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Exodus 5:1-22 Bricks Without Straw 5 Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival to me in the wilderness.’” 2 Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord and I will not let Israel go.” 3 Then they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Now let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God, or he may strike us with plagues or with the sword.” 4 But the king of Egypt said, “Moses and Aaron, why are you taking the people away from their labor? Get back to your work!” 5 Then Pharaoh said, “Look, the people of the land are now numerous, and you are stopping them from working.” 6 That same day Pharaoh gave this order to the slave drivers and overseers in charge of the people: 7 “You are no longer to supply the people with straw for making bricks; let them go and gather their own straw. 8 But require them to make the same number of bricks as before; don’t reduce the quota. They are lazy; that is why they are crying out, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ 9 Make the work harder for them so that they keep working and pay no attention to lies.” 10 Then the slave drivers and the overseers went out and said to the people, “This is what Pharaoh says: ‘I will not give you any more straw. 11 Go and get your own straw wherever you can find it, but your work will not be reduced at all.’” 12 So the people scattered all over Egypt to gather stubble to use for straw. 13 The slave drivers kept pressing them, saying, “Complete the work required of you for each day, just as when you had straw.” 14 And Pharaoh’s slave drivers beat the Israelite overseers they had appointed, demanding, “Why haven’t you met your quota of bricks yesterday or today, as before?” 15 Then the Israelite overseers went and appealed to Pharaoh: “Why have you treated your servants this way? 16 Your servants are given no straw, yet we are told, ‘Make bricks!’ Your servants are being beaten, but the fault is with your own people.” 17 Pharaoh said, “Lazy, that’s what you are—lazy! That is why you keep saying, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.’ 18 Now get to work. You will not be given any straw, yet you must produce your full quota of bricks.” 19 The Israelite overseers realized they were in trouble when they were told, “You are not to reduce the number of bricks required of you for each day.” 20 When they left Pharaoh, they found Moses and Aaron waiting to meet them, 21 and they said, “May the Lord look on you and judge you! You have made us obnoxious to Pharaoh and his officials and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.” God Promises Deliverance 22 Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Why, Lord, why have you brought trouble on this people? Is this why you sent me? The setting of the Israelites ..... the civil right movement.........symbol of the needs of the world!?  Mr Hugh Wallis July 22nd, second part of his talk on the civil right movemement. His encounter with some of the activists (Excerps)
Exodus leads very well into the spirituality of the civil right movement. Martin Luther King followed in his father's and grandfather's foot steps. His grandfather, the Reverend Adam Daniel Williams, at Ebenezer Baptist Church was quite an example as the following text indicates. (to help us with the comprehension of this very special time in history please find here : excerps from http://chuck.hubpages.com/hub/Martin_Luther_Kings_Grandfather_the_Reverend_Adam_Daniel_Williams ) When the Reverend Williams assumed his duties on March 14, 1894 the congregation had seventeen members officially listed on its membership roll. Like his grandson, Martin Luther King Jr., after him, Williams was a charismatic speaker whose preaching attracted and inspired people. Utilizing his speaking and other talents, Williams was able to attract sixty-five new people to the congregation during his first year as pastor. Under his leadership the congregation of Ebenezer Baptist Church continued to grow steadily as evidenced by the fact they twice had to build and move into larger churches to accommodate their growing numbers. The second move was to the present Ebenezer Baptist Church at 407 Auburn Ave. the building of which was completed in 1922. It was at the present church on Auburn Ave. that Reverend Williams' son-in-law, Martin Luther King Sr., joined him as assistant pastor in 1927......Martin Luther King Jr Carried on His Grandfather's Work and Legacy. Role of Church in the Civil Rights Movement Dates Back to End of Civil War Throughout its history the Christian Church, like its counter parts in some other religions, has had to deal with people's material as well as spiritual needs. Many of today's institutions – schools, libraries, hospitals, orphanages, social service organizations like the YMCA, etc. - were started by the Christian Church. The message of the Church – love of neighbor, equality of all before God, etc. - has also served through the centuries to restrain tyrants and advance the cause of human freedom. Williams Concerned With Material, as Well as Spiritual Needs of His Flock When the institution of slavery was abolished following the Civil War, some of the first leaders to emerge among the newly freed slaves were those who had assumed the duties of preachers during the era of slavery. The Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution (which was added in July 1868) along with various post Civil War Federal Civil Rights laws guaranteed the basic rights to all citizens including blacks. Passing laws is one thing, actual enforcement is another. If officials elect not to enforce a law, then the law is nothing more than a piece of paper with writing on it. When government officials, at the Federal, state and local levels, choose not to enforce laws guaranteeing the rights of former black slaves, it was local black churches that stepped forward to help the former slaves. Black churches became the center around which were built the communities necessary for blacks in the South to survive and prosper within the discriminatory environment in which they found themselves. In the post Civil War era of segregation and Jim Crow laws in the South, black churches became the center of black community life. Like other black pastors, the Rev. Adam Daniel Williams worked tirelessly to enhance the material as well as the spiritual lives of both his flock and the black community as a whole. Reverend Adam Daniel Williams Use Strategies of Both Washington and DuBois Using the strategies of both Washington and DuBois, Williams encouraged the formation and growth of black businesses as well as urging his congregation and other members of the black community to save and purchase their own homes. Reverend Williams led the black community in political fights to obtain schools and other public accommodations for blacks. In 1917 Williams joined other community leaders to form the Atlanta chapter of the NAACP. In his first five months as leader of the local NAACP he increased the chapter's membership by 1,400. As leader, he also launched a major effort to register blacks to vote. Upon Reverend Williams' death in 1931, Martin Luther King Sr. became the pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church. Twenty-nine years later, in 1960, Reverend King's son, Martin Luther King Jr. joined his father as co-pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church. By this time Martin Luther King Jr. was already known throughout the world as a leader in the Civil Rights Movement in the U.S. As a result of Martin Luther King Junior's fame and his association with Ebenezer Baptist Church, the church had become world famous as many of King's speeches were delivered from the pulpit of Ebenezer Baptist Church. Like other great leaders in history, Martin Luther King Jr. did not appear from nowhere. His father and grandfather were obviously role models. Like his father and grandfather, King was a great orator and used his preaching skills to rally people to his cause. Also, like his father and grandfather, he organized, encouraged and agitated to keep advancing the cause. The stage was set, the time was ripe and Martin Luther King Jr. willingly accepted the torch from his predecessors and led the movement forward to victory.) (Note to the reader : To help me with the details , I have copied some text that contained a lot of what Mr Wallis had mentionned in his talk) In 1954, Martin Luther King became pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. He received the B. A.degree in 1948 from Morehouse College, a distinguished Negro institution of Atlanta from which both his father and grandfather had graduated. After three years of theological study at Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania where he was elected president of a predominantly white senior class, he was awarded the B.D. in 1951. With a fellowship won at Crozer, he enrolled in graduate studies at Boston University, completing his residence for the doctorate in 1953 and receiving the degree in 1955. In 1954, Martin Luther King became pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. King was, by this time, a member of the executive committee of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. In December, 1955, he accepted the leadership of the first great Negro nonviolent demonstration of contemporary times in the United States, the bus boycott . The boycott lasted 382 days, the longuest demonstration in Alabama. On December 21, 1956, after the Supreme Court of the United States had declared unconstitutional the laws requiring segregation on buses, the Freedom riders, Negroes and whites rode the buses as equals. They all went to meetings to sessions to be thought to be peacefull. They were arrested as I described in my talk last time and sent to Parchman Farm, Mississipi state penitentiary. Do not want to go there then or even now! During these days of boycott, King emerged as a Negro leader as he took a big part in that process. In 1957 Martin Luther King was elected president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization formed to bring more organization to the civil rights movement. In 1961 the was a special program on PBS (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/freedomriders/) talking about the music, the background. I admire those people so much because they are peacefull and because of their Christianity. As stated in another PBS program : Mahatma Gandhi's nonviolent movement to free India from British colonial rule inspired American civil rights activists who had immersed themselves in Ghandi's teachings and viewed non-violence as an effective way to challenge the tyranny of the Jim Crow South. Slaves owners
Christianity, cohesion, hope, strength .. all that was in their songs Song : Keep you eyes on the prize Paul and Silas bound in jail Had no money for to go their bail Keep your eyes on the prize Hold on, hold on Paul and Silas thought they was lost Dungeon shook and the chains fell off Keep your eyes on the prize Hold on, hold on Hold on, hold on Keep your eyes on the prize Hold on, hold on The only thing that we did was wrong Was staying' in the wilderness too long Keep your eyes on the prize Hold on, hold on The only thing we did was right Was the day we begun to fight Keep your eyes on the prize Hold on, hold on Hold on, hold on Keep your eyes on the prize Hold on, hold on Freedom's name is mighty sweet One day soon we're gonna meet Keep your eyes on the prize Hold on, hold on Got my hand on the gospel plow Won't take nothing for my journey now Keep your eyes on the prize Hold on, hold on Hold on, hold on Keep your eyes on the prize Hold on, hold on Only chain that a man can stand Is that chain o'hand on hand Keep your eyes on the prize Hold on, hold on Alternative verses demonstrate the fact they were using their songs to pass the message : We're gonna board that big Greyhound, Carryin’ love from town to town. Keep your eyes on the prize Hold on, hold on We're gonna ride for civil rights, We’re gonna ride both black and white. Keep your eyes on the prize Hold on, hold on We've met jail and violence too, But God's love has seen us through. Keep your eyes on the prize Hold on, hold on ( note to the reader: the lyrics have been copied to demonstrate the point Mr Wallis was making not to detail exactly what he sang) Now picture this : somebody goes in a big city for the first time, for business in Chicago. The next thing he knows, he is in a car with strange people. I was that dumb guy. I could never understand why people are the way they are, about black Jewish people. I was in Chicago on business to meet people. I asked people on the street if they new where Muddy Watters was playing. This one person believed in me. There were Blacks, White into a car. I got into the car. .... innocence in an intelligent face: this is OK. " This is FAITH" We headed South, I had a little apprehension . We got to this appartment, put Muddy Watters record on.... Friendship around his music. He says you are going to play guitar. He loaned me his guitar. We went to this Club. shabby looking, where Otis Rush was playing. He asked me questions, I replied: I loved the blues. He asked me enough questions to make sure. He presented me as HUGH WALLIS from CANADA. They were the most gracious people I ever saw, the nicest people. Not drunk, no fights. Never heard music and applause like that. People came up from Alabama to see this. I went back to Chicago in 1963. he would have a party for me. I made a lot of friends. "I can't like you because you are white.... If you knew what the white people did to my family! " It is alright. I understand. It was an epiphany moment for me and hopefully for him. Every time I went to Chicago, I went to see him. " FAITH" not stupidity Song : Wade in the Water Wade in the water Wade in the water, children Wade in the water God's going to trouble the water. See that host all dressed in white God's going to trouble the water The leader looks like the Israelite God's going to trouble the water. See that band all dressed in red God's going to trouble the water Looks like the band that Moses led God's going to trouble the water. Look over yonder, what do you see? God's going to trouble the water The Holy Ghost a-coming on me God's going to trouble the water. If you don't believe I've been redeemed God's going to trouble the water Just follow me down to the Jordan's stream God's going to trouble the water. (note to the reader, I am not sure this is the version Mr Wallis sang, but it is a version to give us an idea of what was in it) Refers to the Exodus as well. A lot of their songs were messages. The song asks escaping slaves to cross rivers so the Sherrifs dogs would lose their scent. ( note to the reader: I have added materials from searches on the Internet to help with the comprehension only, because my notes were not complete since I go caugth listening more than writting... as it was too interesting)
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