WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
February 17th 2008
Rev. Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller
"The Life and Witness of JWC Pennington"
Genesis 12:1-4a; Romans 4:1-5, 13-17; John 3:1-17
When many people think of the great names of the abolitionist movement in the United States one is likely to think of the likes of: William Lloyd Garrison, Harriet Beecher Stowe, John Greenleaf Whittier, Wendell Phillips, The Tappan brothers (Arthur and Lewis), Elijah Parish Lovejoy, and even Susan B. Anthony. It is a distinguished list of folks for which history has much to tell. Unfortunately, the story they tell is a myth that continues to make its’ presence know even today. That myth is this: black folks need white people to save them. Some may protest this assessment as unfair and be quick to add names like Harriet Tubman and Fredrick Douglas. However, their inclusion reinforces this myth because neither was given a full voice in the movement. In fact, Fredrick Douglas had to form his own newspaper so he, and others black folk, could tell the story that they were not sitting around waiting for white people to save them.
This myth is even at work today. When Senator Hillary Clinton said that Martin Luther King Jr. may have cast a vision for a dream, it took a President, LBJ, to make this dream a reality. Whatever her intention, and I will leave that to others judgment, it did play into this age old myth that simply will not go away. In learning about The Reverend Dr. James William Charles Pennington I found that his life was spent in the service of undermining this myth.
The fact that Pennington does not stand as a prominent fixture in the abolitionist movement and in American History is a tragic loss. I have begun to wonder if his exclusion may not be wholly accidental. It is clear that his unmatched intellect, world-wide acclaim, and unwillingness to appease the white abolitionists, made the Garrisons and others jealous and angry. It was this jealously, and Garrisons admitted belief that black people were naturally inferior that certainly contributed to Pennington’s life be unknown to many people.
JWC Pennington was born in 1807 on a plantation, as a slave, on the eastern shores of Maryland. He lived under what many called moderate conditions. Pennington lived with his family and even learned a trade as a blacksmith. But slavery, even so called mild forms, drove him to hitch a ride on the Underground Railroad. His first stop was with some Quakers in Pennsylvania and then finally to Long Island.
During his time in Pennsylvania Pennington recalls learning some important lessons. Or maybe it was unlearning some of the habits learned in captivity. Over those first few years, he gained great self knowledge and began his more formalized education. Pennington, who was born James Pembroke, changed his name and became the man that God had intended him to be: Free.
During his years in Long Island his faith began to mature and take shape under the spiritual guidance of a Presbyterian minister. Because of Pennington’s intellectual and spiritual gifts he was commended for study to become a minister and became the first black man to attend Yale. However, he was not allowed to enroll as a student, to have the books, speak in class, or to participate in any activities. Despite these obstacles he became well read in the classics and gained a firm grasp of Greek and Latin. As a result of his studies, and despite not being allowed to enroll in class, Pennington was licensed as a minister. Throughout his ministry he served Congregational, African Methodist Episcopal and Presbyterian churches.
Pennington’s reputation as a preacher, writer and abolitionist grew quickly. He was a tireless worker for justice and righteousness. He organized official church boycotts of all items produced by slaves and was a leader in the temperance movement. Pennington was also elected twice as president of the Harford Central Association of Congregational ministers – an all white group. Internationally he served as a delegate to the 1849 Peace conference in Paris, and had an audience with Alexis de Tocqueville. His international notoriety led the University of Heidelberg to confer upon him a Doctorate of Divinity.
Dr. Pennington’s lasting achievements really came at the end of a pen. He was a prolific writer but most well known, at the time for two books. His first book was the first of its kind. The Origin and History of the Colored People was the first history of African Americans. It chronicled achievements going back to the Kemetic civilization and Kushite origins. It was a work intended to inculcate a strong sense of self esteem for African Americans. In white academic circles it was seen as a direct challenge to the prominent European claims of superiority.
However, despite the power of that work, his most well known work was an autobiography called The Fugitive Blacksmith. This slave narrative by Pennington was released just as the fugitive slave law went into effect. Its release put him at significant risk. This risk did not deter his commitment to challenge the notion that there was such a thing a mild slavery as well as the belief that it was acceptable for Christians to be involved with slavery. The Fugitive Blacksmith went a long way to challenge these well entrenched beliefs.
After securing his freedom, for $150, Pennington wrote to his former master seeking the release of slaves, some of whom were his family. In the letter Pennington warned his former master that upon his death he would have to stand “at the awful bar of the impartial Judge.” Pennington reminded him that he would to answer to God for his crimes against Pennington and all the people of whom he had enslaved. It was a letter which turned the master/slave relationship on its head.
As a freedman, Pennington was committed to ending slavery, and to freeing American society of the belief that black people were inferiority to whites. He insisted that African Americans play a leading role in the struggle against oppression. His challenges against the institution and economics of chattel slavery was welcome but not so his challenge to the conditions of prejudice and injustice facing black people in the northern states. While he gained notoriety in the world he encountered conflicts with William Lloyd Garrison who was envious of Pennington’s international stature.
He had a calling, which caused him to leave his family and the land he knew behind. He changed his name and followed the path of justice wherever it led. And, Rev. Dr. Pennington spent his life challenging the Nicodemus’ of the world who could not believe that being born again had an impact on things like slavery and politics, and even economics. What began as a simple calling to leave the life of slavery became a life committed to undermining the myths of white superiority and savoir complexes. His is a life and witness that we still need today. And it is my prayer that his life and witness will encourage all of us to embrace our God given talents and abilities, while at the same time remaining committed to challenging and rooting out the remaining remnants of the great American myth of white superiority, wherever it exists. Amen.
February 17th 2008
Rev. Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller
"The Life and Witness of JWC Pennington"
Genesis 12:1-4a; Romans 4:1-5, 13-17; John 3:1-17
When many people think of the great names of the abolitionist movement in the United States one is likely to think of the likes of: William Lloyd Garrison, Harriet Beecher Stowe, John Greenleaf Whittier, Wendell Phillips, The Tappan brothers (Arthur and Lewis), Elijah Parish Lovejoy, and even Susan B. Anthony. It is a distinguished list of folks for which history has much to tell. Unfortunately, the story they tell is a myth that continues to make its’ presence know even today. That myth is this: black folks need white people to save them. Some may protest this assessment as unfair and be quick to add names like Harriet Tubman and Fredrick Douglas. However, their inclusion reinforces this myth because neither was given a full voice in the movement. In fact, Fredrick Douglas had to form his own newspaper so he, and others black folk, could tell the story that they were not sitting around waiting for white people to save them.
This myth is even at work today. When Senator Hillary Clinton said that Martin Luther King Jr. may have cast a vision for a dream, it took a President, LBJ, to make this dream a reality. Whatever her intention, and I will leave that to others judgment, it did play into this age old myth that simply will not go away. In learning about The Reverend Dr. James William Charles Pennington I found that his life was spent in the service of undermining this myth.
The fact that Pennington does not stand as a prominent fixture in the abolitionist movement and in American History is a tragic loss. I have begun to wonder if his exclusion may not be wholly accidental. It is clear that his unmatched intellect, world-wide acclaim, and unwillingness to appease the white abolitionists, made the Garrisons and others jealous and angry. It was this jealously, and Garrisons admitted belief that black people were naturally inferior that certainly contributed to Pennington’s life be unknown to many people.
JWC Pennington was born in 1807 on a plantation, as a slave, on the eastern shores of Maryland. He lived under what many called moderate conditions. Pennington lived with his family and even learned a trade as a blacksmith. But slavery, even so called mild forms, drove him to hitch a ride on the Underground Railroad. His first stop was with some Quakers in Pennsylvania and then finally to Long Island.
During his time in Pennsylvania Pennington recalls learning some important lessons. Or maybe it was unlearning some of the habits learned in captivity. Over those first few years, he gained great self knowledge and began his more formalized education. Pennington, who was born James Pembroke, changed his name and became the man that God had intended him to be: Free.
During his years in Long Island his faith began to mature and take shape under the spiritual guidance of a Presbyterian minister. Because of Pennington’s intellectual and spiritual gifts he was commended for study to become a minister and became the first black man to attend Yale. However, he was not allowed to enroll as a student, to have the books, speak in class, or to participate in any activities. Despite these obstacles he became well read in the classics and gained a firm grasp of Greek and Latin. As a result of his studies, and despite not being allowed to enroll in class, Pennington was licensed as a minister. Throughout his ministry he served Congregational, African Methodist Episcopal and Presbyterian churches.
Pennington’s reputation as a preacher, writer and abolitionist grew quickly. He was a tireless worker for justice and righteousness. He organized official church boycotts of all items produced by slaves and was a leader in the temperance movement. Pennington was also elected twice as president of the Harford Central Association of Congregational ministers – an all white group. Internationally he served as a delegate to the 1849 Peace conference in Paris, and had an audience with Alexis de Tocqueville. His international notoriety led the University of Heidelberg to confer upon him a Doctorate of Divinity.
Dr. Pennington’s lasting achievements really came at the end of a pen. He was a prolific writer but most well known, at the time for two books. His first book was the first of its kind. The Origin and History of the Colored People was the first history of African Americans. It chronicled achievements going back to the Kemetic civilization and Kushite origins. It was a work intended to inculcate a strong sense of self esteem for African Americans. In white academic circles it was seen as a direct challenge to the prominent European claims of superiority.
However, despite the power of that work, his most well known work was an autobiography called The Fugitive Blacksmith. This slave narrative by Pennington was released just as the fugitive slave law went into effect. Its release put him at significant risk. This risk did not deter his commitment to challenge the notion that there was such a thing a mild slavery as well as the belief that it was acceptable for Christians to be involved with slavery. The Fugitive Blacksmith went a long way to challenge these well entrenched beliefs.
After securing his freedom, for $150, Pennington wrote to his former master seeking the release of slaves, some of whom were his family. In the letter Pennington warned his former master that upon his death he would have to stand “at the awful bar of the impartial Judge.” Pennington reminded him that he would to answer to God for his crimes against Pennington and all the people of whom he had enslaved. It was a letter which turned the master/slave relationship on its head.
As a freedman, Pennington was committed to ending slavery, and to freeing American society of the belief that black people were inferiority to whites. He insisted that African Americans play a leading role in the struggle against oppression. His challenges against the institution and economics of chattel slavery was welcome but not so his challenge to the conditions of prejudice and injustice facing black people in the northern states. While he gained notoriety in the world he encountered conflicts with William Lloyd Garrison who was envious of Pennington’s international stature.
He had a calling, which caused him to leave his family and the land he knew behind. He changed his name and followed the path of justice wherever it led. And, Rev. Dr. Pennington spent his life challenging the Nicodemus’ of the world who could not believe that being born again had an impact on things like slavery and politics, and even economics. What began as a simple calling to leave the life of slavery became a life committed to undermining the myths of white superiority and savoir complexes. His is a life and witness that we still need today. And it is my prayer that his life and witness will encourage all of us to embrace our God given talents and abilities, while at the same time remaining committed to challenging and rooting out the remaining remnants of the great American myth of white superiority, wherever it exists. Amen.
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