by Leslie Lytle, Messenger Staff Writer

“We’re here to celebrate the ones who defied the challenges,” observed Dr. Tallulah Crawley-Shinault at the Feb. 21 Cowan Mt. Sinai Missionary Baptist Church annual Black History Celebration. Crawley-Shinault spoke on the topic, “The State of Black Children: A Call to Arms,” offering sage advice on “things we can do to make a difference” in how black children experienced the future and how the future experienced them. “America and democracy need their representation,” she insisted.

A champion of education, community leader, and scholar, with a Ph.D. in Educational Administration and Foundations from Illinois State University, Crawley-Shinault shone a harsh light on the ways “economic drivers” fostered “disparity in education, health, and criminal justice.” She came armed with research to make her point: the academic achievement gap between black and white children correlated with socio-economic statistics. One in five black children live in high poverty communities; 23.3 percent live in areas with food insecurity; the job deficit in the black community is 20 percent; in 2023 the infant mortality rate for African-American children was twice the national average; 38 percent of black elementary school age youth and 50 percent of black high school age youth experience mental health problems triggered by racial discrimination and prejudice; 60 percent of people killed by firearm homicide are African-Americans; black males age 18-24 are 23 times more likely to die from gun violence.

“This is not a new problem and not a local problem. This is a national problem,” Crawley-Shinault argued. Addressing the question, “What can we do about this?”, Crawley-Shinault highlighted the importance of helping young people “develop resilience.”

“Talk with your children about being black, about racism, about attitudes — not in a negative way, but in a way that’s going to protect them.” She emphasized the need for maintaining an “egalitarian” world view, “teaching our kids that everyone is equal. God created us all equal. There are no good or bad people. There are some people who do bad things.” Crawley-Shinault also pointed to her mother’s insistence, “An education is something no one can take away from you. Go to your child’s school, meet the principal, support the teachers, ask them to send homework home so you can help your child learn.” And Crawley-Shinault’s final advice: vote. “Our freedom to vote is being jeopardized,” she stressed. “Whatever the requirements are, if its stand on your head, a government ID, proof of citizenship, vote.”

A fitting accompaniment to Crawley-Shinault’s thought-provoking insights, Sandra Brown’s Black History quiz continued an annual tradition at the Mt. Sinai Black History Celebration. Brown’s questions ranged from those everyone could answer to those no one could: the first African American to play in major league baseball, Jackie Robinson; the first African-American woman to serve in the House of Representatives, Shirley Chisholm; the first state to abolish slavery, Vermont; the first African-American doctor, Dr. James McCune Smith.

Pastor John Patton brought the evening full circle with closing remarks inviting a challenge to “change the terminology ‘first black.’” “We are strong resilient people and we are products of strong resilient people. We have always been resilient. We have always been smart. We have always been entrepreneurs. We have always been what no other nationality of people has to get up on a yearly basis and proclaim. We are being identified by somebody else when we say ‘you were the first.’ We need to change that mentality, think a little deeper about the phrases we use. You have been given permission by somebody else to say the first black woman, the first black man that was smart enough. What is in us innately is not something given to us by somebody else.”