Lebanon Chapel AMEC

..In Observance of Black History Month...”Don't Get Comfortable " The first black senator and congressman were elected in 1870. Senator Hiram Revels of Mississippi and Representative Joseph Rainey of South Carolina. By 1890 most Black Americans had either been barred from or abandoned politics in frustration. Because of this when Representative George White of North Carolina departed the House of Representative in March of 1901 no African American served in the US congress for nearly three decades. In 1928 Oscar De Priest of Illinois was the first African American to serve in congress since White's departure in 1901. It wasn't until post 1970's generations of Black Americans in congress marked a watershed in American History with transition from a period of prolonged protests to full political participation. I would like you to note the first woman to serve in the US senate was in 1922. Rebecca Felton of Georgia was appointed
for a 24 hour period. Hattie Caraway was the first woman to be elected in1932. 61 years later in 1993 Carol Moseley Braun became the first African American woman to serve as US senator. In 1916 Jeanette Ranken was the first woman elected to the US congress. 53 years later in 1969 Shirley Anita Chisholm became the first black congresswoman. In 1848 Frederick Douglass became the first African American presidential candidate. His candidacy preceded black suffrage in the US. 161 years later in 2009 Barack Obama became the first African American and Biracial presidential candidate nominated by a major party (Democrat). He was the first African American to be elected and reelected President of the United States. Here in 2021 Karmala Harris has become the first African Asian American woman elected Vice President of the United States. I ask you to not get comfortable but to keep on
working for History has shown us that rights that were granted in the past have also been taken, so we must keep on working! Amen, Submitted by S. Johnson