Many Black African American Christians engage in ritualistic behaviors that are based solely on unknown traditions. Watch Night Service (As in all of my posts, underlined words are links.) is one such ritualistic tradition. In the Minds of many Black African American Christians, they go to church on New Year’s Eve for the express purpose of worshipping Jesus Christ at the close of one year and the start of another.
The average Black African American Christian is clueless when it comes to the true history of “Watch Night Services.” The history behind this tradition has absolutely nothing to do with Jesus or Christianity. President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1862, which was to go into effect at midnight on January 1, 1863.
On the night of December 31, 1862, many slaves (only) in the Confederate States met in the slave quarters to sing and praise “Father Abraham Lincoln” for granting them their freedom. The purpose of these gatherings was to “watch freedom” come upon their lives at the stroke of midnight, January 1, 1863; ergo, “Watch Night Service.”
Again, many Black African Americans are ignorant about the reason for the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation. The average Black African American, when asked, will tell you that President Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves when he issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which is false.
The purpose of the Emancipation Proclamation was to create confusion and disruption among the Confederate forces. The Emancipation Proclamation only granted freedom to those slaves residing in the Confederate States and not the slaves residing in the Union States.
Furthermore, President Abraham Lincoln did not have any jurisdiction over slaves residing in the Confederate States because these states had seceded from the United States, ergo, the Civil War. Since “Father Abraham” did not have the authority to emancipate slaves in the Confederacy, in essence, the Emancipation Proclamation was a worthless document.
The other piece of the myth of President Lincoln was that he was the “Great Emancipator.” In actuality, President Lincoln was just as racist as the rest of his peers of his era. This is evidenced by his saying the following: “I will say then that I am not, nor ever have been in favor of bringing about in anyway the social and political equality of the white and black races – that I am not nor ever have been in favor of making voters or jurors of negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with white people; and I will say in addition to this that there is a physical difference between the white and black races which I believe will forever forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political equality. And inasmuch as they cannot so live, while they do remain together there must be the position of superior and inferior, and I as much as any other man am in favor of having the superior position assigned to the white race. I say upon this occasion I do not perceive that because the white man is to have the superior position the negro should be denied everything.” -Fourth Debate with Stephen A. Douglas at Charleston, Illinois, September 18, 1858 (The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume III, pp. 145-146.)
The Lincoln Memorial was dedicated on May 30, 1922 to a segregated audience. Because of this White American propaganda, Mother Marian Anderson went to the feet of the “Great Emancipator” and performed her concert when the White American Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), who were also Christians, denied her access to perform at Constitution Hall. By the way, this took place on “Easter Sunday.”
Because of this White American propaganda, Baba Martin Luther King, Jr. led approximately 200,000 “Negroes” on “The March on Washington” in 1963 to the feet of this “Great Emancipator,” and delivered his “I Have A Dream” speech.
Oh what a blessing it is that my people do not read, think, or use common sense says the Pastors, Pimps and Politicians.