What a Black President Means

It is Wednesday morning after the historic election of November 4, 2008. I did not realize how vested I was in the historic significance of the election of our first African-American President.

65 years ago, Marion Anderson was the greatest Contralto Opera Singer of the 20^th Century. Mary Presley, my grandmother, was the president of the Women’s Club in Cottonwood, AL and arranged for a concert to be performed while Anderson was on tour of the US. When she arrived, the arrangements for Hotel and Restaurant fell through when the business owners realized she was of African-American. She stayed with my Grandmother’s family and performed to a sold out audience with rave reviews, but was denied access to Lodging and Food.

45 years ago, my father, Greg Presley, was Pastor of Fellowship Baptist Church of Ocala, Florida during the St. Augustine Race Riots. He led the Church to be the first Baptist Church in Florida to seat African-American visitors. The KKK burned a cross in the yard of the Manse and I remember my mother’s tears and fear as we watched my Dad take my little .410 shotgun out and defend our home while they danced around the flaming cross. 20 years later I would sing at the funeral of the same man that led that led the dance.

40 years ago I watched the Civil Rights activists H. Rap Brown and Andrew Young go to jail after speeches my father had helped write during demonstrations at the 1968 Democratic National Convention. Threatening phone calls followed my family for years for my father’s role as a speechwriter for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

Today I wake to realize the American Dream of Equality and Opportunity regardless of race, gender, or entitlement is closer to being a reality than it has been in my lifetime. As Barack Obama said, “We have come so far”. Transformation is the theme of the American Dream as well as the Christian experience. Truly that transformation is taking place before our eyes at this time in history. I continue to pray for my own spiritual growth, the continued transformation of my country, and the Lord’s guidance for my new President. I hope you will join me.

Rev. Earl G. Presley, Pastor -First Christian Church, Rockdale, TX

Printed in the Rockdale Reporte, Rockdale, TX November 11, 2008