A View from a Pew: Let the Church Say—Teach

There is a quiet erasure happening in this country—a steady, strategic effort to whitewash history, to suppress truth, to bury the stories of those who built this land but were never meant to thrive in it. From banned books to watered-down curriculum, from school boards to statehouses, the story of African Americans—the whole story—is being pushed into the shadows.

But maybe, just maybe, this is also our moment.

Maybe this is the divine nudge the Black Church has been waiting for—not to just react, but to reclaim. Not to just preach on Sunday morning, but to teach.

For centuries, the Black Church has been more than a house of worship. It was the first schoolhouse for our people. The first courthouse where justice was prayed for. The first newsroom where truth was spoken from the pulpit. It was where faith and freedom walked hand in hand.

So perhaps now is the time to return to that sacred tradition.
What if Sunday School became more than memory verses and coloring pages?
What if we used that hour to teach our young people about both Scripture and struggle?

Imagine learning about Moses and Harriet Tubman in the same breath—two liberators guided by God. David and Denmark Vesey—two fighters against giants.
Esther and Ella Baker—two women who risked everything to save their people.

Let our children memorize the Beatitudes and the words of Dr. King.
Let them know Proverbs and the principles that guided Black Wall Street.
Let them learn of the resurrection and the resilience that built HBCUs, the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and the Civil Rights Movement.

In a time when truth is under attack, the church must become a stronghold of sacred memory.

We can call it Freedom School Sundays—a space where history meets hope, where faith fuels knowledge, and where the next generation learns that they come from a people who have always made a way out of no way.

We don’t need permission. We already have a pulpit. We already have a platform.
And most importantly, we already have a purpose.

Let the politicians try to erase us. Let the textbooks leave us out. As for us, we will tell our children.

Because we still believe what the Bible says in Hosea 4:6—"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge." And we refuse to let another generation be lost.

This is our moment to rise, to reclaim, and to remember. Not just in our sermons—but in our Sunday Schools.

Let the church say...teach.