Why Africans Need More Than Prayers

CHARLESTON, South Carolina — On the heels of intense white violence against Black citizens in the United States, yet another act of white domestic terrorism is waged upon Black communities.

In the southern US city of Charleston, South Carolina a white gunman shot and killed nine African Americans–six women and three men, in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. The gunman opened fire at the historic church last week.

This shooting joins the countless others of white violence on Black citizens for absolutely no reason. Undoubtedly, a white man shooting innocent Black people is yet another act of white domestic terrorism.

There is no provocation from Black citizens, they had no connections to this man, they were unarmed. This white man did not choose to shoot just any church; he targeted a Black church. With another senseless shooting, the US remains an unsafe place for Black people to live and prosper.

This white on Black violence is 100 percent unnecessary and 100 percent motivated by intense hate of Black people. It is the same violence that propels Westerners to come to African nations and conduct trials of dangerous medicines that they would not perform on their own citizens.

Collective attacks of white extremists on innocent Black people are not isolated incidents, but they are part of white terrorism that tries to control the entire world through the barrel of a gun.

Rather than merely a hate crime, this attack can also be seen as a political assassination. One of the deceased, senior pastor Reverend Clementa Pinckney, was also a Democratic member of the South Carolina Senate from the 45th District. Prior to that service, he was a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives from the 122nd district.

Like Black communities in the US, Africa is no stranger to political assassinations orchestrated by Western interests. Just ask Libya.

But we won’t hear the phrase white terrorism or political assassination. No, we have heard white media spin these stories before. And soon white media organizations will fall back on narratives that suggest “the shooter was psychologically impaired and had untreated mental illness issues.”

Still, a mass shooting in a church strikes the majority of people, both religious and nonreligious, with a sting of irony.

The doctrine of Christianity would say to invite any stranger in as if he were family. But is this the type of behavior to follow when one race of people has declared war on killing the other?

The tenets of Christianity, no matter how idealistic they are in their vision of mankind, cannot prepare us for such violence.

Christianity has done nothing but weakened African minds and made us vulnerable.

The church is a vulnerable space where people are taught to treat others as they, themselves, would like to be treated. Within spaces of worship, people are told to love the next man like he is their brother. These teachings operate well in communities of mutual respect. But sadly, as each shooting reveals time and again, white men refuse to give Black men, women, and communities respect.

African people and communities are targeted for white crimes. Unfortunately, Black Christians across the globe, because of their doctrines of friendship, love, docility, and ultimately forgiveness, are an easy target.

In a statement, the president of the N.A.A.C.P., Cornell William Brooks, said, “There is no greater coward than a criminal who enters a house of God and slaughters innocent people engaged in the study of scripture.”

It is abundantly true that there is cowardice in such vile acts as mass domestic terrorism. Yet, it is also perplexing that during this era Africans are so intensely engaged in the study of scripture.

For the betterment of all, why aren’t we more engaged in the study of agriculture to grow our own food so that we do not go hungry? Or the study of architecture, carpentry, and masonry to build our own houses so that we have a place to live?

A man wearing a shirt bearing the name of the Empowerment Missionary Baptist Church said during a prayer for the victims, “The question is, Why God?”

His question exposes the great conundrum of Christianity: that everything good that happens in one’s life is attributed to God, while everything bad that happens is attributed to the devil.

Children ask of their parents, why would God let something terrible happen to us? In responses, parents only urge the children to keep quiet and restrain from posing such trivial inquiries.

Why do good things happen to bad people and bad things happen to innocent people? Never receiving its fair reply, this question reasonably plagues everyone who understands that though optimism is necessary, blind optimism is imprudent.

By now, Africans should have indeed grown tired of asking God why do these things happen, or how can we overcome?

The solutions to problems come with work, sacrifice, thought, reading, writing, education, job creation, and community building—concrete efforts set on establishing a more grounded community. Yes, faith, hope, and spirituality are part of the glue that holds communities together, but prayer alone cannot suffice in forging a better future.

It is in good faith to “keep hope alive” and “pray about” these things—as Governor Nikki Haley of South Carolina urged the Charleston, South Carolina residents to do—if that is to keep our bodies and minds in good spirits. At the same time, African, historically and at present, have never had a shortage of prayers.

Maybe…just maybe… Africans communities are in need of more than prayers at this venture in time. More than just prayers, we are in great need of constructive thoughts that turn into productive actions.