They used to sing:

Oh Freedom Oh Freedom
Oh Freedom over me
And before I’d be a slave
I’ll be buried in my grave,
And go home to my God and be free

We have a proud wonderful history. It is filled with magnificent triumphs, challenging trials all told in our songs. When we sing our songs we are remembering our history. We must remember their words or they will be lost. It is our responsibility to know our past and treasure it and teach it to our children.

In these United States, our lives as black people — African-Americans, Caribbean-Americans, Haitian-Americans — is about freedom. We were all denied freedom at some point in our past, but now that we have our freedom we have the obligation to be great.

The Emancipation Proclamation gave us our freedom on paper, legally, but truly no man can give us freedom, it is for each of us to liberate ourselves.

Galatians 5:1 says: ‘Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.’

Paul is the author of this text and also advises us “not to be entangled again with the yoke of bondage.” Bondage — equals slavery. We are no longer held captive as slaves but we can be enslaved to other things.

We are free to be great, but we enslave ourselves with mediocracy. (We don’t want to do more than what we have to — I was fine being a ‘C’ student; I am fine doing just enough not to lose my job.) That is not what freedom is about.

Because we believe we have ‘freedom’ and ‘liberty’ we don’t sing those songs anymore. We believe they are no longer relevant.

Yes, each generation has its own songs to sing but we must also know the songs of our ancestors and embrace their struggles and successes.

Another song:

I woke up this morning with my mind stayed on freedom

I woke up this morning with my mind stayed on freedom

We are moved often by the rhythm, beats of music — but shouldn’t the words mean something as well.

Empowering songs, songs and words that lift our spirits and bring us hope.

We might be able to “Get Low” or “Walk It Out” but will those songs lead people to a revolution, fight for freedom, or change the world?

Let us find songs that encourages us to take advantage of the freedom our ancestors fought and died to make sure we could enjoy.We need to remember that at one time we weren’t able to shop in the mall — coloreds, blacks were not allowed. Now that we can go into the mall, we can’t stay out of the mall. Let’s stop spending our children’s future on clothing, and buy savings bonds, IRA, and put money away for college.

Let’s remember that we could only get menial or service jobs — mainly servants, maids, cooks, and janitors’ gardeners — now we would rather not work than take on those jobs. (Unemployment hits us hardest. Take a job now if you can, in hopes the one you want comes along later.)

It was Martin Luther King, Jr. who told us — it doesn’t matter what job you have, just first get a job then second be the best at that job. We are free to be the best at whatever we want to do.

Are we truly free?

Let’s remember who Carter G. Woodson, Booker T. Washington, Mahalia Jackson, Zora Neale Hurston, Dorothy Dandridge, Louis Armstrong were. Those are names from our past, our ancestors. Don’t let their history be lost.

Let’s not forget WEB Dubois, Langston Hughes, Barbara Jordan, Madame C.J. Walker, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Frederick Douglass, and Paul Laurence Dunbar. Those are name we can’t afford to forget. They represent the brilliance and victories of our people.

During his inauguration, Nelson Mandela had these words to share:

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us, it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

As Martin Luther King Day approaches let’s remember that it is more than just a day off. Let’s use it as a reminder of where we have come from and a challenge to meet the road ahead with courage, with character, and with a commitment of faith.

Let’s remember that we are beautiful. We are the descendants of kings and queens. We are Nubian royalty. We are free to be great and to be anything less than that — is to be a slave again.