PHAROAH ALWAYS CHANGES HIS MIND

The Cyclical Struggle for Black Freedom

A Daughter of the South

I am a daughter of the South. I have always been aware of the precarious nature of civil rights for Black Americans. The Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964, just three years before I was born. In 1984, I was a delegate to Alabama Girls State.  I remember visiting the Alabama state house where  George Wallace, the reformed segregationist,  was still the sitting Governor. It  is no surprise to me that state-sanctioned white supremacy has again reared its ugly head in an attempt to deny Black Americans the right to  “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

Pharaoh Always Changes His Mind

History has taught us that Pharaoh always changes his mind when it comes to letting his slaves go. In the biblical story of Exodus, Moses demanded that Pharaoh let his people go. After a series of plagues, Pharaoh relented and allowed them to leave. But soon after, he changed his mind, sending his army after the freed Israelites—only for them to be swallowed up by the Red Sea.  This is not just a biblical allegory; it is a recurring theme in Black history. Freedom is granted, only for those in power to decide they want control back, employing any means necessary to reassert dominance.

The Haitian Revolution and Napoleon’s Retaliation

Similarly, history recounts the exploits of General Toussaint L’Ouverture, who led the first successful slave rebellion in Haiti (1792-1802). Haiti became the first nation to abolish slavery after a successful revolution. What is often omitted from mainstream history is that Napoleon, unwilling to accept the loss of his colony, sought to re-enslave the Haitians. He sent his brother-in-law, General Charles Leclerc, with a massive French expedition to reclaim control. However, the Haitian resistance, led by Jean-Jacques Dessalines after Toussaint’s capture, decisively defeated the French. Leclerc died of yellow fever, and Napoleon’s dreams of regaining Haiti and expanding into the Americas were crushed.

Haiti’s punishment for its audacity has been relentless. Economic sanctions, political interference, and global isolation have ensured that the first free Black republic has remained in perpetual struggle.

Reconstruction and the Betrayal of Black Progress

After the Emancipation Proclamation and the Civil War, formerly enslaved people were promised “forty acres and a mule” social support through the Freedman’s Bureau, political rights and citizenship.  For a brief period, Black Americans made strides in politics, economics, and education under Reconstruction. However, after just nine years, the federal government abandoned its commitments. The Compromise of 1877 led to the withdrawal of federal troops from the South, effectively ending Reconstruction and ushering in the Jim Crow era.

Once again, Black freedom was revoked. The rise of lynching, voter suppression, and segregation laws stripped away the progress that had been made. It took nearly a century—until the Civil Rights Act of 1964—for Black Americans to regain some of the rights that had been stolen from them.

The Long Game of White Supremacy

For 61 years, the progress achieved through civil rights legislation has faced relentless attack. What we are witnessing today is not a sudden shift, but the result of decades of calculated erosion—through voting rights restrictions, economic disenfranchisement, and legal loopholes that sustain systemic racism. The latest front in this ongoing battle includes the dismantling of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives across both the public and private sectors, coupled with efforts to weaken government employment protections, disproportionately affecting Black workers.

History has shown that every attempt to re-enslave, disenfranchise, and oppress Black people has been met with resistance, resilience, and renewed determination. The question is not whether we will fight back—but how we will ensure that this time, the doors to regression are shut for good.

A Lesson from Science Fiction

This theme of Black resilience and ingenuity is captured in an unlikely place—Ray Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles, in a short story titled Way in the Middle of the Air.  In the story, all of the Black residents of a Southern town secretly decide to build a spaceship to escape to Mars. One day, they all proceed through town like a “black tide” to gather in a field to board the spaceship, leaving the white townspeople in shock. At first, the white characters attempt to stop them, but when they realize they can’t, they reluctantly allow them to leave. However, they then change their minds.  As they chase after the departing Black residents, they find that obstacles have  been carefully and deliberately placed in the road by those escaping. There were “bundles and stacks and more bundles placed like little abandoned shrines”.  The main character says “We’ll never catch them now, never, never.” (This story is often missing in later printings of The Martin Chronicles).

The Doors to Regression Will Be Shut

Just as the Black residents in Way in the Middle of the Air built their spaceship in secret, we, too, must create our own paths to freedom and resilience. Our “spaceships” today are economic independence, political mobilization, and community-driven and funded institutions that empower us beyond the reach of those who seek to control our destiny. They are Black-owned businesses, schools that teach our history, and policies that protect our voting power.  And, they are a return to the spiritual foundations that sustained our ancestors and gave them the strength to fight a future they would never see.
History has shown that every attempt to suppress Black freedom has been met with resistance, resilience, and renewal. The question is not whether we will fight back—but how we will ensure that this time, the doors to regression are shut for good.  It is time to harness the knowledge, wisdom and experiences of the past and march into the future with the confidence expressed in Isiah 43:19 –  “Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.” Let us all be architects of that new way.