Dear Mama, Thank You

"Afeni and I bonded over birthing sons who had been gossiped about, misunderstood, and had experienced violent deaths as young adult men. Now, as mothers we did not parent in any Polyanna-ish way. Both of us had deliberately prepared our children for the pushback from those representing the Empire. For instance, I disclosed to Jesus when he was very young about how me and his father had to escape to Egypt because Empire would have killed him otherwise. Afeni shared with me that she instructed Tupac about how Empire infiltrated and eventually destroyed the efforts of the Black Panther Party. She educated him well about the consequences of being a freedom fighter that she knew all too well. Following her successful defense and acquittal, Afeni had experienced unrelenting retaliation. Empire terrorized every one of her post-incarceration employers to frighten them enough to lay Afeni off. Her inability to have places to use her bright, capable and resourceful mind really sent her and her family into such a whirlwind of challenges. I can't imagine how hard it must have been for her to look her son in the eyes, the very son who was in her womb when she was in prison, and tell him that she didn't have enough food for him and his sister, or to say we have to move another time and we have no place to go. Words can't describe how hard it must've been for her."   Sermon by Brinell Anderson at All Saints Church, Pasadena, on Joy Sunday, December 11, 2019. Readings: Canticle 15, Tupac Shakur's "When Ure Hero Falls: 4 My Hero (My Mother), and Matthew 11:2-11. For video and a text of the sermon, visit our website: https://allsaints-pas.org/dear-mama-thank-you/. Follow All Saints Church on Twitter @ASCpas. Like us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/AllSaintsPasadena/. Donate to support the mission and ministries of All Saints at https://allsaints-pas.org/donate/donate-now/.