Speaking at the historic Macedonia Baptist Church in the Los Angeles, California community of Watts, on the eve of the 50th year observance of the Watts Riots, Rev. Dr. W. Franklyn Richardson, Senior Pastor, Grace Baptist Church of Mount Vernon, New York, shared a few words of observation and encouragement.
“The Black church has gone silent on justice. We have a great tradition in the church for advocacy. But in reality today our churches have lost their heart to speak out, to take risk to be vulnerable on behalf of the marginalized and those who are without substance and opportunity.”
“The truth of the matter is that Black people are in trouble in America. The masses of Black people in America are not much different than they were 50 years ago. You can take every measure of quality of life without exception, Black people are at the bottom. Every single measure. You can talk about health, you can talk about education, you can talk about housing, and the prison population. You can talk about infant mortality, you can talk about cancer and obesity. Anything that you want to talk about that is negative it is worse in Black communities in this county. And that’s 50 years after Civil Rights. So we have a lot to be concerned about. It’s important that we celebrate our achievements and there are many things that have been gained. But it’s a small percentage that have made successful accomplishments. Masses of Black people in this country are still in trouble and we can not go to sleep. So, I’m glad to be here on this Watts 50th anniversary. The notion of a celebration of the rebellion that took place 50 years ago in this community where people decided they had taken all that they could take.” Rev. Dr. W. Franklyn Richardson, Senior Pastor, Grace Baptist Church, Mount Vernon New York.
Photo Credit/ReelUrbanImages
