As a man thinketh in his heart so is He.

I was born a Black man in the South in 1953, to an oppressed Black mother and father. They grew up during the era of Jim Crow laws, where living in an oppressive environment often meant choosing to go with the flow or risk dying. At times, I imagined myself in their shoes, only to realize how little a person could do when surrounded by a system that allowed the very essence of life to be drained from them. Not only were my parents oppressed, but so was everyone aroumd us who shared  skin color.

My father had few options then, because there were little opportunities for a man with limited freedom. I vividly remember eating at Woolworth’s department store in Danville Virginia. Black people were forced to eat at the counter in the rear of the store.  I did not realize I was living under the oppression of Jim Crow, because my parents shielded us. However, their oppressed mentality was instilled in me. Their survival strategies—how to act in public, how to conduct oneself—became ingrained in me as a way to navigate through life as a Black person.

People who have never experienced oppression cannot truly understand what it’s like to grow up under such conditions. It shapes your psyche and how you view the world. Deep within your soul is the belief that you are unworthy of the same privileges as others simply because of the color of your skin. When you ride at the back of the bus for so long, you start to believe that’s where you belong. Your mind becomes a prison, shaped by what you see, feel, smell and touch, in poverty at the same time internalizing how to survive under oppression. The mind is a marvelous thing, but when bound and oppressed by the thoughts of failure, you give up and the victim of your environment.  For many years, I battled to escape my own poverty conscience mind replacing it with positive thoughts of success.  

 I had to peal off the layer after layer to uncover the person who God created, which was a free man with life, liberty,  pursuing happiness.  Being Black is one thing, but being Black and poor is  worse. It took me over fifty years to break free from the poverty mentality because it is a slow and arduous process. The seeds of bondage were sown by the words and environment surrounding me. I had no choice but to believe what I was told and that was at times, stay in your place. 

The Bible tells us, “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.” I thought of myself as poor, Black, and unworthy of certain opportunities. The mind is indeed a terrible thing to waste if it is not allowed to grow and think freely. To experience true freedom, one must first be free in his mind. A bound up mind leads to a bound up existence. If you believe you are a failure, then you are. Breaking through ignorance and discovering who you are is truly a reason to celebrated real freedom.

For years, I suffered from an identity crisis caused by the negative words spoken over me as a child—words of discouragement and despair which cut deep. I had to dig those words out and replace them with good thoughts about who I truly was in God’s eyes. I learned that God didn’t create me to be a second-class citizen. When I realized that God loved the world—and that I was included in that love—my perspective began to change.

Becoming a Christian filled me with hope, but it didn’t change the world around me. I was confused, wondering how to fit in as a Black Christian man in a world of white Christians who saw me as less of a man. The color of my skin put me in a different category even among white Christians. I was considered as a brother but not a brother in the sense of being equal. The pressures of the world effected my white brothers to treat me different than what Christ told them to treat me.  When the Bible says I am more than a conqueror, it meant I could overcome the negative hurdles of Racism and any thing that got in my way. Racism is only one thing we face in this world of sin. 
Faith overcomes them all, no matter how big or small. Living in an oppressed environment does not negate the word of God, because it reaches to highest mountain and  to the flows to the deepest valley. We are in the world but not of the world. God did not put Racism here we did. It is not his creation it's ours. Systems of oppression persist, from police brutality to racial bias in the judicial system. These realities created a storm of thoughts within me. Who was I really? If I was more than a conqueror, where was the evidence?

From the outside, my life might have looked defeated. But through the eyes of faith, as God designed it, I was a true victor. The world is filled with challenges, but when we apply God’s principles, we can break free from negative thinking and embrace the truth that we are more than we realize. God sees us as more than conquerors, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, or nationality.

Jesus said, “Whom the Son sets free is free indeed.” This freedom means we can stand confidently, no matter who we face—whether they have more money, education, or power. God’s favor is upon us, and that’s what truly matters. As Black people living in a world that doesn’t always accept us as equals, we must remember that our worth is not determined by others’ opinions but by how we view ourselves. We are more than conquerors because we continue to overcome the obstacles placed before us.

So, be steadfast and unshakable, always abounding in God’s love for humanity.