(Prayer offered on the Public Address system and via the school-wide intranet for the entire La Salle Academy educational community on Thursday, 15 February 2018—Black History Month)

Let us remember we are in the holy presence of a loving God….

Kendrick Lamar once rapped:

I’m African-American, I’m African

I’m black as the moon, heritage of a small village

Pardon my residence

Came from the bottom of mankind

My hair is nappy, my nose is round and wide

In the popular media today there seems to be a line drawn  somewhere; for some people the sky is the limit to be whatever they so choose. While the best way to succeed as a black person more blatantly put by J Cole is:

They tellin’ kids “sell dope, rap or go to NBA,” (in that order)/It’s that sort of thinkin’ that been keepin’ kids chained.

While Childish Gambino once said:

The black experience is black and serious / ‘Cause being black, my experience, is no one hearin’ us / White kids get to wear whatever hat they want / When it comes to black kids one size fits all.

We live in a society where the topics of race and racism are sometimes forgotten, misunderstood or ignored.  With hate crimes, derogatory words and racial profiling becoming an everyday norm, now more than ever it is time to acknowledge the issue. The thing is—your friends and peers sitting right next to you may have faced these issues in their day to day lives and you may not even be aware.  You may live in a blissfully unaware life where race does not affect you. But as once said by Kendrick Lamar:

I recognize all of you, every creed and color…

We gon’ talk about a lot of things that concern you, all of you

Now I don’t care if you

black, white, asian, hispanic

And he has a point, the conversation about racism does not mean that only one race should be concerned and discussing it. Instead we as a community must come together to see how we can strengthen ourselves and keep ideas of hate away.

Let us pray..

As once said by Tupac:  It ain’t easy, being me, will I see the penitentiary, or will I stay free? As time passes by, society begins to realize the black experience is a hard one. May we never forget the sins of the past and that history still affects us today.  Lord, let us realize that we are all equal even though at times it does not seem that way. Let us remember that when the odds are stacked against us there are those who are always there willing to lend a hand.  Let us be judged on our virtues not our color.  Amen.

 Saint John Baptist de La Salle…Pray for us.

Live Jesus in our hearts…Forever.

Dariana Espaillat—Class of 2018

Question for after video: Are you ever conscious of how you act in public because of your race?