CHRONICLE OF THE BLACK EXPERIENCE IN AMERICA

THE BLACK EXPERIENCE     IN AMERICA                              By Uriah J. Fields

To My Readers

This chronicle consists of a brief but cogent history of the 400-year experience of Americans of African descent in America, begining with 1619 when the first Africans were kidnapped and enslaved in Jamestown, Virginia. Their struggle against slavery, segregation, discrimination, disfanchisement and lynching have been costly but some victories have been achieved.

Always there have been some white people who have joined with black people in opposing white supremacy but their numbers have been small.  Most white people have consistently supported white supremacy and the status quo.

In a nutshell, this tell-all-chronicle about the black experience in America is likely to be the most through, but brief, presentation ever presented on this subject. The author is convinced that the person who reads this chronicle will increase his/her knowledge about the history of black life in America and what it portends in the future for black Americans.

Chronicle of the Black Experience in America

 A Word on Terminology

Although this writer maintains that the correct name for descendants of Africans who were kidnapped in Africa by slavers and enslaved in America is "American of African descent," in this chronicling of the black experience in America two other terms, "Black"and "African American" will be used interchangeably.When capitalized the term "Black" will be used as a noun rather than an adjective. "American of European descent" and "White" are the terms to be used for descendants of slavers and other caucasian American citizens.When capitalized the term "White" will also be used to refer to slavers and their descendants as well as other caucasian American citizens. The term Black is most appropriately used, even preferred, when the focus is on Blacks' encounter with "white racism." The term "Black," the opposite of "White," accurately describes the condtion of Blacks in America and their relationship and response to white racism.

American History: His Story...Our Story Interface

In presenting this panoramic overview of the experience of Americans of African descent in America we begin with the capture of the first Africans who were kidnapped in Africa and enslaved in America in 1619. While the purpose of this discourse is to chronicle what happened to black people in America it is also about white Americans and the white supremacy system that established America. In a nutshell, it is about the interfacing of Blacks and Whites in America.

This chronicling of events begins with the day the first Africans were captured in Africa and enslaved in America and what they experienced during the next 244 years of slavery and 110 years of legal segregation, racial discrimination and disfranchisement. The title of this course is, "American History: His Story - Our Story Interface."

1. Christopher Columbus discovered America in 1492. Tell this prevarication to these Indian Chiefs and Warriors, Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse who, like their people, are natives of  North America. They will tell you the truth and it want be Columbus discovered America.

Columbus never discovered North America. His landing on Octobr 12, 1492 was in the Bahamas. But neither did he discover the Bahamas. Mesmerized, he believed that he had reached East Indies. Later that month he sailed to Cuba and to what is now known as Haiti. It is obvious that he didn't know where he was when he reached the Bahamas.

2. Jamestown was the first permanent English Settlement in North America. It was founded on May 14, 1607. Twelve to fourteen years later, depending upon the source, in 1619 or 1621, twenty Africans were brought to Jamestown and enslaved. That began slavery in America. Of course, we know that Jamestown is in Virginia. Virginia continued to lead all states in the number of slaves she had during the 244 years after the first Africans were enslaved in America on the eve of the Civil War. It would appear that Virginia gave us more presidents during slavery than any other state. In 2007 Virginia became the first state to offer an apology for slavery.

3. The Pilgrims. Purportedly the Pilgrims came to America to escape religious persecution. After a 65-day journey, the Mayflower ship with 102 passengers landed on December 21, 1620 in Plymouth, Massachussetts. They had planned to land near the Hudson River, north of the 1607 Jamestown Settlement but went off-course and landed in Plymouth.

4. In 1767, the foreparents of Alex Haley, author of "Roots," were kidnapped in Gambia and enslaved in America. Haley became a 7th generation descendant of his enslaved father Kunta Kinte.

5. Crispus Attucks and the Boston Massacre. Crispus Attucks, the son of an African father and an Indian mother, was one of five men to die in the Boston Massacre. On March 5, 1770 while eating dinner he became aware of a fight between Boston men and British soldiers. He went to the front of the line and struck a Bristish soldier who rosponded by killing five men, including Crispus Attucks.

6. John Wesley and his brother Charles Wesley. John Wesley was an Anglican minister in England and founder of the Methodist movement that became the Methodist Church. In his "Thoughts on Slavery," published in 1774, he spoke highly of African slaves and against slavery. Unlike many preachers in America who preached that slavery was God-ordained and admonished slaves to obey their slavemasters because to do so meant obeying God, John preached against slavery in the British colony of Georgia to slaves and Indians, as well as to white people. His brother Charles wrote more than 9000 hymns and poems.

7. In 1776, the foreparents of Uriah J. Fields, (this writer), and author of "Grandpa Benjamin," a novel, tells the story  his Grandfather Benjamin told him; the same story that his Mother had told him about his foreparents, beginning with Baatsi and Ashanti who were kidnapped in Africa and brought to Charleston, South Carolina, where they were sold as slaves to the highest bidders. Grandfather Benjamin was born into slavery, a sixth generation descendant and Uriah J. Fields an eight generation descendant of Baatsi and Ashanti.

8. Nat Turner (known only as Nat) led a slave rebellion in Southhampton County, Virginia on November 11, 1831. Nearly a hundred people were killed, including two slavemasters. He escaped. A few days later he was captured and hanged.

9. Dred Scott. Dred Scott sued for his freedom in 1847. Ten years later, after appeals and court reversals his case was finally brought to the United States Supreme Court. In 1857, Chief Justice Roger B. Tanery wrote the "majority opinon" for the case. It stated that because Scott was a slave, he was not a citizen and therefore had no right to sue. It further stated that "a black man had no right which a white man was bound to respect." 

10. Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad. Harriet Tubman ran away from a plantation in 1849 but returned many times to rescue others. She tells how escaping slaves followed the North Star to freedom in Canada. One of the songs they sang was "Steal Away." Her motto: "Keep Going." "Children, if you are tired, keep going; if you are scared, keep going; if you are hungry keep going; if you want to taste freedom, keep going." Over a ten-year period she made 19 trips to Maryland and helped 300 people to freedom." She became a leader in the abolition movement and during the Civil War served as a spy for the federal forces in South Carolina and a nurse who cared for wounded Union soldiers.

11. John Brown and the Harpers Ferry Raid. John Brown took a bold stand against slavery. On October 16, 1859, abolitionist John Brown, a Quaker, and some of his followers seized the United States Armory and Arsenal at Harpers Ferry. His action brought emotional attention to slavery. Several Americans of African descent were in his group. The first victim of the raid was an American of African descent named Hayward Shepherd who was shot and killed. Brown captured several prisoners, including Lewis Washington, the great-great nephew of George Washington. His first endeavor was to capture weapons and escape and secondly he expected local slaves to rise up, but they didn't. Neither of these objectives was achieved. To the contrary, towns people began shooting the raiders.

12. Abolitionists -

William Lloyd Garrison of Massachussetts ( a white man) for over 35 years publisher of the "Liberator," an anti-slavery newspaper, was a staunch abolitionist. During those years he publsihed 1,820 issues of  the "Liberator." "Ask me not to speak with moderation on slavery," may be considered to be his anti-slavery signature statement that he frequently used while speaking out against slavery.

Frederick Douglass, the son of a slave woman and an unknown white man escaped from slavery and settled in New Bedford, Massachussetts. He educated himself and became the golden voice of the Abolition movement. He and Garrison were allies and leaders of the anti-slavery movement. During the Civil War Douglass recruited Northern Blacks for the Union Army. After the war he fought for the rights of women and Americans of African descent alike.

Sojourner Truth. Sojourner Truth's original name was Isabella. She lived in upstate New York. After becoming free she became a traveling preacheer who delivered powerful messages calling for freedom for slaves and social justice for fomer slaves. She had contact with both Garrison and Douglass. After the Civil War she launched a crusade aimed at land distribution for former slaves. She died in 1883.

13. The Civil War: 1861-1865

Sixteen Southern States formed the Confederate States of America and selected a native of Kentucky, Jefferson Davis as their president. On April 9, 1865 Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendeed to General  Ulysses S. Grant of the Union Army at the Appomattox. There were 364,511 deaths and 646,892 casualities during the war.  None of the leaders of the Confederate Army were convicted for war crimes. This proved to be a mistake as did ending the war before a complete victory had been achieved.

14. Emancipation Proclamation. President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, as the nation approached its third year of  bloody civil war.  The Proclamation declared "That all persons held as slaves within the rebellious states 'are, and henceforward shall be free.'" It applied only to states that had seceded from the Union, leaving slavery untouched in the loyal border States.  The freedom it proposed depended upon a Union military victory. It did not immediately free a single slave. Most important to Lincoln was to save the Union. Reportedly Lincoln said, "If I can save the Union by freeing all the slaves I will do that, if I can save the Union by freeing only some slaves I will do that; if I can save the Union by not freeing a single slaves I will do that. What I do in fighting this war has nothing to do with slavery; it has everything to do with saving the Union,." After two years in the war he had a change of heart or, did he? This is a question that historians have and will continue to debate.

15. Juneteenth. This is the oldest known celebration commemorating the ending of slavery in the United States. On June 19, 1865, Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston, Texas, with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free. This occurred two and one-half years after President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Procalmation. As noted earlier General Lee had surrendered to the Union forces in April 1865, about two months before Granger announced that the slaves were free.

16. The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The Thirteenth Amendment that was ratified on December 6, 1885 abolished slavery. It stated: "Neither slavery or involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States or any place subject to their jurisdiction. Not only were this Amendment approved by two-thirds of the States before becoming law but unlike the Emancipation Proclamation it included all States and jurisdictions controlled by the United States. With its passage the abolishment of slavery in America became total.

17. The Fourteenth Amendment. The Fourteenth Amendment was ratified on July 9, 1886. It defines and protects citizenship rights. Section one of this Amendment states that "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."

{The Thirteenth Amendment and Fourteenth Amendment legally granted Americans of African descent full rights with all the opportunities, privileges and responsibilities enjoyed by white people. But this did not happen. However, much did happen that improved the lives of Americans of African descent.}

18. A Philip Randolph. Randolph, an American of African descent, was a labor leader and president of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. In 1941 he organized the March on Washington Movement in protest against job discrimination. He challenged President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to eliminate discrimination practices in the employment of Blacks. Randolph is credited with having been responsible for President Roosevelt having established the Fair Employment Practice Committee. The President didn't want to be embarrassed during the war with a March on Washington. He felt that Randolph could effectively stage a march. Whether or not Randolph could have pulled off the march is unknown. Randolph had doubts as to whether he could have led a successful March on Washington. But his threat had been sufficient to move the President to take unprecedented action in dealing with racial discrimination in employment.

President Franklin Roosevelt, in Executive Order 9346 established a Committee on Employment Practice (May 27, 1943). It said "To eliminate discriminatory practices." Ececutive order No. 882 of June 25, 1941, as amended by executive Order No. 8823 of July 18, 1941, "Is hereby further amended..." (To address wartime employment needs was cited as justification for issuing these executive orders.) President Truman advocated a permenant FEPC, but the Senate terminated the program in 1946. In 1964, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission was established.

19. Desegregation of the Armed Forces. President Harry S. Truman issued Executive Order 9981 on July 26, 1948. It stated, "It is hereby declared to be the policy of the president that there shall be equality of treatment of opportunity for all persons in the armed services without regard to race, color, religion or national origin. This policy shall be put into effect as rapidly as possible, having due regard to the time required to effectuate any necessary changes without impairing efficiency in morale."

This writer was a soldier in the military when President Truman issued this Executive Order. Although the process of integrating the military forces began immediately after the Executive Order was issued, it would be one month less than two years after the order was issued before I would be assigned to an integrated Army Unit. This happened about a month after President Truman ceased calling the fighting in Korea a "police action" and called it the "Korean War." This name change had been prompted by large number of body bags that were returning from Korea to the United States. After the Korean War began my three-year voluntary enlistment tour of duty was extended by one year. I believe that had the Korean War not been fought President Truman's statement "This policy shall be put into effect as rapidly as possible," would have required a much longer period, perhaps several years, for the military to become fully integrated. Many Generals, including then General Dwight David Eisenhower, and some other high-ranking military officers had urged President Turman to not integrate the military because it would have an adverse effect on the morale of both black and white soldiers. But you can be sure that these military officials had never asked black soldiers how they felt about integating the military. Thank God, that Truman said to them, what he would subsequently say to Geneal Douglas MacArthur, "The buck stops here!" Many of the top military brass were and are Southerners. Many Northereners felt the same way.

20. Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka. On May 17, 1954, the Supreme Court rendered a decision that woud address the "Plessy v. Ferguson" decision that the Supreme Court handed down in 1896, some 58 years earlier. That decision held that "separate but equal" was constitutional. The Court sided with and armed the Ku Klux Klan and other white racists groups and individuals to enact laws that would deprive Blacks of justice and equality. But on May 17, 1954 the U. S. Supreme Court of which Justice Earl Warren was the Chief Justice, issued a ruling in the "Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka" that declared "separate but equal is inherently unequal and unconstitutional." The decision underscored the need for integrated education.

21. Emmett Till. On August 27, 1955, fourteen year old Emmett Till was lynched, brutally beaten and shot to death by two white men. His body was multilated and thrown into the Tallahatchie River, near Money, Mississippi. Black adults and black children in Mississsippi were trained by their parents and others to never say a word about Emmett Till, fearing that they too would meet the same fate as Emmett Till.

On June 12, 2007, fifty-three years after the lynching of Emmett Till, two Sub-Committees under the direction of the Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives of which Congressman John Conyers, Jr., is the chairman held hearings on HR-923, a bill that would authorize funding for investigation of the murder of Emmett Till and other unsolved murders that occurred during the Civil Rights period of the fifties and sixties. Recently, more than thirty-five years after four girls were killed in the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, a person has been convicted and sentenced for that crime. (Several years before those girls were killed while serving as pastor of a church in Montgomery this writer delivered a sermon at the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, following the  death of a former pastor of that church.)

22. Rosa Parks' Arrest and the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Rosa Parks was arrested on December 1, 1955, when she refused to move, as ordered  by a bus driver, from a section of the bus designated for Whites. At the time, this writer was a student at Alabama State College (now university) and a pastor in Montgomery. On December 5, 1955, four days after Parks' arrest, on the day of her trial when she was found guilty of violating Alabama's segregation laws the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) was organized to provide leadership for the bus boycott. Martin Luther King Jr, was elected president, this writer, Uriah J. Fields, was elected secretary and E. D. Nixon was elected treasurer of the MIA. Rev. Ralph David Abernathy was selected to draw up the resolution that would be presented that evening at the first mass meeting of the boycott and later to the  City officials of Montgomery and officials of the Montgomery City Bus Lines. That mass meeting was held at the Holt Street Baptist Church, Rev. A. W. Wilson, pastor. Nearly four thousand people were inside and around the church.

On November 13, 1956, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Federal Appeal Court's ruling and delcared segregation on buses was unconstitutional. It was on December 20, 1956 when he federal ruling took effect and the Montgomery Bus Boycott ended. Not many days later, in the wee hours of the morning of January10, 1957, four churches, including the church that this writer pastored, and two parsonages were bombed by die-hard racists making a last-ditch attempt to prevent desegregation on buses in Montgomery. This writer provided pastoral leadershjp to rebuild the
Bell Street Baptist Church, the worst of the bombed churches, as Taylor Branch noted in his book, "Parting the Waters. (p. 200)" Sixteen months after the bombing the congregation of Bell Street Baptist Church entered their new church sanctuary.

23. Civil Rights Acts. Below are Civil Rights Acts enacted since the Civil War.                                                                                                        *Civil Rights Act of 1868 - to protect Freedmen.                                    *Civil Rights Act of 1871 - known as the Ku klux Klan Act.                    *Civil Rights Act of 1875 - to guarantee Blacks the same civil rights as Whites in public places.

(As stated earlier, the Supreme Court's 1896 decision in "Plessy v. Ferguson" emboldened the Ku Klu Klan and Southern politicians who nullified or weakened all Civil rights Acts.  Legislators of Southern States passed anti-black laws, known as the "black codes." In the name of "States Rights" with the blessing of the Supreme Court Blacks were stripped of many of their constitutional rights, including the right to vote."

*The Civil Rights Act of 1957. It was not until 1957, some 82 years after the last Civil Rights Acts and 61 years after the "Plessy v. Ferguson" Supreme Court's decision, that another Civil Rights Act was passed. The 1957 Civil Rights Act establsihed a Civil rights Commission. In 1957 Senator Strom Thurmond (D.SC) set a record for the longest time that anyone had spent filbustering. He filbustered that Civil Rights Act for 24 hours and 18 minutes. (It is a nonsense rule, not a commonsense rule, that made it possible for that kind of conduct to happen in the U S. Senate.)

*Civil Rights Act of 1960 established federal inspection of  local voter registration rolls. However, it was a near worthless bill.                         *Civil Rights Act of 1964. This legislation is aimed at prohibiting discrimination based on race, color, religion sex and national origin. It outlawed segregation in the U.S. public school and public places. It started the Equal Employment Opportunity Commisioin.                                  *Civil Rights Act of 1965. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 broke the grip of state disfanchisement. States could no longer pass laws or use other means to prevent African Americans from voting. (It did what the Civil Right Act of 1960 was powerless to do.)                                                                 *Civil Right Act of 1968. This legislation enacted on April 11, 1968, one week after the assasination of Martin Luther King, Jr., is aimed at prohibiting discrimination concerning the sale, rental and financing of housing.                                                                                                        *Civil Rights Act of 1991. This legislation provides for the right of trial by jury on discrimination claims and introduced the possibility of emotional distress damages, while limiting the amount the jury could award.

Martin Luther King, Jr. National  Holiday. Legislation authorizing the National Martin Luther King, Jr. National Holiday to be observed annually on the third Monday of January was approved on November 2, 1983. The first national celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday was held on January 20, 1986. Martin Luther King, Jr. also a Nobel Peace Price winner, made a greater contribution to America than any other person of the Twentieth Century. He is the only spiritual genuis the Western world has produced. He was assassinaed on April 4, 1968, at the age of 39.

Malcolm X, a prominent black nationalist leader, like Martin Luther King, Jr., played a significant role in bringing about the achievements Blacks received as a result of the Civil Rights Movement. "Black power," and "Black is beautiful, " are slogans born out of Malcolm X's consciousness-raising leadership. He emboldened Blacks in saying, "We declare our rights...which we intend to bring into existence by 'any means necessary.'" Malcolm X was assassinated on February 21, 1965.

President Lyndon B. Johnson deserves credit for having done more than any other President, with the exception of President Abraham Lincoln, to extend Civil Rights to Americans of African descent. He fought for the passage of and signed the Civil Rights Acts of 1965, 1965 and 1968. Let Americans of African descent never forget to hold President Johnson in high esteem, regardless to what the puindits say...and yes, those who to this day, advocate and practice racism. Johnson's actions on behalf of Blacks saved many lives because Blacks were determined to gain their Civil rights, as Malcolm X said, "by any means necesary."

Afterword

Americans of African Descent Today. While it is true that Americans of African descent have made progress for one or two generations following the Civil Rights Movement, today, as a group, they are moving toward the brink of jeopardy. Some Blacks have benefited from integration but many more have not, including those who are proverty-stricken, homeless, and a growing underclsss who are worst off today than underclass Blacks were during pre-Civil Rights legal segregation years. There are many contributng factors to this worsening condition of  Blacks, that include white racism, the unprecedented number of black men incarcerated (now constituting nearly fifty percent of the prison population), an education systems that is designed to miseducate or not educate black children, and both legal and illegal immigration, that deprives blacks, who have always been the last hired and first fired, of employment. Black unemployment and underemployment are the highest that they have ever been since the Depression. In many instances even the menial jobs are not available for Blacks.

Black Americans are in a precarious condition, one to be dreaded more than at any time since they were brought to America nearly 400 years ago. And given the trend of the last decade, black survival is not guaranteed. Let Blacks be aware, that Native Americans, so called Indians, were not transplants as they are, and yet, except for a remanent, they did not survive. They certainly did not survive as a people who were able to inherit or own land their ancestos inhabited or charter their own destiny. Today, even the casinos, the fastest growing and greatest money-making enterprises on Native American Reservations are not controlled by Native Americans.

Now, for the first time since being in America, Americans of African descent are considered by controllers that include many of the corporations who are in charge of America to be expendable. During slavery Blacks were needed by their slave-masters and following slavery, until about two generations ago, they were needed to do menial labor that is now being done by machines and illegal and non-illegal immigrants. Blacks classificationn as minorities have allowed others who are also called minorities, but who have not in the past or now experienced the effects of white racism as Blacks have are being employed as minorities instead of Blacks. The message today is: "Blacks are not needed or wanted by corporations and other employment controllers." Observe and listen to workers and you will hear and see that the people who are being employed today are not Americans of African descent. They may not even be Americans. To this add, some employers are importing educated foriegners to fill high-paying positions that Blacks would be holding today had they not been denied the opportunity to matriculate in all-white universities. Think about the number of black scientists, mathematicians and other specialists who died withot having the opporuniity to develop their potentials, as is true today with many Blacks who are in prisons.

In closing this "Chronicle: The Black Experience in America" no summary or conclusion will be given. The contents presented clearly reveal the facts and experience of Americans of African descent during their nearly 400-year history - "His Story -  Our Story Interface." in America. For Americans of African descent it has been a struggle and a horrible experience. Their survival can only be attributed to their possessing a strength that is greater than that usually found in human beings or to spiritual intervention by God who favored them but has not empowered them to be a fully-functioning people in the American Society. At least, not yet. The question is: "If not yet, when?" Or, "How soon is too late?"

Oh Brothers and Sisters Wake Up Now

1. Oh brothers and sisters wake up now                                                    And help save our dying race,                                                                    We are losing too many every day                                                              who have a right to live.                                                                            Often they are young, too young to die.

(Refrain)                                                                                                       Help save our dear brothers' precious lives.                                             Help save our dear sisters' precious lives.

2. The guns, drugs and prisons are killers                                                     of our people young and old.                                                                      We are victims everywhere that we go                                                    And  it's because we're black.                                                                     We are the last hired and the first fired.

3. Oh brothers and sisters unite now                                                          and become race warriors.                                                                         We must fight if we would win, this is our fight;                                        And that's always been true,                                                                        Oh yes, this may be the final call.*

This is My Ameria Too- and Yours

1. This is my America too...and yours. / I will not be silent and stand idly by / when America is under siege by some / Americans who work day and night to / deny freedom and justice for all Americans.

(Refrain)                                                                                                        2. So let the word go forth I will not / surrender to fiendish ideologues now / or tomorrow who feign being  patriotic / Americans while questioning my / patriotism. This is my America too... and yours.*

*Lyrics for these two songs above and those to the "American of African Descent Anthem" below may be read or sung. The most important thing is for the reader or singer to understand the messages they convey. These songs can also be found in this writer's book, "The Saint Troubadour -Speaking and Singing Truth and Love."

Coming Home to Africa                                                                       (American of African Descent Athemn) 

Coming home, coming home, / We're just coming home. / Africa is our home, / We are just coming home. / It's not far, just close by / 'Cross the deep blue sea. / Here too long we've gotta go, /  Going to fear no more /     Mother's land O' Africa, / Father's faith is there;  /  Lots of proud folk are there, / Folk who look like us, / Folk who look like us. / Africa... Africa... / We're coming home. / Minds made-up to come, / No more alibis, / No more blaming you know who, / No more crying poor and black; / Going to leave right now. / Africa we're on our way, / Coming home to stay./  Freedom's   light is in sight, / Real life soon begins. / There's no turning around, / Just a moving on, / At the break of day / We'll be home for good. / Coming home, coming home, / We're just coming home. / Africa is our home! / And we love our home! / We're just coming home! / Coming home to Africa!**

**What does "Coming Home to Africa mean?" It does not mean that Americans of African descent physically go back to Africa, the land of their African foreparents. It means that they return to and embrace those values that made Africans great people who created civilizations, gave humankind medicine, mathematics, and pyramids. Most of all it means embracing their ancestors' values of divine morality and community.

To My Readers

The author is committed to putting this chronicle - written record - into the hands of as many Americans, black, white and other Americans, as possible. You can help to accomplish this in these two ways: (1) Forward the author's website - www.uriahfields.com to your friends and acquaintance and invite them to read "The Experience of Black America," and (2) send any donation you can to help the author put this article in the hands of people who do not have access to a computer. Make payable to: Uriah J. Fields. Mail to: P. O. Box 4770, Charlottesville, VA 22905.

(The author extends to the reader permission to download this article and share it, without cost, with other people. He would appreciate it if you will inform him of your endeavor, in this regard. That's what mutuality is all about. Send correspondence to the P.O. Box above.)

Copyright 2008 by Uriah J. Fields