Fr. Sheldon Hamblin addresses Black heritage
By Nelson A. King
As America last month celebrated
Black History Month,
the Barbadian-born Rector of
St. Paul’s Church in the Village
of Flatbush, Brooklyn said the
celebration was “a necessary
and conscious action.”
“It is of vital importance that
we know our heritage and our
plethora of contributions to
the development and growth of
this society,” said the Rev. Fr.
Sheldon N.N. Hamblin, whose
Episcopal/Anglican Church is
in the Diocese of Long Island
and a member of the Worldwide
Anglican Communion.
“Coming out of some 400
years of the African Transatlantic
Slave Trade and a tumultuous
history, the struggle of the
Black race is further compounded
by the erroneous teaching
and racist ideology that nothing
Black is essentially good,”
added Fr. Hamblin, an active
member of the Church Avenue
Business Improvement District
(BID), the 67th Precinct Clergy
Council and the Prospect Park
Community Committee – all in
Brooklyn – in an exclusive Caribbean
Life interview recently.
“Indeed, ‘we have come this
far by our faith’ and our unrelenting
Caribbean L 24 ife, March 6-12, 2020
struggle to overcome
all of the injustices and hinderances
to our growth and potential
development,” continued
Fr. Hamblin, who also serves
on the Board of the Episcopal
Urban Caucus and Union of
Black Episcopalians. “For too
long, we have been dehumanized
in spite of the significant
contributions we have made to
this nation’s economy, scientific
advancement and infrastructure.
It is, therefore, paramount
that we acknowledge and celebrate
our Black heritage or
Black identity.”
Additionally, Fr. Hamblin,
who serves as a Trustee of the
Estate of the Diocese of Long
Island, said “it is imperative
that we enlighten others – especially
those who are not of our
constitution and those of us
who have been brainwashed
beyond the realm of common
sense and reason – to understand
the power and dignity of
our Blackness.”
He urged that Blacks not
allow others to demarcate their
heritage, race and ancestry.
“Irrespective of our origin,
be it Africans from the African
continent, African Americans
coming out of slavery, Caribbean
Americans and Haitian
Americans coming out of slavery,
we share a common ancestry,”
said Fr. Hamblin, who
migrated to the United States
in 1995. “There are no lines
drawn to demarcate our kind of
blackness.
“Our heritage is the same;
our ethnicity is undeniably one
of pride, dignity and royalty,”
added Fr. Hamblin, a member
of the Black Clergy Caucus
in the Diocese of Long Island.
“We share a royal heritage – a
heritage distorted by the sin of
slavery.
“Consequently, the need for
us to tell and to share our stories
must not be undermined,”
he continued. “Ironically, the
stony the road we’ve trod is the
strength of our race, for we have
not been defeated by the dehumanizing
forces that have been
unleashing their venom against
us for centuries. Indeed, we
will ultimately prevail; we will
regain the respect and fairness
that is intrinsically ours.”
Thus, Rev. Hamblin stressed
that “even though many of us
from the African Diaspora are
on many levels still learning
what it means to be Black, especially
in these United States of
America and in this 21st century,
we have a song to sing and
a story to proclaim, and that
must be one unified harmonious
song!”
“Our forefathers and foremothers
have willingly or
unwillingly passed on the
baton,” he said. “It’s ours to
arrange the music and direct
the orchestra in this symphony
called ‘The Struggle for Perfect
Freedom.”
Fr. Hamblin said this euphonious
melody and harmony of
voices will still every voice that
is opposed to Blacks’ advancement
and the realization of
their “fullest God-given potentials.”
Rev. Fr. Sheldon N.N. Hamblin.
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