The mission of Black Americans for life is to encourage African Americans to break the silence with regard to the tragedy of abortion in our community. We believe that if we equip Black people with the facts of this modern day genocide, they will respond and surely work to end the killing of black children.
Last Thursday I attended an awards luncheon for Black Americans For Life at the U.S. Capitol (See this post). Several people were given awards for their contributions to the pro-life movement, particularly for their work in the black community. I’d never seen so many black people in one place uncompromisingly condemning child killing, not even in the church I attended while growing up.
I was in a room full of outspoken people gathered together to honor those with the courage and audacity to declare child killing genocidal evil. They believe life begins at conception, just as I do. Pictured with me above is Day Gardner, National Director of Black Americans for Life, founder and President of the National Black Pro Life Union, and member on several state boards in Maryland. (A commenter asked about joining the organization, which I also plan to do. Day can reached at DGardner@nrlc.org.)
I sat next to a woman who works for an organization called the Right to Life of Montgomery County Educational Foundation. She sets up tables outside child slaughterhouses to give women facts about the development of their babies and alternatives to abortion they won’t get inside. Another table companion was a man who works for the American Life League. Others worked for organizations like The Gabriel Project and the Catherine Foundation Pregnancy Care Center.
I also ran into an old friend from undergrad. Alvin Williams is the president of the Black American’s Political Action Committee. He was a black Republican at a historically black college. Brave. One day he invited a local Republican candidate to the school, and a group of us showed up to heckle them both. Eons later, Alvin and I are on the same side. He was pleasantly surprised.
A President Bush appointee to the Domestic Policy Council, Claude A. Allen, gave the keynote address. He talked about his commitment to protecting unborn life and his role in advocating a United Nations declaration against human cloning.
Alveda King (on the right), the niece of Martin Luther King, Jr., was a special guest, and she lead us in prayer and song. She knows firsthand the mental and physical pain of abortion, and the forgiveness or Christ. The mother of six had two abortions; one was involuntary.
The first award recipient was Dr. Kay Coles James, former director of the Office of Personnel Management. She is a pro-life commentator and travels the country speaking on behalf of the pro-life movement. Dr. James told us a very interesting story. Years ago she wanted to debate Faye Wattleton, a black woman who was president of Planned Parenthood at the time. Wattleton didn’t want to debate her because she wasn’t important enough, i.e., the president of an organization. The National Right to Life Committee formed Blacks Americans for Life and made Dr. James the president. 
Wattleton still wouldn’t debate her.
The second recipient was Dr. Johnny Hunter, a pastor and National Director of the Life Education and Resource Network. The organization develops pro-life projects, including the Sanctity of Life Curriculum, the African-American Community Outreach, and the Study of Genocide and Eugenics. Dr. Hunter is an outspoken advocate for the unborn, and he talked about his arrests for preaching the Gospel outside abortion clinics. He described himself as an activist who recognizes the need to pass the torch to the next generation. He literally passed the torch that day.
Introduced by a young black college student, Dr. Hunter asked the young man to stand at the podium with him as he gave his short speech. The student didn’t look like the typical pro-life conservative. He wore a suit, but he also wore his hair in braids. He broke all “black Republican” stereotypes. Throughout his speech, Dr. Hunter would turn to him, stressing the need to be active in the movement. He ended with a bang. Dr. Hunter picked up the award and said although he’d love to take it home and put it on his mantle, he wanted the young man to have it.
That symbolic gesture was touching, packed with so much wisdom, passion, and hope. The young man couldn’t hold back his tears, and neither could some of us. It was a moment the student will never forget.
The third award recipient was Dr. Mildred Fay Jefferson (in retro black and white), the first black woman to graduate from Harvard Medical School in 1951 (scroll down to second set of photos), and she did it under legal segregation and without skin color preferences. The Texas native has had a career-long interest in medical jurisprudence and ethics, and she spoke out against the decision to starve Terri Schiavo. She’s also on a crusade to support a ban on embryonic stem cell research.
I was introduced to Clenard Childress of BlackGenocide.org, but our conversation was much too brief. I’ve linked to his site several times, especially this page (Warning: graphic photos). I encourage you to visit his web site and read the articles about Margaret Sanger, creator of the “Negro Project.”
You’ve read the statistics. Black women are three times as likely to kill their babies through abortion. Only 12 percent of the population, blacks account for 35 percent of the abortions in the U.S. And to think that blacks are still whining about the genocide of the African slave trade.
Since Roe v. Wade, over 43 million babies have been killed. Over 14 million of those babies were black. It’s a shame when any child is slaughtered, no matter the color, but the people I met at the luncheon were focused on black babies for a reason. They’re killed at higher rates, and Planned Parenthood clinics are concentrated in inner cities, which have majority black populations.
Planned Parenthood is under the gun for failing to report the sex abuse of minors. The organization “counsels” girls under 14 who’ve said they’ve had sex. Such activity is presumed to be statutory rape if a child is under the age of 14. For all the organization knows or cares, the girls’ partners could be and probably are grown men. A judge in Indiana just ordered the local “clinic” to turn over records of patients under 14. Will the organization be fined and/or shut down for protecting child molesters? The southern border would be closed down before that happened.
What did I learn that day? That blogging about the evils of abortion and protecting the unborn isn’t nearly enough, only a good beginning. I need to be involved, hands-on, with the pro-life movement, if only to encourage others to speak out against child killing. The black pro-life movement doesn’t have a strong online presence, and I may be able to help change that. I’m a political blogger with a fair amount of name recognition, and I need to use whatever influence I have to get the message out.
I was in good company that day, surrounded by praying, pro-life conservative Christians.
Related posts:
- Irreverent Reverends II
- Black Women and Child Killing
- Incompatible Kerry’s Immaculate Deception
- The Enemy’s Influence
Sources: Planned Parenthood Perversity, African American Prolife Alliance, LifeNews.com, The Alan Guttmacher Institute…
La Shawn,
It is encouraging to see Black Americans slowly changing their views on this issue. Thank you for you for being one of the most vocal in voicing this change.
Brad
Comment by Broken Messenger — 06.04.05 @ 12:47 pm
I’m not sure blacks are “changing their views” - I think they just have been silent on it.
My name is “La Shawn,” not Michelle, and the Koran post is closed to commenting FOR A REASON. Don’t post anymore off-topic comments on this or any other post. - Admin
Comment by Ken — 06.04.05 @ 1:26 pm
La Shawn:
As a doctor, I gave many anesthetics for abortions when I sas a Medical student and Intern - no one told me not to.
Later in life, I know the evils of abortion.
A whole generation of Americans have been duped - abortion is not about “women’s rights” - it is about controlling the “wrong kind of people”.
Thanks again for getting involved.
Comment by Frank Zavisca — 06.04.05 @ 2:44 pm
I’m glad to know there is an organization out there like Day’s. That’s very encouraging.
Comment by RepJ — 06.04.05 @ 4:58 pm
W.O.W. Isn’t life grand?
Comment by Andy — 06.04.05 @ 6:16 pm
http://www.choicenazi.com/
http://www.blackgenocide.org
Comment by Keith — 06.04.05 @ 6:54 pm
Sanger’s Sisterhood seeks to eliminate the womb and castrate the balls. Today’s feminist following found in the Sanger Sisterhood are modern Medeas advocating a most barbaric form of female empowerment ever known to man. I now consider myself to be a 21st century radical feminist by rejecting the Sisterhood.
Comment by susan — 06.04.05 @ 9:03 pm
[…] r to someone over 5,000 miles away. Right in Texas critcizes the cover of New York Post. La Shawn Barber’s review of her trip to the Pro-Life Achievement Awards The Tomo Rep […]
Pingback by The Political Teen » Blogosphere 6/4/05 — 06.04.05 @ 10:16 pm
La Shawn, It’s wonderful that you are doing all you can to help save the lives of unborn children. Congratulations.
Comment by Lucy Stern — 06.04.05 @ 11:11 pm
I’m so glad to see women in the black community rejecting abortion. So, so glad - because it’s violent, it’s genocide, and…well…we are all doing it to ourselves (I’m a white chick, but my own peers have their OWN issues in this area)! May these ladies make many inroads, changing - and saving - many lives.
Comment by Miss O'Hara — 06.04.05 @ 11:25 pm
I am White, but just found this site, like to read what you had to say, I have learned about Abortion since 1983 and have been working hard on stopping it. Glad to have you aboard. God Bless you. From Mrs. Carol Becker, Swdgwick Kans.
Comment by Carol Becker — 06.05.05 @ 4:26 am
OUTSTANDING.
Thanks for continuing the fight La Shawn!
http://marklaroi.blogspot.com/2005/05/abortion-and-mom.html
Comment by Mark La Roi — 06.05.05 @ 11:28 am
Thank you. Abortion is the number one evil harming the American family.
It destroys from the inside by killing a potential family member, as well as the contributions that person would have made that now can never come to light.
It destroys from the outside by creating an environment when inconvenience becomes a hugh tragedy that must be eliminated at any cost.
Inside and out again it corrupts the life of the abortion victim. He or she becomes bitter, or proudly guilty. I have never known an abortion victim who was glad his or her baby was aborted. Never in fifty years have I heard an abortion story that didn’t end or begin with “I had no choice.” Pro-choice indeed.
God have mercy on us all. God bless your efforts.
pb
Comment by Pat Baker — 06.05.05 @ 3:15 pm
You know LaShawn, this is the one reason why I am so incredibly pi**ed off at the NAACP. Because they took a pro-abortion stance.
When my mom raised us, she was very active in the right to life movement, I can still remember licking and folding newsletters to send out and whatever.
I am dogmatically and uncompromisingly pro-life, and pro-black, and I don’t see how anyone who says they are pro-black can not be pro-life, when I read statistics that say there is a very real potential that in 10 to 15 years 50% OF ALL ABORTIONS will be performed on black women.
The genocidal and eugenic intent of the founder of Planned Parenthood is well known. The program she envisioned in the early 1900’s is in effect today.
What is even more scary is that the voices on this subject are almost unheard, no body in the black community talks about it and it is almost equal silent on the white pro-life vocalist.
Comment by Dell Gines — 06.06.05 @ 11:23 am
Oops, I forgot, the Nation of Islam, and Farrakhan are also dogmatically anti-abortion.
Comment by Dell Gines — 06.06.05 @ 11:24 am
There are many ‘evils’ among us in today’s world and I believe abortion is just one of them. I disagree that it is the number one evil harming American families. I believe that among the African American households it is single parent households. It’s good to see African Americans joining together for a worthwhile cause. I hope that more focus will be placed on teaching, not just preaching when discouraging abortion. You have many women and/or young girls who have made bad decisions in their lives and pointing a finger at them and lecturing about how evil abortion is will not help them in there pregnant state. Being a positive influence by educating them about the negatives of abortion and then offering other alternatives would be more effective. Instead of just shouting ‘abortion is evil’, take it a step further and find out first the main reasons the majority of women consider abortion. Foster homes and orphanages are filled with children who are missing out on the joy of having a true, permanent family, for whatever reason. These are children whose mothers obviously did not decide to have abortions. Yes, their lives are precious and valuable, so why are they now wards of the state? I’m not in total disagreement with your viewpoint on abortion La Shawn but I believe it doesn’t/shouldn’t stop at just saying no to abortion.
Comment by Tam — 06.06.05 @ 3:37 pm
Tam, I don’t think anyone here is stopping at just saying no to abortion.
However, the question of abortion IS totally separate from anything thereafter. The thing to keep in mind is that aborting a baby IS aborting God’s divine plan for the individual that he saw fit to bring into the world in the first place. The ‘evils’ of single-parent families and/or orphanages pales by comparison and are nothing more than trials & tribulation.
Comment by Andy — 06.06.05 @ 7:26 pm
Dear Tam,
Andy is right. The issue is not stopping with a No to abortion. It’s starting with a No to abortion.
It’s not that the problems you mention don’t exist, aren’t serious, or don’t merit attention. On the contrary.
What I object to is the suggestion—tell me if I am getting you wrong—that abortion is an unfortunate, but more or less understandable, consequence of social problems, which ought to be drawing the main bulk of our attention. Doesn’t this kind of thinking run the risk of failing to take abortion seriously enough?
Again, I’m not downplaying the issues you mention. What I am saying is this: doesn’t tolerating abortion as a more or less understandable solution to social problems—isn’t that really just a bandaid that a lazy society slaps on those problems?
How can we solve social problems that boil down to lack of love for other people and for ourselves through an act that is the taking of an innocent human life?
Of course, you may not believe that abortion is the taking of an innocent human life, but then that is a different argument.
Cheers.
Adrian
Comment by adrian walker — 06.07.05 @ 6:22 am