February 14, 2021
GREATER HOUSTON EDITION
“Addressing Current & Historical Realties Affecting Our Community”
Vol. 26, Issue 04
THINK ABOUT IT! • Blacks make up 15% of U.S. Population • Blacks make up 33% of U.S. Prison population • Blacks count for 16% of U.S. COVID deaths
HOUSTON BLACK HISTORY:
OVIDE DUNCANTELL
By: N.L. Preston
‘BLACK LOVE’ UNDER ATTACK IN AMERIKKKA
By: Roy Douglas Malonson
Ever since they brought us to AmeriKKKa in chains, they’ve been on a mission to emasculate the Black man and tear apart our families. And while in slavery, they categorized us as nothing more than “stud breeders” and our women as livestock for ownership purposes. Not once, not ever, did they realize our ancestors had souls. Their children had souls. And their future offspring - WE - were souls waiting to be born free. Free to love. Free to live. Free to just “be.” Have you ever heard of the “Double consciousness” of the American Negro Male? It is about the internal “twoness” of our men struggling with “the strange meaning of being Black” with describing the “spiritual world” and the “spiritual strivings” of “the American Negro.” The concept is often associated with William Edward Burghardt (W.E.B.) Du Bois, who introduced the term into social and political thought, famously, in his groundbreaking “The Souls of Black Folk” (1903). To tear a man down, you must first conquer
his soul. You must chip away at it one piece at a time, until there is a hole that can hardly ever be repaired. The way to kill a man’s soul, is to take away his woman and family. For generations - no matter what, no matter how dark the days were, there was always a proud Black man leading his family. Whether he was a slave, a pullman porter, a dishwasher, a carwash attendant or a revolutionary, Black men came home after a long hard day of work to the wife and kids waiting to help him take off his shoes. That is -- until poverty and recessions left a path of financial devastation and the “public welfare system” stepped in claiming to provide a “lifeline” of help to Black women and kids with one exception -- the Black husband and father had to be removed from their lives. Welfare workers would walk around the homes of the mothers, checking in pantries and closets to make sure the women would not have “fancy” appliances (like televisions, etc.) or any men’s clothing, ensuring that there was no male presence in the house. And as the Black women Black Love cont’d page 2
For more than the last four decades, Houstonians proudly line the streets for the annual Black Heritage Society’s MLK Parade, but do you know who is responsible for its creation? Civil Rights ‘warrior’ Ovide Duncantell. As noted on the Black Heritage Society’s website, Duncantell was born in Natchitoches, Louisiana, on August 7, 1936. After graduating from school in 1955, he entered the United States Air Force and was honorably discharged in 1959. After returning home, he got married and set out for Los Angeles, California. But after making a stop in Houston to visit with his new wife’s brothers, his plans changed, and he remained in Houston until his death. In 1969, Duncantell began working for the AntiPoverty Program-Houston Community Action Association. There, he organized youth adults and senior citizens to ban together and improve their communities from 1970-1973. He later created his own organization entitled “The Central Committee for the Protection of Poor People.” The organization’s mission and goals were to assist the community in obtaining much needed social services. Duncantell eventually went to work for then newlyelected Commissioner, Tom Bass, from 1973-1977, where he assisted in the appointment of several new key county office positions, including placement of the first black Harris County Constable, A. B. Chambers, along with several Justices of the Peace. He also earned his Bachelor and Masters degrees from Texas Southern University. In 1974, Duncantell be came Founder and Duncantell cont’d page 2
WASH YOUR HANDS FREQUENTLY • AVOID PUBLIC SPACES OR EVENTS WITH MORE THAN 10 PATRONS • SANITIZE AND STOCK UP • AVOID TOUCHING YOUR EYES, NOSE AND MOUTH • PRACTICE GOOD HYGIENE
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February 14, 2021
EDITORIAL
President/Chief Editor
Tristar
Griselda Ramirez: Production
A Revival of God
Consciousness Bobby E. Mills, PhD Office: (713) 692-1892 Wednesday – Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
GREATER HOUSTON EDITION
Making Your Own ‘Black History’
Wisdom is extremely valuable in making your own history because wisdom comes from God. It is written: “Forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments: For the length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee.” The spiritual key to making your own history is learning to become your own best friend rather than your worst self-enemy, because “As it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” Allowing God’s desires to become your desires is the key to positive selfdevelopment and positive history making. The world cannot give nor take peace from individuals; therefore, individuals should not allow their hearts be troubled neither be afraid of what man can do. Thus, individuals should not live by the flesh, because: “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made
me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh.” All human history should be about building the Kingdom of God on Earth; which in turn, is about building a God-conscience in individuals regardless of skin-color. The evil of slavery was the ungodly-systematicprogrammatic and symbolism efforts of Whites to indoctrinate Blacks into self-hatreddegradation based upon skin color. The primary racist means of self-denigration became the destruction of nuclear family units. Additionally, the false Christian doctrine given to Blacks by Whites only served as religious doctrinal other-worldly reinforcement: “pie in the sky, get yours when you die.” Unfortunately, far too many Black pastors became proponents of a style of preaching that perpetuated this form of psychological-tensionreductionism-religious and self-enslavement to false religious-doctrines. Making you “your best friend” is the key to positive history making, because Black history begins with a positive “Who Am I Experience?” If
your individual answer is “I am a child of God,” then you can make your own history; not become a hero-worshipper because God is the only hero! Hence, all history is salvation history because God sees us before we see ourselves. Black history should never become hero-worshiping. Becoming your own best friend is the spiritualkey to successful living rather than having material success in life. The keys to becoming your own best friend: • POSITIVE ATTITUDE: Attitude is about life, because attitudes shape world view. • INTEGRITY: Integrity is about belief-system. Moral integration of flesh and Spirit. • WORD: Individuals must have a WORD. Saying one thing and doing another is sinful. • LOVE: Godly Love for self as well as for others (The Two Great Commandments). • PEACE OF MIND: Money cannot purchase peace of mind. • TEMPERANCE: Selfdiscipline and self-control. Above all, life is not instant coffee, and God is not Santa Claus. Individuals cannot have everything they want, when they want it, because life is not that simple! Selah. - AANI
Duncantell cont’d Executive Director of the Black Heritage Society Inc., emerging as one of the driving forces behind the renaming of South Park Boulevard becoming Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard. The Reverend Martin Luther (“Daddy ”) King, Sr., was so impressed by the gesture of respect, he made a personal appearance at the street’s name change ceremony, and served as the BHS first MLK Parade “Grand Marshal,” on January 21, 1978. Making a pact
Black Love cont’d became “dependent” on the system, the Black man became resentful of the women they felt turned their backs on them. And the cycle began to turn over and over, and over again. Then the shift happened. Black women began getting more opportunities in Corporate America, out-educating and outranking their male counterparts. The government has been systematically been working to drag the Black man into non-existence, locking them up in prisons, keeping them away from their families. But now we are back
and promise to Dr. King’s father, the BHS has since conducted the annual MLK Parade in Houston ever since. The civil rights leader was 75 years old when he chained himself the “MLK Tree of Life,” which the BHS planted in 1983, to stand in the way of the construction of Metro’s new Southeast light rail line. “I’m 75 years old but I’m still a warrior,” he told one reporter. Indeed he was. He died in October 2018 at the age of 82. - AANI
in a ‘Black Love’ revolution. With the power of social media promoting images of the Black love and the Black family unit, and the POWER OF THE BLACK MAN leading his family once again, the BLACK WOMAN is once again by his side pulling with all her might to help. AmeriKKKa is something we can’t worry about anymore. We only need to focus on our Black America, with stronger families, stronger businesses, stronger kids, and stronger LOVE. There’s nothing like that Black Love. And there is nothing we can or cannot do – as long as we stick together. - AANI
GREATER HOUSTON EDITION
February 14, 2021
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