(Prayer offered on the Public Address system and the school-wide intranet for the entire La Salle Academy educational community on Monday, 5 February 2018—Black History Month)
Marie
Mission Statement: Black History Month is a period of time to reflect on and to remember the stories from all the black people that significantly impacted and left an everlasting mark on America. At La Salle, we are striving to celebrate the men and women that shaped the United States; and we are engrossed in learning about the historical figures that have never been introduced in any classroom setting. We celebrate Black History because there are conversations that need to be brought to light and hidden stories that are still in need of being uncovered…
Destiny
STILL I RISE
By: Maya Angelou
Let us remember we are in the holy presence of a loving God. The great female African American poet Maya Angelou once said:
You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may tread me in the very dirty
But still, like dust, i’ll rise.
Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
‘Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.
Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still i’ll rise.
Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops
Weakened by my soulful cries.
Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don’t you take it awful hard
‘Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines
Diggin’ in my own backyard.
You may shoot me with your words.
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still , like air, i’ll rise.
Out of the huts of history’s shame
I rise
Up from the past that’s rooted in pain
I rise
I am a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.
Let us pray… God, may you let us rise as one community that was once rooted in pain. May we lift each other up instead of tearing each other down. May we accept everyone for who they are and not for what they look like.
Saint John Baptist de La Salle…Pray for us.
Live Jesus in our hearts…Forever.
Marie Shabani–Class of 2010 and Destiny Gwann–Class of 2018
Video for after prayer