Black people in the Houston region can meet neighbors, find information about Black businesses, places of worship, and K-college schools, as well as exchange experiences, on the Defender Network’s Community Channel, which can be accessed online at www.DefenderNetwork.com. Insightful essays, op-eds, profiles, and more about all things community are also available on the channel. Take a look. Additionally, have a look at some of the best stories that were published there this year.
5 reasons suicide prevention must be a top priority
Suicide Prevention Month is in September, which is a chance to increase public awareness of this expanding issue. However, since suicide is destroying our communities, homes, and families far too frequently and at alarming rates, this message is pertinent all year long.
Suicide Prevention Month—or any month—is used by those who value life and understand the danger of suicidal thoughts, ideation (a detailed visualization of taking one’s own life), and actual attempts to be honest, change public perception, spread hope, and provide crucial information to those impacted by suicide.
The purpose of these initiatives, which includes disseminating this article, is to guarantee that people, friends, and families have access to the tools necessary to talk about suicide prevention and to get support.
Here are some reasons why preventing suicide should be our top priority.
10 scriptures that charge us to get politically active
The Religious Right permitted their beliefs to dictate how they should go to the polls and other political gatherings. As a result, they are working to restore America’s greatness at the expense of Black people and the environment. However, our people have a long and illustrious tradition of letting their faith guide their actions as they battle for equality, justice, and human rights. We were fed a version of Christianity by our so-called masters when we were slaves, which condemned us as sinners for considering anything other than obeying orders and receiving our reward in heaven after death.
However, some Black men and women of God discovered a liberating message in the scriptures and proclaimed it to our people despite being taught that anti-Black interpretation of Christianity.
In order to motivate the uprising he organized in 1822, Denmark Vesey told the story of Moses telling Pharaoh, “Let my people go.” Gabriel Prosser was known as the Black Sampson because, around 1800, he used the Book of Judges’ account of Sampson tearing down the house on the Philistines as his favorite passage to inspire enslaved Blacks to rise up in rebellion. In his well-known book David Walker’s Appeal (1828), David Walker cited biblical passages to support his claim that Black people had a divine right to fight for their release from slavery by any means necessary.
The spiritual leader and vodou priestess Ccile Fatiman, who co-founded the Haitian revolution with Dutty Boukman at the Bois Caman meeting, should never be forgotten. Inspiring those sisters and brothers to strive for and successfully achieve their independence, her words sparked chanting and prayer.
Years later, Marcus Mosiah Garvey frequently used Psalm 68:31, which states that “princes shall come out of Egypt and Ethiopia shall stretch forth her hand unto thee,” as evidence that God desired for Black people to be free and self-determining.
See further texts that have historically motivated Black people to take up social and political causes.
What are we doing to raise up the next Sheila, Mickey and Barbara?
For the city of Houston, which was still in grief following the move to the ancestors made by legendary leader Rev. Dr. William A. Lawson two months earlier, the death of Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee was a devastating blow.
The significance of proactively preparing the next generation of leaders should be painfully brought home by these two losses as well as the fact that Sylvester Turner, Houston’s eight-year mayor who received national praise for his handling of numerous storms (economic, environmental, and otherwise), is no longer in office due to term limits.
Black Houston must ask: Who will be the next? Also, What has been done or what is currently being done to raise up the next generation of Jackson Lees, Lawsons, Mickey Lelands and Barbara Jordans?
Both our places of worship and political circles struggle with the issue of leader preparation. And with the current assault on education from kindergarten to college, it s an issue that will face educational institutions, as well.
This article offers steps to help raise up the next generation of leaders.
Galena Manor: A historic Houston-area Black community
Galena Manor continues to be a neglected aspect of Houston’s Black past in the Houston Ship Channel universe. Galena Manor is located within one of the nation s most environmentally unfriendly (i.e. polluted) zip codes. Ironically, it was the overwhelming friendliness and sense of family shared by its residents with visitors that made Galena Manor a major connector amongst members of Black Houston during the 1950s, 60s and 70s.
Popular Instagram poster KeAndre Jordan (@mysouthernbrand), who regularly shares Houston s Black Historical Facts with his 449,000 followers, said of Galena Manor: The neighborhood was a prosperous Black community that was filled with Black professionals. Those individuals put their lives and livelihoods on the line to end bus segregation and push back against police brutality.
Individuals with Galena Manor roots know these and other stories. But so, too, should we all.
Katy s forgotten, yet still standing historic Black community
One thing is certain about Black history: It never ceases to amaze and never stops revealing previously unknown or rarely told aspects of Black people s never-ending journey.
Take, for instance, Katy, Texas. Many recognize the city for its high school football prowess. Many more view it as a beyond the loop must-visit shopping destination. Over the past few decades, it has become home to an ever-growing Black population.
But historian and activist Tanya Debose says Black people, and all people, better recognize the area had a thriving Black community before Katy was even Katy.
The community was established right after emancipation, as a freedom community, said Debose. Many of the rice farmers on plantations settled in this area. The area s called the Danover community. It s not a huge community. There are less than 60 or so houses there. But the families that still live there are descendants of the original people.
Learn more about this historic community, and the fight to keep it alive.
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