the country’s rallying cry: “We’re all in this together.” As with the Coronavirus, so it is with the battle to eradicate racism. The physical sickness that kills indiscriminately by shutting off the ability to breathe, is mirrored by the moral sickness of racism spotlighted by a white man calmly committing murder in broad daylight by cutting off a Black man’s ability to breathe.

            Racism is white America’s knee to the neck of her African American citizens.

            None of us as Americans are going to be able to breathe freely unless all of us have the ability to breathe freely. We share American air. We share a love for and the right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” We are connected.

            Black lives matter because our African ancestors were brought here against their will and were forced to work against their will to build the wealth of white people. Still, like God’s people in bondage in Egypt, African Americans grew and became strong despite their captivity. The light of the evils of slavery finally broke through, but white America decided only to walk in the partial rays of that light. Free Black people are African Americans – Americans connected to every other American. The strength and success of Black America builds the strength and success of white America and vice versa. We’re all in this together. We all win; or we all lose.

            Human, significant, connected. Yes, Black lives matter!