Modern-Day Abolitionist Lights Pathway To Freedom For The Weary African-American Spirit In The New Slavemasters
U.S. Senate Chaplain Nominee Bishop George D. McKinney Releases New Book
To Explore Contemporary Bondage of the African-American Family
COLORADO SPRINGS, CO (PRWEB) December 3, 2004 — Veteran author, pastor and sociologist Bishop George Dallas McKinney still hears the crack of the slave masters whip. Desperate faces of children being taken away from their parents, and husbands being separated from wives are common images in the South San Diego neighborhood where he pastors and has a counseling practice. In The New Slavemasters-a new book that will be released in January 2005 for Black History Month—this modern-day abolitionist unveils the destructive nature of a new, invisible system of slavery that is destroying the African-American family.
Today, many consider the African-American family to be in a state of emergency. Recently, entertainer Bill Cosbys comments made headlines when he told his NAACP peers, These people are not parenting…These people who cry when their son is standing there in an orange suit. Where were you when he was 2? Where were you when he was 12? Where were you when he was 18, and how come you didn’t know that he had a pistol?” And, national statistics tell a similar story: Blacks are the most un-parented racial group in America with seven out of ten African-American babies being born outside of an intact family. Twelve million African-American children live below the poverty level. The mortality rate of African-American infants is already two times that of white infants, and its still on the rise. Among men, blacks are about six times more likely than whites to be admitted to prison during their life, and they make up nearly 50 percent of all drug possession arrests in the U.S.
In this new day, when African-Americans unquestionably enjoy complete freedom, there are new, insidious Slavemasters at work outside civilized law and labor to ensnare black families-and for that matter, families of all races,” writes Bishop McKinney in the new book he will publish with Cook Communications. These new slavemasters are even more threatening than their whip-wielding predecessors. While the latter were content with enslaving the physical being, these new slavemasters are satisfied only with the imprisonment of the mind and spirit as well.”
In The New Slavemasters, Bishop McKinney– the great-grandson of a slave whose position as an influential African-American church leader, businessman, and civic activist earned him in 2003 a prestigious nomination for U.S. Senate Chaplain by The National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) and Evangelist Billy Graham-asks the question: Are we really free at last? In his 224-page response, the new slavemasters” become a powerful metaphor for the contemporary African-American struggle, as well as seemingly insurmountable cycles of destructive behavior that have enslaved people of all walks. The new slavemasters are drugs, materialism, racism, teen pregnancy, rage, gangs, pornography, instant gratification, and sexual promiscuity, among others.
Though their true identities have been protected, vivid profiles of hurting people and broken families come to life from the pews of Bishop McKinneys congregation at St. Stephens Church of Christ in God (COGIC) and the files of his Southeast Counseling and Consulting practice. For example, Jacob is riddled with grief after his attempt to keep his crack cocaine-addicted brother away from a nickel bag ends in his brothers death. Stan, a celebrated craftsman, disconnects from his wife and daughters and starts binge drinking after an accidental injury to his hand leaves him disabled. Teri is a single mother whose anger is out of control at her deceased husband, who unexpectedly died of AIDS and gave her HIV. And, Gerald is a husband and father, whose attraction to pornography threatens his marriage and leaves him powerless to give it up.
Bishop McKinney meticulously devises a plan of escape for anyone who wants to be free and remain free from Satans traps. Now is the time for you…to feel Gods power coursing through your veins and burning in your heart, the freedom to be the real undhindered, unlimited you that God wants you to be,” he says.
Along the way, Bishop McKinney reminds readers of the inventive, creative, and imaginative contributions Africans made to the cradle of civilization. Their earliest inventions include seminal tools that later spread through Europe and Asia, and the art of painting men and women with a beautiful and sensitive realism before 3,000 B.C. We were exactly the kind of people God could use-and obviously did use early on-to enhance and further civilization within His earthly kingdom,” he writes. However, since the times of institutional slavery, Satan has been at war with the once strong African-American spirit and has made it difficult for the race to return to a similar status. He [Satan] wants to keep us weak, alone and in pain so we would lack focus for God. He wants us to feel so powerless that we stop trying, close our eyes, plant our feet firmly beneath us, and stay put,” he writes.
The New Slavemasters resurrects triumphant voices from slaverys past, who share times of struggle and overcoming. Stories and excerpted quotes from the actual memoirs of escaped slaves-Frederick Douglass, William Wells Brown, Henry Bibb, and Linda Brent-give an unforgettable black history lesson, sure to be a pathway of light for victims and their loved ones in search of inspiration.
The book recounts William Wells Browns perilous walk to freedom from his memoirs, Narrative of William W. Brown, A Fugitive Slave, Written by Himself: I traveled on at night until I became so chilled and benumbed-the wind blowing into my face-that I found it impossible to go any farther, and accordingly took shelter in a barn, where I was obliged to walk about to keep from freezing.” This was a tough journey but Brown did not give up. My escape to a land of freedom now appeared certain, and the prospects of the future occupied a great part of my thoughts,” Brown wrote in 1847.
Throughout much of the book, Bishop McKinney counsels victims of the new slavemasters to place their trust in God, rebuild their families, and concentrate on leaving positive legacies to their children. Our future is built on our present. If we want to create strong vibrant tomorrows, we must create strong, vibrant todays. What better way to subdue these new slavemasters that try to demean and destroy you, than to take lives of shame and defeat and turn them into lives for which we want to be remembered. Our enslaved ancestors had no control over their families. It was the slavemasters call where the family ended up, and generally they ended up apart…If from this moment on, we build our family His way, using the blueprint in the Bible, our family wont just happen-it will become part of Gods kingdom here on earth and part of His plan to nurture and further it. Our family will be fashioned, supported, and blessed by God and used to His glory,” he says.
About the Author
Bishop McKinney has been a spiritual advisor to presidents, kings, and business leaders. In 2003, The N.A.E. and Evangelist Billy Graham nominated Bishop McKinney for the position of U.S. Senate Chaplain (which later that year was awarded to Rear Admiral Barry C. Black). Bishop McKinney graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff with a BA degree; received his MA degree from Oberlin College, School of Theology in Ohio; and later earned his Ph.D. from California Graduate School of Theology in Glendale. Since 1985, Bishop McKinney has served as Prelate of the Southern California Second Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction of the Church of God in Christ. In November 2001, he was elevated to the General Board of the Church of God in Christ. He and his late wife, Jean, founded St. Stephens Church of God in Christ in San Diego, where he currently pastors. The former probation officer and licensed Marriage, Family and Child Counselor also founded with his wife the Southeast Counseling and Consulting Center and American Urban University. For his work in the area of racial unity, the National Association of Evangelicals named him The Racial Reconciliation Man of the Year. He is the author of nine books including a bestseller, Cross the Line: Reclaiming the Inner City for God.” He was married to Jean Brown for 47 years until her death from cancer in early 2004. He has five sons and 14 grandchildren.
About the Publisher
Cook Communications Ministries of Colorado Springs, CO, is a leading publisher of Christian books and Sunday school materials with offices in the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom.
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