Thirty years ago, the spirit of the times elevated the Civil Rights Movement led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr who taught us that going forward, all people should be judged by “the content of their character and not the color of their skin.” That was perceived to be the closing argument of the Civil Rights Movement. No one at that time conceived that thirty years later the mantra: “to judge people by the content of their character rather than by the color of their skin,” would be canceled with the introduction of a new doctrine being propagated known as “Critical Race Theory” (CRT), which claims the very opposite of what the icon of the Civil Rights Movement, (MLK) lived, taught and died to establish.
“The Overcome, A Black Passover,” was written to install into the thinking of Blacks the fact that what they had fought for through the struggles of their foreparents had now been accomplished. All that was needed now was a new logic, a new way to interpret the fights (struggles) in such a way as to claim victory. CRT does the opposite. It directly cancels Dr. King’s message and in effect claims that there has been little progress over the years. Nothing much has been achieved after all these years of struggle and fighting for equality, because CRT claims that Blacks are effectively, because of their Black skin, which is an immutable characteristic, forever locked into an inferior status, when compared to whites who they claim have special white privileges. CRT locks Blacks into a permanent state of victimhood.
The attempt to crystalize into history the interpretation of the Black experience in such a way as to make them eternal “under comers” or victims, despite the great achievements of Blacks over the years, cannot be allowed to stand. A new way of interpreting what came out of centuries of Black struggles must be presented. No sensible race has ever interpreted their lives and struggles in such a way as to make them eternal losers! Rather, they interpret the facts of their history in a way to make them victorious in the end. Blacks are blessed with so many victories that can confirm their new status as Overcomers of the worse atrocities that could have been inflicted on a people. In the Overcome story, we do not diminish the atrocities. As a matter of fact, however bad they are currently described, we want to suggest that these hurts could be 1,000 times worse, and yet we overcame them to the point where we have had a two-term president of the United States of America and a Black vice president. The greater the atrocity suffered, the greater the victory over them should be celebrated.
There are currently no laws in the federal, state or local governments of America that can be classified as anti-Black. To the contrary, there are many laws, affirmative action laws, that favor Blacks. And it is to be hoped that in the future, when MLK’s doctrine of judging humans by “the content of their character and not color of their skin” is fully implemented, even such laws favorable to Blacks will be no longer needed.
The Overcome is presented here as the needed and necessary rite of passage for Blacks from the stage of victimhood, promoted and celebrated by those who profit from victimhood, to the new status where Blacks are seen, through the victories of those who have gone before, as Overcomers of victimhood. The rite should be celebrated on April 4th, the day when MLK was sacrificed for us—Black people.
A RITE OF PASSAGE is an event, a ceremony or action that marks an important happening in the stage of development of an individual, a people or nation. There are rites of passage at birth, puberty, marriage, menopause and death. There are rites of passage when colonies become nations. The colonial flag is lowered for the last time as the national flag of the new nation is raised for the first time! These rites mark stages in development. They create the before/after thereby establishing the change in situation and character, in the case of Blacks, from victims to victors. The Overcome is the rite of passage for Blacks from victim status to Victor’s status. Overcome (to overcome or shall overcome) a verb that we are boldly changing into a noun, The Overcome. And just as the Jews changed the verb “passover” into the noun “The Passover,” the Overcome will become the rite/ceremony whereby Black people leave the status of victimhood to assume the status of Victors over victimhood. They will change the verb “shall overcome” to the noun, “The Overcome” via this simple rite and go forward living as overcomers, capable of overcoming all obstacles, small or large placed in their future path. This will effectively mark the time when the culture changes its functional character from victimhood to victor status, not so much from their own efforts, but by the struggles and victories won by their ancestors.
Also, included in this new offering are original sketches of some of those ancestors who have contributed to the Overcome by being examples of people who despite real hardships and intentional actions to make them losers, fought the good fight and did not only survive multitudes of atrocities, but “overcame” them in more difficult circumstances, thereby assuring present and future generations that just as they were able to overcome the massive negatives of their time, so can present and future generations. Some of these past overcomers who now form what we will name “The Pantheon of Overcomers” are presented. Many more, living and dead will be added to the “Pantheon of Overcomers” over millennia to come, but no living person can join the pantheon. They must first complete their life in this world and be certified by their deeds before entering this great company/pantheon of victorious Overcomers, whom we are asked to remember, celebrate and emulate.
In this new offering of The Overcome, the rite of passage is presented first. The rest of the work then argues the logic, the reasoning, the purpose and the need for such a rite of passage. We hope most Blacks would do the rite and through that act become Overcomers as they move into their futures. It’s a terrible thing to die believing that your life and the life of those who went before were for naught, because you choose to live your life as a victim even to the very end. What a discredit to the life of all those who fought and died for the victory we can celebrate as Overcomers through their life’s work.
The OVERCOME RITE offers a fix to a way of perceiving and interpreting history. It says that the hardships, the evil intentionally wrought against Blacks, bad as they were, actually did a great thing for us: it forged us into a new people who having overcome all that evil are now poised and steeled to overcome whatever any current or future oppressor plans for us. Let all people know, now, that we are the overcomers. We do not sing “we shall overcome someday day” anymore! That was the working song. Through MLK and all those who went before, we declare that we have indeed Overcome. We are the Overcomers. It is our new character trait to overcome all things negative. And we will.
In the next stage, after celebrating the rite of passage of the Overcome, we build all the lifesaving, life authenticating and life sustaining institutions— profit and non-profit— needed to prove and demonstrate that we are indeed The Overcomers.
One last point to note is that in the Overcome Rite, we do not name people who are still alive. Why? While they are alive, they could make massive mistakes that disqualify them from joining the pantheon of past overcomers. That is the reason why people as great as President Obama and Oprah Winfrey cannot be added yet. They most likely will be added to the pantheon after their death when they join Martin Luther King, Jr and Nelson Mandela among the great number of freedom fighters who fought and won the victories which give us the evidence we need to proclaim and celebrate that we are no longer victims trapped by the color of our skin, but victors and Overcomers who did not just survive countless atrocities, but triumphed and became stronger. We remember that just as steel is forged in fire, so our new character as Overcomers was forged through the trials and struggles of our ancestors who worked so hard to get us to this new status in life.
Companion books: “The Overcome, A Black Passover” and “Overcome: Rite, Liturgy and Songs,” written by Peter Bramble can be purchased from Amazon and other book sellers. (These books explain in detail the concepts and the rite of Overcome).
Excellent! I hope and pray that your work will be read by all black people.