Episode 2 - The Significance of Juneteenth and Two Great Men Remembered

The Divine Ladder podcast discusses various topics from a Christian perspective. The hosts talk about the hot weather and the importance of staying hydrated. They also mention the issue of global warming and the need to take care of the environment. The hosts briefly mention the upcoming presidential campaign and encourage listeners to make informed decisions. The main focus of the episode is on Juneteenth, a celebration of the emancipation of slaves, and the hosts discuss its historical significance. They mention the passing of baseball player Willie Mays and activist Reverend James M. Lawson and highlight their impact on the black community. Overall, the hosts emphasize the importance of understanding history and cultural significance. Welcome to SBC's Second Baptist Church of Monrovia as we present the Divine Ladder podcast. This podcast will offer uplifting and engaging conversations involving today's culture, current events, health issues, spirituality, politics, sports, and family issues from a Christian worldview to promote God, honoring lifestyles, and the gospel truth. Our hosts will use edifying conversations, standing on the biblical truth, a healthy dose of humor, and real-life experiences. Our hosts today will be Brother Steve Darden, Deacon Mike, and of course myself, Deacon Ron Demps. Our hosts, would you welcome yourselves to the audience. Welcome. SBC presents the Divine Ladder podcast. So excited to be here today. I feel honored to be in the presence of Brother Deacon Ron Demps and my brother Steve. How are you fellas doing today? Man, absolutely wonderful. Glad to join you. Is God good? All the time. All the time. God is good. All right. What about this heat we got going on today? I don't know about you, but I'm glad we're in summer dress at our church. Our pastor, bless his heart, he allows us to wear summer dress when it's hot. And as a matter of fact, it's hot all over the country. How are you guys dealing with the heat? Well, it's so hot to me that I have been hydrated and drinking water full-time, 24 hours, every time I can pick up the bottle. What about you, Steve? You know what, and that's so good you say that, because oftentimes people wait until they get hot or wait until they get in the direct sun and then try to start the hydration process. And in reality, you need to be hydrating prior to that direct sunlight. So I'm glad you brought that up in terms of, you know, hydrating ahead of time. But you know, I've had a great time. I love the sun myself. So I'm going to go old school with you. I remember standing in the front yard on the grass and water being sprayed on me. You know, the sprinkler that's trying to stay cool down south. What about you, Michael? That sounds old school to me. You know, playing with the water holes as a kid, it's a whole lot of fun. On a serious note, there's a lot said about global warming and it does seem to me, in my humble opinion, that it is definitely getting warmer. So what do you guys think about this global warming? Yeah, you know, it's hard to remember in terms of, you know, how things were, you know, years ago, because when you were younger, you didn't pay that much attention to it. But certainly it seems like that, you know, the days are warmer and the nights are even warmer at night. And then you hear temperatures all across the country. So yeah, I think there's something to this global warming thing. Well, God has given us dominion. He talks about that in Genesis. He's given us dominion over his creation. And no matter what that looks like for all of us, I think we all need to do what we can to take care of the environment, you know, not use our electronics and, you know, big appliances during the peak hours and all of that. And, you know, if we don't need to drive across the country, you know, maybe we can keep it local. You know, someone can do something to help with the pollution that's going out. So we also got a presidential campaign coming up on June 27. And this campaign is getting hot right now. President Biden and former President Trump, I think they're sharpening their words and ready to get after it on CNN on Thursday. So to the audience as a whole, be sure to check it out so that we can make informed decisions as God's people. We at this particular podcast, we don't get behind any one candidate. We want each and every individual to make a choice according to what they see is right and those things that are pleasing to God, of course. As we get going on today's subject, I'm so excited about it. But just telling you just a little bit about this podcast. We're coming from a Christian worldview. We believe there is one race, the human race, created by one God and his image. But within the human race are a myriad of ethnicities and tongues and cultures, peoples and tribes, which we can learn from, glean from to the glory of God. But on today's episode, we're going to be concentrating on some things in the black community, highlight a significant period of time in June and even this last week, where there were some significant things in the black community. First, we will be discussing the significance of Juneteenth celebration in our black community. And I'm not ashamed to say, as a kid growing up, I didn't hear about Juneteenth. So it's going to be exciting to hear about it and see what we can learn from it and how that we can really just embrace it as it relates to the black community. Next, also, as many have heard, that a great man by the name of Willie Mays passed away recently. A great, great baseball player and he was a trailblazer. We're going to be talking about that. I'm excited about that. And last but not least, was an activist, a revolutionary activist by the name of Reverend James M. Lawson. He passed away as well. And we're going to be just highlighting his life and how it impacted the black community. So I'm so excited today. Hey, let's not filibuster. Let's get started. Brother Steve, can you share with us? Yes. Man, I'm glad you mentioned that about Juneteenth. And this past weekend, there have been all sorts of celebrations, Juneteenth celebrations and picnics and just a variety of events that have been going on all over the community. And it had me thinking, as you just mentioned, Brother Mike, it had me thinking about when I was young, I remember when I was first introduced to Juneteenth. And unfortunately, it wasn't explained to me. It was just we're going to celebrate. It was just a picnic we're going to. And I thought it meant you had to be a teenager. It was, you know, June and the teenagers were going to celebrate. That's what I thought. It was weird because I had cousins that were coming in from out of town, from St. Louis and coming in from Milwaukee and coming in from other parts of the country. And they knew about Juneteenth. But here in California, it wasn't something that, you know, I was familiar with. And I certainly never heard about it in our history books, in classrooms. And what about you? Had anybody here heard about Juneteenth or was familiar with Juneteenth? I must admit, it was new to me, too. And like I said, being in California, but the irony of having to wait two and a half years more, because that is significant in this Juneteenth situation. Sure. That they were not aware that they had been freed. Right. And then to know that it took issues in Congress to even declare it to be a holiday. Right. What about you, Michael? I feel kind of ignorant, to be honest with you. But I think that's kind of true in our school, in my school. They didn't teach about Juneteenth. And that's why it's so important now that so many curriculums are being changed and not sharing about certain cultural things in the black community. They're being taken out of school. So it's so important. Let me do this just to enlighten some folks that may not know the historical significance of Juneteenth and share just a little bit about it. We won't go into all of the details of Juneteenth, but certainly to understand that Juneteenth, the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 was signed into effect during the Civil War to free the slaves. And to your point, while certain Confederate states were free and allowed some of the slaves to be free, all of them that were under the Union's control were not. And specifically the state of Texas, in Galveston, Texas, it took two more years, so in 1865, before the soldiers actually got to Galveston, Texas, and made sure that all of the slaves, and they were reading portions of the Emancipation Proclamation, and to ensure that the slaves were free. So it took two extra years to your point, to your discussion there. But let me just say this quickly and then we can we can kind of move on. In addition to the Emancipation Proclamation, there was also had to be a 13th Amendment to really ratify the Freedom Act and to ensure that all slaves were free. So even with the initial signing, they still had to amend it because there was still some people who were not really, really there. But as I said, I wanted to, it's impossible for us to really talk about Juneteenth without going back to, and this will be a discussion all in and of itself, but it's impossible to talk about Juneteenth without really going back to 1619. And that was the actual start of slavery when the Africans first arrived on this continent and in the state of Virginia, or in British Columbia at that time. And that's when the slave first began in 1619, and then it took 200 and some odd years before the slaves were actually freed. And that became that Juneteenth time frame that we had in 1863 or 1865 before all of the slaves were free. So we got to keep the whole thing in context. And to your point, Mike, as it relates to the textbooks, you know, our textbooks are starting to be homogenized now and a lot of our history is being wiped out. And it's not so much that we want to run around and blame people for what's going on, but it's important that we know the significance and how we got to the place that we are. And yes, how far we've come. But Juneteenth is significant in this country's history, and not just for black people, but for all people to understand the significance of Juneteenth, the Emancipation Proclamation. But you know, you can't get to Juneteenth if you don't go through what we had to go through in 1619. So understanding that piece of it. You know, we could talk about it in a great deal and we can use a whole other episode for that, but I just wanted to make sure I shared that piece. Thank you so much, Steve. And when I think about a whole people going through slavery, I just think about the goodness of the Lord. Amen. Just a short hundred, thirty, or forty years ago, our ancestors were in slavery. But also not just us. Look at the children of Israel. So God is able to deliver us all, whoever we are, from slavery. And He is a good God, although He is with us through these challenging times. I'm so glad for what God did with the people that came from African ancestry. Thank you so much, Steve. We're going to move right ahead to a great player. I played Little League baseball for six years, and I really loved baseball. I used to look at all the books and all the great players, and Willie Mays was one of my favorite players. We're going to defer to our brother, Deacon Dempsey. Tell us a little bit about Willie Mays. Willie Mays, better known as the Say Hey Kid, coming out of the San Francisco Giants, but got his original start with the New York Giants. And his records were amazing. But Willie's theory was defense would be the better game. And it was obvious in the big catch that he made. It was a significant catch over the head and running backwards. About four hundred and twenty some odd yards, his ball had been hit. And we still today are watching that tremendous catch. I watched it for decades, literally decades. It's amazing. I don't know how he caught it. He caught it from behind his head. From behind his head. Things are always timely, I always say, when you connect. And being that his demeanor was quiet and gentle, wasn't the type of player that really needed people to recognize him, his style of play. And you're talking about being fast. I mean over 300 bases that were stolen. Over 660 home runs that were stolen. Power and speed. But the origination, and this brought him back when you're talking about in 16, 17. But his origination started in the Negro baseball league. To know the caliber of players, Josh Gibson. But to know that he had come. He was the chosen, right after, about three years after Jackie Robinson was selected to come into Major League Baseball. Willie Mays came on three years afterwards. And he somewhat became the Michael Jordan of his era. One, that they looked through the standards that were set. But to know that we had a Jackie Robinson, a Willie Mays, a Hank Aaron, a Bader Pinson. Now I have to admit, one that they did not put into that was Ron Demps. Because I played the game pretty well. I was a third baseman and also a catcher. But you know, coming out of the south. Now you have to understand too, at that time, during the 60s at least, baseball was a little bit more pronounced, more than football or basketball. It was our way to get out of our homes. And we would often say, well I'm going to sign me a pro contract and mama will come back and I'll build you a house. But Willie Mays was a spectacular baseball player. What do you think about him, Steve? You know, I absolutely, as a kid growing up, that was one of the names that always came out of your mouth. Willie Mays. And we were so proud of Willie Mays and Hank Aaron, to tell you the truth. But we didn't know the likes of Josh Gibson and Satchel Paige and all of those players that were from the Negro Leagues that came through. And what I'm most proud of, and I'm interested to see how they're going to do this with Willie Mays. But I've been told that Major League Baseball is going to integrate the stats now and recognize the stats from the Negro League. And so I'm just curious as to how they're going to do that. But Willie Mays was certainly one of my childhood heroes. I mean, coming up, that's all you knew, Willie Mays. You know, and like you said, seeing that over-the-head basket catch that he would make, and it just seemed effortless. But very few could do what he was able to do. And I'm just going to piggyback off of what you said in terms of Major League Baseball. They have started. As a matter of fact, they've made Josh Gibson his highest average of batting average right now. They have accepted that. And they brought that to the attention. But when you mention those players like a Josh Gibson and all those that have played in any group, the one thing that I found that was a commonality, and that was the togetherness. Because I remember being down south, that on Sundays, the pastors would preach the sermon, and we would go to church that morning. But they knew that at one o'clock that afternoon, the teams from the Negro Baseball League, and I played, we had our teams in the south, Sunday afternoon. And the thing that people would be very surprised, we had standing room only crowds. People don't hear that type of thing. They supported it, they came over, we'd have the biscuits, the chicken up in the stand while the baseball is being played. And most of the time, we played double headers. Do you remember that? Well, yeah. I mean, I don't know how they do it because baseball runs so long sometimes. You know, this generation is like a microwave generation. And some of those baseball games are long. But to hear you guys play double headers, and the crowd was full, it must have been an event. It was a great time, and togetherness. God bless you. Well, thank you so much, Deacon Dempsey. I think I'm going to go ahead and talk about a great man called James, a Reverend James Lawson. He was born in Pennsylvania in 1928, and he grew up in Ohio. He was the sixth child of eight children. Now, his father was an activist and a pastor. And at an early age, too, he realized that he wanted to be a pastor as well. And he was right. He became an activist and a pastor and a university professor. Another great name that we need to hear so much more about. He was an ardent advocate of a concept that was so important in the civil rights movement called non-violence resistance. We all heard about that. When we hear about it, we think about Martin Luther King. But this man right here, he really was an advocate of it and was a tactician of non-violent resistance right around the time that Martin Luther King was coming up as well. So, he is a pivotal part of the civil rights community. During his undergraduate years, he was convicted of draft evasion because of his stance on non-violence. And he served 13 months in jail over it. When he got out, he went to a graduate school in Tennessee, and he got involved in a group called Fellowship of Reconciliation, or is the acronym in Congress of Racial Equality. We've heard of CORE, right? And we know that these organizations utilized non-violence resistance to push back against racism that was going on. He actually traveled to India and studied the form of non-violence resistance used by Mahatma Gandhi. And after he returned, he was introduced to Martin Luther King, Jr. So, during this time, he worked during his graduate studies. He was in Tennessee. He was the director of CORE, this group that I talked about, and taught many of the future civil rights leaders such as Diana Nash and Marion Berry, and John Lewis. We all know him, the congressman that passed away recently. Several of his students conducted sit-ins in the area of Memphis, Tennessee, resulting in inclusiveness of African American people. Before we couldn't sit and eat at tables and counters where white people were, so they made pivotal changes. Many of his students that he taught, and he taught them in non-violence resistance, they went on to do the Freedom Rides. You've heard of the Freedom Rides, have you? He was pivotal in the Washington, D.C. March, where Martin Luther King said his speech, I Have a Dream, and also the Children's Crusade in the 1965 Selma Voting Rights Record. He moved to California, Los Angeles, as a matter of fact. Before he did that, he was the director of the Sanitation Strike in Memphis, the same strike where Martin Luther King came up and spoke and gave his speech, The Mountaintop. He said, He's gone to the mountaintop. Unfortunately, during that same time, he was assassinated. So this was a great man. He later went to Los Angeles. 1969, he became a pastor of a church here for 24 years, and too late in his life, and he lived to be 95. He was still an activist. These are great men that we need to know about. And so I'm so glad that we're having this time together to talk about the celebrations, the Juneteenth celebration. Also, Willie, Say Hey Mays, and this great man, Reverend James Lawson. I'm going to defer to my brother, Deacon Dentz, and we're going to talk about our sponsor today. Our sponsor today. Well, our sponsor is Second Baptist of Monrovia, who are pastored by our dynamic senior pastor, Christopher A. Bourne, Sr., of course. Second Baptist Church of Monrovia was founded 122 years ago, and is a loving, Christ-centered, diverse congregation that continues to lead in developing and thoughtful blending in traditional and contemporary worship. SBC, Second Baptist of Monrovia. Amen. Thank God for the church and our dynamic pastor, senior pastor. You should have heard, did you guys hear his sermon today? Oh, it was awesome. Exciting, exciting. Absolutely. We're going to end our show pretty quick here, but we always want to give people who do not know our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, an opportunity to accept him into their lives. Absolutely. You know, and it is great that we can have this conversation and to your point, talk about some of the historical significance of this country, and also talk about some of the specific individuals and personalities that helped shape this country. And that's all good and wonderful. But I think the most important part that we understand and the common being that we all have here is that, you know, we know Jesus Christ to be our Lord and Savior. And we've all accepted him to be our Lord and Savior. And so what we want to make sure is that we give our audience, our listening audience, and our viewing audience, an opportunity. If you don't know Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior, we want to give you that opportunity to receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. And we understand from reading the word over in Romans, in the Bible, in the 10th chapter of Romans, verses 9 and 10, and it speaks to us that, you know, if we accept Jesus Christ and that if we confess with our mouth the Lord Jesus Christ and believe in our heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the mouth confession is made unto salvation, and with the heart one believeth unto righteousness. And so we want to just make sure we give our listening audience an opportunity to do that. And please, if you haven't, you know, take that opportunity to research Jesus Christ the same way we've talked about these significant figures. Get an opportunity to do that. And certainly we don't want to be out here cherry-picking from, you know, people's churches. However, if you don't have a church home, boy, boy, boy, I'm telling you, Christopher A. Bourne and the parishioners here at Second Baptist Church would love to love on you. And we're here in the gem city of the foothill in Monrovia, California. So come on out and visit with us. Our service starts at 10 a.m. So God bless you. Thank you for that opportunity, and may God bless and just continue. All right, we're going to turn this over to our brother Deacon Demps, who will go ahead and end this broadcast for us. Once again, we've enjoyed your company, and of course being in front of you virtually, and of course in terms of conversation. We hope that things have been edifying. Of course, we have glorified our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and this podcast, The Divine Ladder. We thank you for joining us again at SBC. On behalf of our pastor, Christopher A. Bourne Sr., and all of our congregation, we welcome you and we thank you for joining us for watching and listening to our SBC Presents and The Divine Ladder. If there's a particular podcast that you would like to have us discuss a topic, by all means, we ask you to let us know. SBC, The Divine Ladder, podcast at gmail.com. Tell a friend, tell a friend. All right, it's been nice. It's been wonderful. Join in again. Thank you so much.