This past Martin Luther King holiday, I had the honor of being with the Rev. Dr. Bernice King, the daughter of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, at a gathering of Pan African faith leaders. She exhorted us to “stay on the mission!”
These are words for all of us to reflect on as we begin Black History Month 2025. Rev. Dr. Bernice King told us to reclaim space and time for the mission. She reminded us that mission is not about “you” but about all of us, as we seek to be people of faith. She reflected on the mission of her mother, Dr. Coretta Scott King, to organize to pass legislation to name a holiday in her husband’s honor, which we have commemorated since 1980.
This year’s remembrance of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King and Black History Month coincide with several notable anniversaries that remind us to “stay on the mission.” This year is the 1700th anniversary of the Nicene Creed, which is foundational to the Christian faith—and which was influenced by Origen of Alexandria, an Egyptian theologian who is considered one of the African Fathers of the Church. This is also the 140th anniversary of the “Scramble for Africa” that colonized the nation states of Africa. And this year marks the 40th anniversary of the Kairos document in South Africa, which was a foundational statement of faith toward a free South Africa and the end to apartheid.
2025 is also a Jubilee Year—which began on December 24, 2024, and will run through January 6, 2026. In his proclamation, Pope Francis calls for debt relief of some of the poorest countries in Africa. The theme for this Holy Year is “Pilgrims of Hope.”
Black History Month 2025 captures all of this and much more as we welcome the Second International Decade for People of African Descent. The second decade focuses on reparatory justice, with attention to kinship in Africa—particular toward people who are the children of Africa but live outside the continent. Did you know there are over 200 million people of African descent in the Americas alone? We are close to 350 million, globally.
This Second Decade was proclaimed on December 17, 2024, as “an opportunity to take concrete actions to confront the legacies of enslavement and colonialism, deliver reparatory justice, and secure the full human rights and freedoms of people of African descent worldwide.”
Bread for the World celebrates the contributions of Pan African communities this month as it celebrates its own 50 Years of Advocacy.
Angelique Walker-Smith is senior associate for Pan African and Orthodox Church engagement at Bread for the World.
