DELIVERER! That’s often the word that comes to mind when I think
of Jesus particularly during the month of February, Black
History Month in the United States. Black History Month was
formally acknowledged by the federal government in 1976. It was
a time to celebrate the history and contributions of African
Americans from slavery time to the present. Growing up in the
Black Church, we were always reminded of how God delivered our
people from slavery, through the Civil Rights Movement and
unjust Jim Crow laws, and beyond. The suffering and oppression
of African Americans was often linked to God’s hand and
deliverance of his chosen people, Israel in the Old Testament.
God’s deliverance of the Israelites from their sufferings at the
hands of Pharaoh in Egypt provided African Americans with hope
and inspiration that God would also deliver them. The
understanding of God’s miraculous power, faith, hope and His
promises were at the core of many Negro spirituals. When I think
about the deliverance God provided to the