From Chains to Change: The Emancipation Proclamation and Reconstruction Era

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The journey from slavery to freedom marks the most transformative period in African American history. Dr. Harry Singleton masterfully guides us through this pivotal moment, revealing how the Emancipation Proclamation launched an unprecedented era of Black advancement during Reconstruction.

Lincoln's path to signing the proclamation wasn't straightforward. Despite being remembered as the Great Emancipator, Lincoln was "forced into glory" by mounting abolitionist pressure, international criticism, and the practical challenges of western expansion. The 1860 election became a referendum on slavery, with Lincoln's victory triggering southern secession and the Civil War.

What makes this episode exceptional is Dr. Singleton's illumination of the extraordinary progress achieved during Reconstruction's brief twelve years. Black education skyrocketed—with 37 HBCUs founded and student numbers increasing five-fold. Political representation surged as Black Americans gained majorities in every southern state legislature by 1875. The constitutional amendments secured during this period—abolishing slavery, guaranteeing citizenship, and protecting voting rights—fundamentally reshaped American democracy.

The episode offers deeper context to institutions that continue shaping Black communities today. The tradition of Watch Night services began as enslaved people gathered on December 31, 1862, awaiting freedom's dawn. The Freedmen's Bureau provided critical support for newly emancipated individuals. And the HBCUs established during this period—from Howard to Morehouse to Claflin—created educational foundations that would nurture generations of Black leadership.

Dr. Singleton concludes with a powerful reminder that while holidays and observances may face political challenges, the essence of Black history remains indelible: "They can never take Black history away from our hearts, from our souls, from our minds, and from our historical DNA." Because ultimately, Black history is American history—essential for understanding our shared past and building a more just future.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:13):
Good evening everyone .
I am Dr Harry Singleton and fortonight's last segment that I
will do on the podcast NativeDrums, I would like to talk to
you about probably what's to meis the most pivotal time for
African Americans in our storiedhistory in this country.
I've often described it as aroller coaster ride of ups and

(00:37):
downs, of ebbs and flows, or,formally put, the vicissitudes
of American history have visitedAfrican Americans more than any
other people, and now theroller coaster is about to go up
after 244 years of chattelracial slavery.
I wanna close tonight with asegment on American history in

(00:57):
which African Americanscelebrated their freedom the
most and then celebrated, inwhat I understand and consider
to be their most productive, 12years directly after slavery and
what I call reconstruction.
And so tonight I want to talkto you about the Emancipation
Proclamation and aboutreconstruction.

(01:18):
And so, coming off of the lastsegment, where, of course, we
talked about the Fugitive SlaveAct, the Underground Railroad,
and we're going to hit the 1860presidential election, the
background of the signing of theEmancipation Proclamation by
Abraham Lincoln is preceded onlyby the 1860 presidential

(01:39):
election itself itself.
The 1860 presidential election,to me, was the most significant
presidential election inAmerican history because each of
the candidates knew that if hewere elected, that he had to do
something about the issue ofslavery.
As we know, abraham Lincoln waselected.
But Abraham Lincoln primarilyand ultimately did not want to

(02:02):
end slavery.
He did want to stick it to theSouth.
But his valuation of blackhumanity was that black humans
are humans, are still inferiorto white human beings and that
if he had to assign, as he saidon one of his campaigns, a
superior status and inferiorstatus to each of the races, he
would gladly assign the superiorstatus to whites and the

(02:26):
inferior status to blacks.
But the EmancipationProclamation comes to us off of
the heels of the 1860presidential election and of
course many historians havecalled the 1860 presidential
election a slavery election,that the person elected, as I
said, had to do something notonly about slavery but had to

(02:48):
move through executive order toend slavery.
And of course we all know, withCongress's help, with the 13th
Amendment which I'll mention injust a few minutes, that slavery
was legally abolished.
The 1860 presidential election,because of what I just said
about President Lincoln and hisvaluation of black humanity, was

(03:09):
also called the forced intoglory election, as I term it,
and of course I take this titlefrom Ebony and Jet, former
editor in chief Lerone Bennett,historian as well, who in 2000
wrote a book titled Forced intoGlory, and he makes the
compelling case in that bookthat Abraham Lincoln really

(03:31):
didn't want to free the slavesbut did want to stick it to the
South, and that he wasultimately, by the circumstances
of the time, both nationallyand internationally, was forced
into the glory that he receiveshistorically for having ended
slavery or at least starting usdown the road with the signing

(03:51):
of the Emancipation Proclamation.
The candidates in the 1860presidential election Abraham
Lincoln, who considered himselfa moderate Republican at that
time of course the Republicanparty was not a conservative
party, but it was a moreprogressive party than today
John Breckinridge was a SouthernDemocrat and was, of course,

(04:15):
steadfastly committed tomaintaining slavery at all costs
.
Stephen Douglas was a moderateDemocrat who was also committed
to ending slavery as we knew it.
And then John Bell, theConstitutional Union Party that
has since disbanded, in factdisbanded shortly after this
election, leading us really withthe two dominant parties you

(04:39):
see today the Republican and theDemocratic parties, the
Republican and the Democraticparties.
Lincoln, of course, wins the1860 presidential election,
running on an anti-slaverycampaign and vows to Southern
state legislatures and toSouthern governors that, if
elected, he would in fact endslavery as we knew it.

(04:59):
And Lincoln wins the 1860presidential election with 39
percent of the vote.
Up to that time, lincoln was thefirst Republican to ever win
the presidency in United Stateshistory, and so, as I said a few
minutes ago, the 1860presidential winner had to

(05:21):
answer the question of slavery,and had to answer the question
forthright.
That was the case for a numberof reasons.
I will share three with you inthis particular segment.
The first reason is thatnorthern anti-slavery sentiment
had arisen to a fever pitch withthe development of many

(05:42):
journals by white intellectualshammering the moral legitimacy
of slavery.
It had a tremendous impact inshaping the 1850s and 60s in
terms of the view of slavery andthe view really of the humanity
of black people, not to mentionthe fact that they were
profound theological andreligious reasons.

(06:03):
What if?
If you're a white American,that you are wrong about the
evaluation of black humanity,that black humanity is not
created in the image of God,like white people?
And that?
What if black people arecreated in the image of God,
like white people?
Then, in fact, we would becreating the highest sin for
claiming adoration to aChristian God and at the same

(06:25):
time holding fellow human beingsin bondage.
The second reason why the 1860presidential winner had to
address the question of slaverywas because of the federal
response to the Fugitive SlaveAct.
The Fugitive Slave Act Up tothis point, from 1850 to 1860.

(06:49):
With the passage of theFugitive Slave Act, the federal
government was actually enlistedto use its military forces to
go out and find slaves that hadescaped north and return them to
their slave masters in thesouth.
And of course theseconstituencies, for that decade
of 1850 to 60, never feltcomfortable carrying out their,
their governmental duties, theirfederal government duties, in

(07:11):
terms of kidnapping slaves andtaking them back to slavery.
But of course, according to theFugitive Slave Act, that's what
they were required to do.
The winner of the 1860presidential election had to
change that reality, namelybecause of the pressure, the
mounting pressure, on the UnitedStates government to have a

(07:34):
so-called free country and stillhold a significant segment of
its population in bondage.
The third reason why the 1860presidential elections winner
had to address the issue ofslavery was because US expansion
to Western territories was onthe horizon, and this came up

(07:55):
even in 1850, with the passageof the Fugitive Slave Act, roles
between the federal governmentand southern governors and state
legislatures, that what wouldbe the disposition of the states
once they were incorporated?
As the western territories ofwhat we now know of the United
States of America had beenincorporated by the various

(08:16):
states, at this time we had 13colonies, and of course, since
we have added 37 more states aswe have moved western from the
eastern seaboard to theincorporation of those 37 states
, and of course southerngovernors and state legislatures
held firmly to the notion thatthese newly created states would

(08:36):
in fact be slave states.
It was not the case with thefederal government, was not the
case with most northern whitesand blacks, particularly those
who had escaped slavery, andcertainly was not the case with
the international community,particularly Western European
nations who had since come outand opposed the issue of slavery

(08:58):
.
And so, as a result of that,the winner of the 1860
presidential election had toaddress slavery not only in
terms of the incorporation ofother states, but make the
steadfast affirmation that thosestates, once they did get
incorporated, were going to befree states and not slave states

(09:18):
.
And so a showdown wasinevitable between the federal
government and southern statesand so, anticipating, after the
election, that Lincoln wouldmove to end slavery and
anticipating that he would issuesome type of an executive order

(09:39):
on the question of slavery,southern states began seceding
from the Union to form what wecame to know as the Confederate
States of America in 1861.
And of course, the first stateto secede from the Union
December 20th 1860, just a fewweeks after Abraham Lincoln was

(09:59):
elected in the 1860 presidentialelection, was the state of
South Carolina.
South Carolina would be thefirst and by mid 1861, tennessee
would be the last of thesouthern states, southern states
to secede from the Union andcreate the Confederate States of
America.
South Carolina would also bethe last state to return to the

(10:24):
Union after the Civil War wasover.
And of course it has a storiedhistory relative to the
secession and subsequent eventsas we move into the Civil War.
Of course, as we move into thestart of the Civil War in which
the two sides could not come toan agreement over slavery.

(10:46):
And of course, let me makeclear on this podcast that the
Civil War, despite what you havebeen hearing lately from
politicians about a variety ofreasons other than slavery as to
why the war was fought, it wasfought primarily, if not
exclusively, for the right todetermine the nature of states

(11:09):
in terms of their status as theywere incorporated, whether
slave or free.
The Civil War was foughtsteadfastly because of the issue
of slavery, primarily if notexclusively.
And so, as Union troops beganin the spring of 1861, moving
down in the Southern statesafter having the directive to

(11:32):
end slavery and, of course, theSouth resisting those demands
from the federal government, theUnion army begins its offensive
in the South and the firstshots of the Civil War are fired
in Fort Sumter, just aboveCharleston, south Carolina, the
state of South Carolina,prominent again at the start of

(11:53):
the Civil War on April 12, 1861.
And so the Confederate Statesquickly forms a constitution,
its own currency, although neverrecognized by the federal
government, by the United Statesgovernment, it nonetheless
proceeded as if it was aseparate state.
And so we had a group of whitepolitical separatists fighting

(12:16):
against the United States ofAmerica over the issue of
slavery.
And so we're now into whatwould be the bloodiest theater
of war in the history of America.
And so, in the midst of thisfighting through 1861 and into

(12:37):
the fall and the summer of 1862,president Lincoln is working on
an executive order, it becomesProclamation 95.
And we now know it today as theEmancipation Proclamation.
President Lincoln issues theexecutive order made official

(12:58):
from a governmental standpointon January 1, 1863, but he let
southern states know 100 daysprior to that, september 22nd
1862, that in 100 days you haveto release the slaves that you
have or you'll find yourself, inviolation of federal law, ally

(13:25):
for African Americans.
Even as we moved out of slaveryinto the 20th century and, of
course, up to the civil rightsmovement, the federal government
has for the most part been anally of African Americans as we
have sought to change our lot inAmerican life from slave to

(13:45):
free and from bond, from slaveto free and from bond to citizen
.
And so, on September 22nd 1862,lincoln gave southern states
100 days.
The executive order was issuedon January 1, 1863.
And of course, for those of youfamiliar with it, on December
31st 1862, states slavesgathered in their churches, on

(14:09):
their plantations in 1862.
And of course, gathered ataround 1130 pm, 1145 pm on the
night of December 31st 1862, andstarted the tradition of our
watch night services that theywere watching the night of
slavery leave and the daybreakof freedom enter.

(14:29):
And so we start this traditionof watch nights, observance in
the life of the black church.
We're at eleven, fifty five.
The lights would be turned outin the church and of course we
would pray into midnight or intothe new year and then turn the
lights back on to symbolizemoving from the darkness of
bondage to the light of freedom,an observance that's still

(14:54):
practiced by many black churches, particularly southern black
churches, on New Year's Evetoday.
And so Lincoln issues theEmancipation Proclamation,
effective January 1, 1863.
The intent, clearly fromLincoln was to abolish slavery
on United States soil altogether, and so in many ways he was

(15:14):
throwing down the federalgovernment gauntlet to the
Confederate States of Americathat this executive order will
be realized and take effect,even if we have to go to war,
which we are currently in themidst of, at that time to bring
into realization that therealization of slavery's end
will happen, and it will happenduring my presidency.

(15:40):
As it regards the proclamation,slaves were now considered free
, if number one, they escaped toa free state.
This is taking direct aim atthe Fugitive Slave Act.
Of course, the federalgovernment was required to go
and find slaves who had run awayand return them to their owner.
That slave masses could go tothe north looking for their

(16:03):
slaves and that they found them,were able legally to bring them
back to the plantation toresume their enslavement.
As it regards the EmancipationProclamation, this effectively
ends that aspect of slavery andof the Fugitive Slave Act.
Once the slave escaped to afree state, they were considered

(16:23):
free and no longer a slave andcould not be brought back into
the institution of slavery.
And two slaves could now getbehind Union lines as they were
making their way into southernstates and join the advancing
Union soldiers in their effortsto bring about freedom for the
rest of the slaves in southernstates.

(16:47):
In Southern states and, moreparticular, to that end, the
proclamation also allowedgenerals in the Union Army to
commission slaves to serve inthe Union Army and of course, as
you might suspect, thisinfuriated Southern leaders,
infuriated Southern governors,it infuriated state legislatures
in the South and of course itinfuriated southern governors.

(17:08):
It infuriated statelegislatures in the South and of
course it infuriated generalsin the Confederate Army to be
able to commission slaves.
And this was very significantfor African Americans because it
was part of the humanizingprocess that the nation was
finally recognizing even thoughit was a war being fought to
recognize their full humanity,that commissioning former slaves

(17:30):
in the Union Army to fight fortheir freedom was humanizing for
the African-American cause andwent a long way in
African-Americans, andparticularly northern whites, no
longer looking atAfrican-Americans as inferior
human beings who were notcapable and should and did not

(17:51):
deserve to be consideredcitizens in American life.
And so, on April 9th 1865,after close to four years of
fighting, almost three yearsfrom the date that it started,
april 12th 1861, general RobertE Lee, the general of the
Confederate Army, surrenders toUlysses S Grant, the general of

(18:15):
the Union Army, at Appomattox,virginia, officially on April
9th, after the offensive inAppomattox.
And of course, on May 26th,just a little over a month later
, 1865, the Civil War officiallyends.
And of course, when itofficially ends, 638,000

(18:36):
casualties, 638,000 Americancitizens lose their lives in
this war.
It is still to today thebloodiest theater of war in
American history.
638,000 people and of course,on May 26, black soldiers that

(18:59):
had been commissioned for theUnion Army are going to start to
do military maneuvers inCharleston, south Carolina.
And of course that lays thefoundation for what we now know
as Memorial Day weekend.
It was started as a celebrationof black military union
soldiers in Charleston, southCarolina, to celebrate the end

(19:20):
of slavery and the unconditionalsurrender of the Confederacy.
And, of course, seeing thatthey had lost the war but still
considered themselves to be, tosome degree, americans, you're
going to see those same southernstates begin to come back to
the Union that they succeededfrom four years earlier.

(19:42):
The Civil War ends and, ofcourse, slavery is on the brink
of ending as we know it.
And so what does that mean?
1865, abraham Lincoln isassassinated, but the spirit of

(20:02):
Lincoln lives on as we moveforward in America.
And, of course, it brings us tothe next 12 years 1865 to 1877,
what I consider to be the mostproductive years in American
life for the advancement ofAfrican Americans, making their
adjustment and the transitionfrom being slaves to living as

(20:26):
free, meaningful and purposivehuman beings, building
communities and buildinginstitutions.
And so the Reconstruction erawas not enough to just end
slavery.
It had to be a process by whichthe former slaves could now be
transitioned into the fullnessof American life.

(20:46):
And so the Reconstruction erabegins.
And, of course, so that therewould not be any type of
offensive by Southern whites totry to re-enslave Africans after
they had been freed, the 13thAmendment, more so than the
Emancipation Proclamation, in myopinion, ended slavery by

(21:09):
making slavery unlawful Decemberthe 18th, 1865, ratified by
Congress.
And this was probably the mostsignificant amendment, because
now we were saying officially asan American government if you
continue to hold slaves,regardless of your race, we're

(21:31):
going to put you in jail, we'regoing to imprison you for and
fine you for continuing to do so.
And it went a long way inending the institution of
slavery as we know it.
The 13th Amendment readsneither slavery nor involuntary
servitude, except thispunishment for a crime where the

(21:51):
party shall have been dulyconvicted, shall exist within
the United States or any placesubject to their jurisdiction,
and so, in that sense, slaverynor involuntary servitude would
be an acceptable form ofrelationship between any group
of human beings in American life.

(22:13):
The next thing you had to do wasto guarantee the citizenship or
the right to due process,particularly in the courts,
because of course, if you canrecall, slavery was legal, and
so we've always had this.
You know, two steps forward,one step back encounter with the
laws of this country whereinour enslavement was legal, and
when we tried to run away fromthe plantation to shine light on

(22:36):
its abominable nature, then wewere considered criminals for
having broken the law.
And so it was imperative forCongress to also, in Washington,
pass a citizenship amendmentgranting us due process and,
more particularly from a courtstandpoint, to make sure that we
were treated fairly in thecourts and that our children

(22:58):
would get the best publiceducation that the government
can offer.
And of course, in just onedecade, from 1860 to 1870, as
the 14th Amendment comes to uson July the 9th, 1868, the
number of black childrenreceiving formal education went

(23:19):
from 25,000 in 1860 to get this149,580 in 1870.
In just a decade, the number ofblack kids receiving formal
education, the sons anddaughters of former slaves,
increased by five-fold in justone decade.

(23:39):
As it relates to that 14thamendment, it reads all persons
born, are naturalized in theunited states and subject to the
jurisdiction thereof, arecitizens of the United States in
the state wherein they reside.
No state shall make or enforceany law which shall abridge the

(24:00):
privileges or immunities ofcitizens of the United States,
nor shall any state deprive anycitizen of life, liberty or
property without due process oflaw, nor deny to any person
within its jurisdiction theequal protection of the laws.

(24:21):
And so what should jump out atyou is the reference to any
state making sure that ithamstrung southern states if
they were in any way shape form,thinking about creating a new
form of slavery moving forward.
And so we have the 14thAmendment, or due process, and

(24:41):
then, of course, the 15thAmendment, the right to vote,
that you can't be a citizen in asociety of free elections,
where government officials areelected by the people, and not
have an amendment to secure theright to vote.
And, of course, on February 3rd, 1870, the 15th Amendment was

(25:03):
ratified by Congress.
And just one decade just as withblack kids getting formal
education in 1860, notsurprisingly, there were zero
black registered voters In thiscountry.
In just one decade, 1870, therewas between 700 and 800,000

(25:27):
registered black voters.
Just in one decade, we gained700 to 800,000.
Registered voters and of coursethis 14th and 15th Amendment is
going to be challenged gained700 to 800,000 registered voters
.
And of course, this 14th and15th amendment is gonna be
challenged when we move into the1960s, the civil rights era,
with the Selma campaign forvoting rights.
And Chet Thurgood Marshall isgoing to thoroughly use the 14th

(25:51):
amendment the citizenshipclause and is going to use the
15th amendment the right to voteto get the Voting Rights Act
passed by then-President LyndonJohnson, who ends up nominating
him to the Supreme Court.
The 15th Amendment reads theright of citizens of the United
States to vote shall not bedenied or abridged by the United

(26:12):
States or by any state onaccount of race, color or
previous condition of servitude.
It was because of the strengthof this 15th Amendment that the
Voting Rights Act was passed.
Not only that, because of thenumbers of black people in the
South, now ex-slaves, in somecases outnumbering whites by

(26:34):
four to one in certain counties,if you can wrap your mind
around this, there was a blackmajority of elected officials in
every state legislature, everysouthern state legislature.
Later, by 1875, and so by thetime we get 10 years into, we

(26:59):
get 10 years into reconstructionfor all southern states, there
was a black majority in everystate legislature and that's,
that's nothing short ofmiraculous, 10 years up from the
end of the civil war.
To make sure that theseprocesses went smoothly in terms
of mainstreaming, and make surethat these processes went

(27:20):
smoothly in terms ofmainstreaming and transitioning
the former slaves into life asfree people, congress places
union troops in the South toprotect them from Southern
whites who are still hurtingfrom the end of the Civil War
and could want to revise ordevise some scheme to take us
back to some form of bondage.
The whole notion of states'rights, of individual states, to

(27:41):
choose the laws of theirapproval or the laws of their
choosing, is essentially endedand the federal government is
running southern states, atleast until the racial prejudice
that had come to characterizeslavery so much had abated.
Congress also starts thefreedmen's bureau station, set

(28:03):
up in what became major citiesin the south to make sure that
the former slaves had everythingthey need to transition to life
as free people giving furniture, giving them cooking materials
and utensils, giving themblankets, giving them what they
needed, wood for fire to makethe adjustment to living as free

(28:26):
citizens.
And they have these bureaus setup in major places in the South
to distribute to the new freeslaves, to distribute to the new
free slaves, africans, as theybegin their transition and of
course some got it and somedidn't 40 acres and a mule to

(28:46):
start plowing their fields andto grow their own vegetables and
to be landowners.
This would become a significantissue in post-reconstruction as
southern states begin to againengage in backlash tendencies to
take land from black farmersand from black people and set up

(29:08):
tenant farming andsharecropping as we move into
post-reconstruction.
But 40 acres and a mule was apromise from the federal
government.
Some families, former slaves,got it and some didn't.
And of course, not only do wesee the increase of the number

(29:28):
of black kids attending formaleducation, formal schools, but
you're going to see theemergence of historically black
colleges and universities.
You're going to see theemergence of historically black
colleges and universities.
You're going to see, in thisperiod, unprecedented period,
unprecedented growth forhistorically black colleges and
universities.
The first hbcu, of course, aswe know, is now cheney state
university, known then as theinstitute for colored youth in

(29:50):
1837.
Yeah, colored was the term wewere using in 1837.
And of course, it was foundedby white philanthropist Richard
Humphreys, which we see with thefounding of a lot of HBCUs, and
even named after whitephilanthropists, as Benedict
College in Columbia, southCarolina, is named after

(30:10):
Bathsheba Benedict, a whitephilanthropist who wanted to get
formal education for the formerslaves.
And of course, that area atBenedict College was once a
slave plantation and so for 500years the land in which Benedict
College sits has been eitherone of two things it's been a
slave plantation and it has beena college, and so um, um.

(30:34):
So we see many HBCU started bywhite philanthropists who wanted
to get formal training at thecollege level for the former
slaves.
Thirty seven HBCUs foundedduring Reconstruction
unprecedented that we would havethis many, which is why I call
this era such a pivotal era forblack people.

(30:55):
This meaning, which is why Icall this era such a pivotal era
for black people, just quickly,as I run them off to you by
their contemporary name, you'reprobably familiar with them, but
all of these 37 HBCUs foundedduring the 12-year period of
Reconstruction Bowie StateUniversity in Maryland, clark,
atlanta University, shawUniversity in North Carolina,

(31:15):
virginia Union University,edward Waters University, fisk
University, lincoln Universityin Missouri, rust College,
alabama State University, barber, scotia College, fayetteville
State University, howardUniversity, johnson C Smith
University, morehouse College,morgan State University,
morehouse College, morgan StateUniversity, st Augustine's

(31:36):
College, talladega University,hampton University, claflin
University, dillard University,simmons College, tougaloo
College, allen University,benedict College, alcorn State
University, paul Quinn College,the University of Arkansas at
Pine Bluff, bennett College,wiley College, alabama, a&m

(31:59):
Houston, tillotson University,knoxville College, meharry
Medical College, prairie ViewA&M University, stillman College
, jackson State University andPhilander Smith University in
Arkansas All 37 of these schoolsfounded during Reconstruction.

(32:21):
As it relates to HBCUs foundedduring Reconstruction in South
Carolina, the first one, and ofcourse its alum take great pride
and pleasure in letting thewhole state know that it was the
first HBCU in the state ofSouth Carolina Claflin College,
now Claflin University, inOrangeburg, south Carolina, in
1869, now under the auspices ofthe United Methodist Church.

(32:47):
Allen University in Columbia,south Carolina.
In 1870, under the auspices ofthe African Methodist Episcopal
Church, and in fact the collegeis named after its principal
founder, richard Allen, whofounded the denomination in 1816
.
And of course, right across thestreet, benedict College under

(33:09):
the auspices of the AmericanBaptist Home Mission Society and
now, of course, the BaptistEducation and Missionary
Convention of South Carolina,also founded in 1870.
Other South Carolina HBCUsFriendship College, some of you
may be familiar with that,founded in Rock Hill, south
Carolina, in 1981, due tofinancial reasons, under the

(33:37):
auspices of the Baptist ChurchFriendship College, of course,
known for the Friendship Nine in1961.
Nine young men who sat in at asegregated lunch counter in Rock
Hill, south Carolina, refusedto get bail when they were taken
to jail, to stay in jail, thenserve their 30 day sentence, so

(33:58):
it could bring nationalattention to Rock Hill, south
Carolina.
And of course they wererepresented in court by an
attorney at that time, ernestFinney, many of you may be
familiar with.
Ernest Finney goes on, ofcourse, to be the first black
state Supreme Court justice inthe state of South Carolina.
Clinton College, also in RockHill, clinton Junior College,

(34:21):
now founded in 1894 under theauspices of the African
Methodist Episcopal Zion Church,south Carolina State University
in Orangeburg in 1896.
It has the distinction of beingthe only public HBCU in the
state.
Voorhees College in Denmarkunder the Episcopal Church

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auspices in 1897.
Denmark Tech comes in Denmarkas well in 1947.
And, of course, morris College,the other HBCU in the state
that comes to us in 1908 andlocated in Sumter, south

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Carolina.
And so this 12-year span is themost significant span, in my
judgment, in the history ofAmerica for African Americans,
that it is during these 12 yearsthat African Americans lay a

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foundation in terms of itsreligious and its educational
institutions that will shape theway African Americans have not
only shaped their community, butalso in the way in which they
not only shaped their communitybut also in the way in which
they have shaped their world andthe nation as well.
And so I leave you with thisinteresting tidbit, particularly

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in this day and time.
It has been my pleasure toserve you, as I see my duty as a
scholar, as a historian, atheologian, to serve my
community, serve, serve mynation, serve my world and serve
my God.
It has been my pleasure toserve you in this podcast.
And keep in mind that BlackHistory Month may be removed as

(36:11):
a federal holiday by thiscurrent administration, federal
holiday by this currentadministration, but they can
never take black history awayfrom our hearts, from our souls,
from our minds and from oursocial and our historical DNA.
That our DNA is the DNA of thiscountry, for black history is

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American history.
And just because another segmentof the population is
uncomfortable hearing aboutblack history, don't think for a
second that we are no lessuncomfortable experiencing
racial bigotry in its mostassiduous forms and have
declared before ourselves andbefore our God to not remain

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silent about it and stand firmand represent a God who said
that we were created in freedomand that it is for freedom that
we have been created.
Stand firm and never againsubmit yourselves to a yoke of
slavery.
That we serve a God who came inJesus, who said I came to set

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at Liberty those who areoppressed and that the Spirit is
upon me to preach thatliberating gospel to all human
beings, to look out primarilyfor the exploited and the
marginalized, to make the first,last and the last verse.
That is our fervent Hope, thatis our fervent faith.

(37:37):
That is our fervent faith andthat is our fervent prayer.
I am Dr Harry Singleton and, onbehalf of the Native Drums
podcast and Savannah GroveBaptist Church, I bid you a
farewell and hope that thesesegments have been not only
informative, that these segmentshave been not only informative,
but they've also beenenlightening and also raised the

(37:59):
conscience of each of yourelative to our next move
forward, as we continue to bringtruth to power to a nation
that's running from a dialoguethat is essential for its future
and is essential for itsdestiny.
I am Dr Harry Singleton.
Good night, may God bless youand may God continue to bless

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this world.