You can’t cover the sun with a finger, because as much as you cover, the light will come out.
Hello everyone, I’m Olivia S. Benson, and I am back. If you’ve been here before, you know that I’m the author of two books. One is For the Love of My Father: A Spiritual Guide for Healing from the Absence of a Father, and the other one is Answers from Within, which is a spiritual guide for finding answers to work-life issues.
But today, I want to focus on Black History Month. And for the past few years, I’ve been writing an article for Black History Month. And this year, I’ve written an article, and the title of the article is “Celebrating Black History Month Because You Can’t Cover the Sun with a Finger.”
Now, the theme of the article came to me because a few years ago, I was on a bus, a tour bus, in London, and the narrated tour came on and said, among many other things obviously, that England recognized that much of the wealth that it had accumulated was through exploitation and — what was it? — colonization across the world. And I was stunned to hear them sort of admit that, even though it wasn’t Buckingham Palace admitting it or saying it, it was a tour bus. But it was very interesting to hear them admit something like that.
Recognizing the value of the contributions
And then, so first of all, I want you to please make sure and go read the article. It’s on my website. Excerpts will be posted on Facebook and Instagram and all the other social media places.
But go read the article, because it’s really about a day when America recognizes the value of the contributions that African-Americans, enslaved African-Americans, West Africans — which, who were brought here, kidnapped, kidnapped and brought here against their will — and the contributions that they made to this country. And the essence of it is, I would hope that one day America would say, yes, we recognize this is what happened, and we recognize the contributions that they have made.
So I wanted to point out to you a couple of statistics. And this came from the National Museum of African-American History and Culture. In 1860, the value assigned to enslaved African-Americans was over $3 billion in 1860. Also in 1860, the value of cotton produced by enslaved African-Americans was over $250 million.
Much like any other empire — Greek, Roman, whatever, any other empire, and including the United Kingdom — the Europeans who came to America and became colonizers did what had always been done. Loot, plunder, murder, rape, and accumulate wealth for their cause. And that was just the way that it was done back then.
Give credit where credit is due
You know, we kind of move forward, and people like to say, oh, we just, you know, it’s time to move on, or whatever the case might be. And there is such a thing as moving on, but the issue at this point, and the subject of my article, is that it is important to give credit where credit is due. You can’t cover the sun with a finger, because guess what? As much as you cover, the light will come out.
And ultimately that is the truth about what is going to happen with regards to the contributions of African-Americans, enslaved African-Americans, to the development of this country. If you read the article, there are more statistics about what those contributions were even valued at, at that time. And following slavery, African-Americans continue to work, continue to be undercompensated. And on top of all that, the worst of circumstances.
Born enslaved, and extraordinary by any account
And during slavery, in addition to that, despite everything that was thrown at these people, there’s those who always came forward, always managed to do extraordinary things. For example, one of my favorites, and everybody knows his name, George Washington Carver — but the list is exhaustive, exhaustive.
So the thing is that there’s a long list of people who made contributions even in the midst of slavery. George Washington Carver was born a slave, and he went on to learn to read, write, become educated, and created hundreds of products just from peanuts. He was extraordinary by any account, and born enslaved.
Now, in addition to that — and this is something that sometimes people don’t realize — there is also an extensive list of inventions created by African-Americans while they were enslaved. And of course, what happened was that they never got credit. They never got compensated. Whatever they invented went to their owners. So these are people that in the midst of the worst circumstances are still coming forward, are still making contributions, are still making a difference.
The creator does not create cast of humans
And if you’ve been here before, you know that for me, everything comes down to GEFS: God, energy, force, spirit. What you’re talking about, when you’re talking about human beings, are the creations of a creator. The creator is the creator of the universe, the galaxies, the stars, and everything on planet earth. And that creator creates human beings with the capacity to do anything.
And it’s very interesting in America, because when Barack Obama became president, it seemed that some people felt like it was impossible for a person of African descent to become president. I’m always entertained when people go, oh, a black person did that? Like, well, what? You think that a black person — like God put a certain kind of brain in that person and a different kind of brain in that person? Is that what you think the creator of galaxies and stars and the entire universe does? That’s not a possibility. The creator does not create cast of humans. It doesn’t create one group of humans that has more capacity than the other.
Of course, circumstances can make a difference, but not the creator of galaxies and universes and every little detail that’s on the planet. So to say that the creator — God, energy, force, spirit — does not, could not create an African-American who could become president is just almost sacrilege. Because as we all know, nothing is impossible for the creator.
And I think that that is the most important thing, because when people try to prove that African-Americans are not worthy, or make them valueless or worthless, or make their contributions valueless or worthless, what they’re saying is that they are essentially downgrading the creator’s work. They’re downgrading the creator’s work. And they’re saying, ah, the creator made different levels of people, and we are at the top and they are at the bottom. And there’s no basis for that. The creator of galaxies and universes doesn’t do things like that.
The creator cannot be outdone
So ultimately, even if you try to hide the truth, even if you try to hide the value, it can never, ever work. Put your finger up against the sun, and what you think from far away is that you’re doing something, but you know the light comes out all around. And that has been the case with African-Americans, even in the worst circumstances. They have always risen above the barriers that were placed.
And ultimately, what we have is that the creator cannot be outdone. The creator can’t be outdone. So the creator — if there’s barriers put up, and I call it send, but a barrier is put up, and next thing you know, a human of African descent who can break that barrier shows up. And that’s always the case. You cannot win against the creator of the universe. God, energy, force, spirit can never be outdone.
Now, timing is always an issue, because people suffer while you’re being oppressed. While barriers are in place, people suffer, and it isn’t fair. But ultimately, the truth of the matter is that the creator of the universe can’t be outdone. When you’re fighting to prove the unworthiness and the inferiority of another human being, you’re fighting against the creator of the universe.
The article is called “Celebrating Black History Month Because You Can’t Cover the Sun with a Finger.” It’s on my website, OliviaSBenson.com, and you all know I’m on social media — authoroliviasbenson on Facebook, and I’m on YouTube, because what else is there? YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, everywhere out there.
So I’m celebrating with all my heart for all those who went before. I’m eternally grateful for what they did, and I celebrate the contributions of African-Americans, formerly enslaved African-Americans and freed African-Americans, down to this day. They’re invaluable, and America would not have made it without them.