Our Hidden Legacy

I state in the very beginning of this book, how I developed a love for reading at an earlier age, and how that love later centered on the reading of history. I was not satisfied to just accept everything around me that I saw as always having been that way back in time, but how did it get the way we see it now. At that age, it fascinated me that people living years ago, did not have electricity, or automobiles, or any of the modern conveniences that we take for granted today. It confounded my brain to learn that these things had to one day, be invented. This realization only fueled my imagination to begin to learn all I could about the past, and even now, in my later years, I become excited when delving into ages long gone. That is what you might call, a love of history. Being a member of a minority race in this country, it was a great disappointment to find out that there was limited access to the historical knowledge, concerning my own people. Later in life, it became clear that it was possible to gain this information if you really tried, but it was not common knowledge, facts most people knew, because in a way, this knowledge was suppressed and kept hidden. There was very little to inspire me. A people can only stay dormant who lack inspiration and they can also be subjugated when they are without a vision. It’s almost impossible to have a vision if you don’t know your roots. In other words, a race of people will not progress without pride in their history. Pride in your history will give one inspiration to continue along the historical lines laid down by preceding generations, and you can have your generation become a significant part of that legacy. If the reading of this book does what I hope it will do, inspire minority youths to participate in preparing themselves for upward achievements through the medium of consecrated education, and to work hard to become part of that legacy, then I have accomplished what was intended here. It is impossible to tabulate the many thousands of gifted, talented minority individuals of the past, that went through life, and because of prevailing circumstances, we will never realize how much of their talent this nation failed to utilize. It is incumbent, that this generation not allow that negative condition, to continue to repeat itself. The action that the adults of both the white race, and the black race of this generation need to take, is to not permit the next generation to miss their opportunity by being unprepared. That means that this book is not meant just for people of color, but can help change Caucasian minds for the better, also. I will compare this to gardening. The soil has to be prepared before you can plant any seeds, so young minds need to be influenced before they even have a desire to become educated. That part has to be set in motion by us older people. We can do this by repeatedly reminding them of how rich our history is full of overcomers. This will inspire them to want to be a continuation of this legacy. I must constantly remind my readers that this book is not meant to be a history book. I have selected various historically important individuals, the events surrounding them, the results that transpired, and shown how these persons relied on, and used the inherent legacy left to them. Webster says, a legacy is something left by your ancestors. These African ancestors possessed no materialistic inheritance to leave their offspring, but they were the members of their race, that were able to survive the middle passage, one of the first deadly impediments that had to be overcome to even reach these shores. Make no doubt about it, the middle passage was so brutal, any person able to complete this journey, were those who had a very strong will to overcome anything. These persons would be the bulk of the black ancestors who would populate this new continent, and would perpetuate the survival of that race. This would eliminate any weakness of fortitude, in the race, any beings without it would surely perish. From the moment their feet touched these shores, for the next 400 years, their only reliant hope would have to come from within themselves. This book will take you through some parts of that journey and well along the way. I begin in the early colonial period and take you all the way up to the current phase, including the social and political morass we are embroiled in at the present time. These folks were devoid of a plan or blueprint or in most cases, some leaders to guide them. The main purpose for them, was personal survival. They entered a new world, with new customs, containing a new race of mostly harsh people, who were insensible to their condition, and treated them as chattel, personal property. Over time, the inherent legacy left to these folks took effect, and their survival instincts brought out the over-commers. However, as they progressed, and began to adjust to this society, some of them even began to excel. This could not be tolerated, because their servitude was founded on the supposition that they were sub-human, and were created to serve other races. Any advance they made could not be publicized, but would have to be hidden. That is what the title of this book signifies.