Jefferson Furtado

Revs. Jefferson & Linda Furtado, February 2017 You may have heard me share this story before. I first moved to the United States in February 2001. I was eighteen years old, and, if I am honest, I knew about as much of the world as any other eighteen-year-old. The only real difference was that I had been born on another continent, raised in a different culture, and spoke another language. Entering the educational, cultural, and religious life of the United States was anything but simple....

Being Black in America has never been an easy proposition. While the Black experience in this nation has known moments of profound hope—emancipation proclaimed, rights codified, barriers broken—we must not deceive ourselves into believing that the original sin embedded in the American enterprise has failed to leave an indelible mark on the nation’s soul. That sin has shaped not only institutions and laws, but the collective psyche of every generation and every person whose feet have touched...

One of the great gifts education offers us is learning to see the world through new lenses. Too often, Black History Month becomes a moment rather than a practice. The Black experience in America is not a single story, but a tapestry—woven from faith, struggle, joy, and resistance. The story of Babel reminds us that the danger is not working together, but building without humility or listening. May this month help us see, learn, and live differently.