Black History

COMMENTARY: Is Religious Freedom Free?

In 2019, a federal appeals court ruled that the school board in Washington State was correct when it fired Coach Joe Kennedy for praying publicly. A judge of the Ninth Circuit said, “A coach’s duty to serve as a good role model requires the coach to refrain from any manifestation of religious faith — even when the coach is plainly not on duty.” Where does freedom start and stop? Kennedy’s case has sparked controversy, landing in the Supreme Court this past week debating just how far can a person express religious freedom in public spaces.

Published

3 years ago

May 5, 2022

Oakland Post

On June 25, 1962, the Supreme Court decided that praying in schools violated the First Amendment by constituting an establishment of religion. The following year, the Court disallowed Bible readings in public schools for similar reasons.

By Rev. Dr. Martha C. Taylor, The Oakland Post

The late Fannie Lou Hamer said, “If I am truly free, who can tell me how much of my freedom I can have today?” That is the question that The United States Supreme Court wrestled with last week in the case of Joe Kennedy, who was fired by the school board in Washington State for praying at the 50-yard line after the high school football game ended.

Kennedy defended his position saying the school board violated his rights to free speech and the freedom to exercise his religion. Kennedy, a Christian, said he felt compelled to give thanks through a silent prayer at the conclusion of each game.

Where does freedom start and stop? Kennedy’s case has sparked controversy, landing in the Supreme Court this past week debating just how far can a person express religious freedom in public spaces.

Long before the Supreme Court’s ruling in 1962 and the current Kennedy case, we are reminded of a very dark period in U.S. history; it was legal that enslaved Africans were forbidden to express religious freedom in any form including reading, writing and praying.

The late Dr. Albert J. Raboteau, an African American scholar, gave meaning to what Africans had to endure to worship. The hush harbors, known as the invisible church, was a secret worship place built with tree branches in the deep woods out of ear shot and eyesight of slave masters. The secret call to worship used codes. One such code was the spiritual, “Steal Away to Jesus.” If enslaved Africans were caught worshiping, they were subjected to vicious beatings or could be murdered for exercising religious freedom.

During the secret worship, the African preacher sermonized how God delivered the Hebrews from slavery to freedom. The ancestors believed and trusted that the same God who told Moses to go down in Egypt land and let my people go was the same God that was going to set them free. The enslaved Africans practiced their African rituals knowing the spirit of the ancestors was with them, encouraging them, that slavery was not their destiny. C. Eric Lincoln reminded us in the epic book “The Black Church in the African American Experience,” that “The term ‘freedom’ has found a deep religious resonance in the lives and hopes of African Americans.”

Colin Kaepernick refused to stand for the Star-Spangled Banner, National Anthem. He said he did so to protest police shootings of African American men and other social injustices faced by Black people in the United States. The Star-Spangled Banner is a lyrical prayer – “and this be our motto, “In God we trust.”

Kaepernick was punished for expressing his freedom by refusing to engage in what he sees as hypocrisy. Is it time for a new national anthem? Near the Rotunda of the Capitol, a room is set apart for prayer. In light of the controversy, should the prayer room be removed? In 2009, I gave the opening prayer as a Guest Chaplain for the U.S. House of Representatives that was aired on CNN and other networks.

Is the opening prayer possibly up for elimination? On April 17, 1952, President Harry Truman signed a bill proclaiming the National Day of Prayer into law in the United States. Will it be reversed? Tim Tebow often knelt and prayed at football games. Steph Curry has a line of tennis shoes with a biblical scripture, “I can do all things…”

Ms. Hamer raised a critical inquiry, how much of my freedom can I have today? Are you willing to contend for your faith?

Oakland Post

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Activism

Remembering George Floyd

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing.

Published

2 days ago

June 2, 2025

Oakland Post

Mural showing the portrait of George Floyd in Mauerpark in Berlin. To the left of the portrait the lettering "I can't Breathe" was added, on the right side the three hashtags #GeorgeFloyd, #Icantbreathe and #Sayhisname. The mural was completed by Eme Street Art (facebook name) / Eme Free Thinker (signature) on 29 May 2020. (Wikimedia Commons)

By April Ryan
BlackPressUSA Newswire

“The president’s been very clear he has no intentions of pardoning Derek Chauvin, and it’s not a request that we’re looking at,” confirms a senior staffer at the Trump White House. That White House response results from public hope, including from a close Trump ally, Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. The timing of Greene’s hopes coincides with the Justice Department’s recent decision to end oversight of local police accused of abuse. It also falls on the fifth anniversary of the police-involved death of George Floyd on May 25th. The death sparked national and worldwide outrage and became a transitional moment politically and culturally, although the outcry for laws on police accountability failed.

The death forced then-Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden to focus on deadly police force and accountability. His efforts while president to pass the George Floyd Justice in policing act failed. The death of George Floyd also put a spotlight on the Black community, forcing then-candidate Biden to choose a Black woman running mate. Kamala Harris ultimately became vice president of the United States alongside Joe Biden. Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison prosecuted the cases against the officers involved in the death of Floyd. He remembers,” Trump was in office when George Floyd was killed, and I would blame Trump for creating a negative environment for police-community relations. Remember, it was him who said when the looting starts, the shooting starts, it was him who got rid of all the consent decrees that were in place by the Obama administration.”

In 2025, Police-involved civilian deaths are up by “about 100 to about 11 hundred,” according to Ellison. Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African-American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing. During those minutes on the ground, Floyd cried out for his late mother several times. Police subdued Floyd for an alleged counterfeit $20 bill.