Reminder

I curate a frequently updated Flipboard on Black Catholic American life. You can find it here: http://flip.it/q6A4s

Fr. Cyprian Davis has died

Sad news.

Fr. Cyprian Davis, OSB, has died at age 84. See: http://www.saintmeinrad.org/news/?story=11660

He was a legend of Black Catholic Studies (it wouldn't be tough to make an argument that he created the field). I wrote about him for Black Catholic History Month a couple of years ago: http://anikapalm.blogspot.com/2013/11/anika-myers-palm-cyprian-davis.html?m=1

May he rest well. 

(Photo via St. Meinrad Abbey)

Getting ready

We're moving to the Atlanta area next week so I can start my new job at the end of the month.

The company for which I'll be working has been tremendously helpful in handling our move. They're sending movers to pack up and transport all of our things and one of our cars.

That certainly does alleviate some of the headache of moving, but the process still isn't entirely stress-free. 

I'll be glad when it's all over. 

All praises to teachers

I went with the kid's class to Tibet-Butler Preserve today, and came away not with new knowledge about nature but with even more respect for teachers (and as the daughter of a teacher, my respect level was already pretty doggone high).

Even though each child had a parent present ostensibly to keep everything under control, the energy and noise levels were incredibly high. Frustratingly high, in fact. Somehow, though, the preschool teachers managed to enforce order and, when warranted, encourage silence with a minimum of fuss. It was amazing.

They have skill sets I don't possess. It would be difficult for me to keep that number of children from accidentally maiming themselves each day.

Power and respect to them. They should be paid more highly.

National Black Catholic History Month: Dr. Diana L. Hayes

While I was a student at Georgetown, I had the pleasure of taking a class -- just one, sadly -- with Dr. Diana L. Hayes.

It was just a 'Intro to the Bible' class (I got an 'A,' because, obviously), but she was a revelation, so dynamic, so knowledgeable. I hadn't known anything about her before I took the class, and when I went on to do a little surreptitious research, I was incredibly impressed by her body of work and her focus on the experiences of black Catholics. I went on to read everything I could find that she's published. I sincerely regret that I didn't have a chance to take more classes with her -- and that I didn't keep up with her after the class (and it would probably seem creepy and fangirlish if I contacted her today to tell her how her example influenced me, right?).

She is the first black American woman to earn a Pontifical doctorate in theology (Catholic University of Louvain), and also holds law and doctor of sacred theology degrees.

Dr. Hayes has also written books with Fr. Cyprian Davis, about whom I wrote earlier this month. Her books include Taking Down Our Harps: Black Catholics in the United States, Hagar’s Daughters: Womanist Ways of Being in the World, And Still We Rise: An Introduction to Black Liberation Theology and -- a Lenten favorite in my household -- Were You There?: Stations of the Cross.

Dr. Hayes has since retired from Georgetown, but has lectured throughout the world on subjects including black theology, womanist theology and black liberation theology.

Follow my National Black Catholic History Month tag for more information on black Catholic notables.

National Black Catholic History Month: Venerable Pierre Toussaint

The formerly enslaved hairdresser, philanthropist and devoted Catholic Pierre Toussaint could one day soon be named a saint.

Toussaint was born into slavery in Haiti in the 18th century. By the time he was in his early 20s, he'd moved with his owner's family to New York City, where his owner, who had been trying to escape the Haitian Revolution, apprenticed him to a hairdresser.

He picked up the trade quickly and soon was hairdresser to some of the city's elite. He was allowed to keep much of his earnings for himself and became a wealthy man, though still technically enslaved. When his owner died, leaving a destitute widow, Toussaint used his considerable fortune to help support the devastated woman. Although he bought the freedom of his sister and several other enslaved blacks -- including the woman who would become his wife -- Toussaint never actually purchased his own freedom.

When his owner's wife died about 1807, she freed Toussaint in her will. As a free man, he continued to practice his trade and fed many destitute families and cared for orphans, including his niece, Euphemia, whom he and his wife raised as their own child.

He was said to have attended Mass at 6 a.m. daily for decades at St. Peter's Church on Barclay Street (he was not allowed to enter St. Patrick's Old Cathedral because he was black).

He is considered by many to be one of the founders of what would become Catholic Charities.

Toussaint died June 30, 1853. His body was moved to the new St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City in 1990, about the same time that the cause for his canonization was opened. He was declared venerable -- the step before canonization -- in 1996.

Follow my National Black Catholic History Month tag for more information on black Catholic notables.

National Black Catholic History Month: Knights of Peter Claver and Ladies Auxiliary

You have, no doubt, heard of the Knights of Columbus. It's hard to find a spot in the U.S. that doesn't know the group for its fish fries, game nights, spelling bees or political stances.

Are you equally as familiar with the Knights of Peter Claver, though?

The group is named in honor of St. Peter Claver, a Spanish Jesuit who traveled to what is now Colombia in the early 1600s. There, he worked in the service of enslaved Africans, advocating on their behalf with their owners, treating their injuries and praying with and for them.

The Knights of Peter Claver were founded by four Josephite priests in Mobile, Ala., in 1909, as a fraternal Catholic men's organization. Today it is the largest historically black Catholic lay organization in the U.S. Its headquarters is in New Orleans.

During the past 100+ years, the Knights have provided financial support to organizations including the NAACP, Urban League, National Black Clergy, National Black Sisters Conferences, the National Council of Negro Women, the National Black Catholic Congress and Xavier University of New Orleans.

The current Supreme Knight of the organization is F. DeKarlos Blackmon, who is thought to be the youngest ever leader of the organization (he also has an active presence on Facebook). The current Supreme Lady of the Ladies Auxiliary is Vertelle A. Kenion.

Learn more about the Knights of Peter Claver at the organization's website.

(Images via Knights of Peter Claver Tampa and BlackPast.org)

Follow my National Black Catholic History Month tag for more information on black Catholic notables.