“Messengers will come from Egypt; Cush will quickly stretch out her hands to God.” — Psalms 68:31*
In 1993, Dr. Cain Hope Felder, a New Testament scholar of African descent, served as the editor of The Original African Heritage Study Bible: King James Version. The Rev. Dr. Renita Weems, a woman of African descent and a mentee of Dr. Cain Hope Felder, wrote the book Just a Sister Away, in which she focused on women of African descent relative to the Bible. People like Dr. Cain Hope Felder and Rev. Dr. Weems have understood Africa matters in the Bible.
May 25 is Africa Day—or Africa Liberation Day for some. It is a day when all of us have another opportunity to take a closer look at the importance of Africa and her diaspora in our lives. The Bible is a good place to start. African leaders, peoples, and places are identified throughout the Bible. Further, many of us are Africans or people of African descent—or live among people of African descent. Do you know your story as it relates to this and to your community?
May 25 also invites us to scrutinize the negative narratives and images of Africans and people of African descent. For example, while it is true that the data does show disproportionate numbers of Africans and people of African Descent affected by hunger and poverty, this data often does not show the counter narrative of faith, resilience, resolve, and financial contributions of Africans and the African diaspora. Did you know Africans in the diaspora are Africa’s largest financiers? Remittances from the diaspora to Africa grew from $37 billion in 2010 to $96 billion in 2021.
Further, the largest social movement in the United States was the continuing Black Lives Matter movement, according to the New York Times. Recently the vice president of the United States, the first woman of African descent in this role, visited African nations with priorities on democracy, economic development, and partnership. This, after the African Leaders Summit in December 2022 was hosted by the president of the U.S. Executive orders concerning a way forward with Africa and the African diaspora were signed.
A historic session of the UN Permanent Forum of People of African Descent was held in December 2022—around the same time as African leaders visited Washington, D.C. The second session is happening this year at the UN. Bread for the World invites you to a webinar about this forum on Africa Day, May 25, 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., EST. The theme is Africa Day: Pan Africanism, Liberation, and Restorative Justice. You can join the meeting on Zoom.
Recently, Bread for the World partnered with the Historic Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia—along with the Black Church Food Security network—for an Earth Day weekend, at which we celebrated the importance reinvesting in Black Farmers with the Farm Bill. Learn more about the Farm Bill, which supports Africa and the African Diaspora, and how you can help.
* New American Standard Version
Angelique Walker-Smith is senior associate for Pan African and Orthodox Church engagement at Bread for the World.
