(Excerpts from Blacks Who Died for Jesus)
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"And as they led him away, they
laid hold upon one Simon, a
,Cyrenian, coming out of the
country, and on him they laid the
Cross, that he might bear it after
J II
esus. (Luke 23:26)
By DR. MARK HYMAN
Simon was a Black man from Cyrenc, an area well
known in Libya then and now for i huge areas of Black
inhabitants. At the time of the revoluntionary
Crucifixion, he bad moved to the Jerusalem area with a
farm outside the city. 1bc profound Black history in the
bi�cal verse. doea not come through with its well­
deserved world-shaking quality. The Crucifixion and its
magnificent pivot on world history had Black Simon in
the middle of it. '
Simon did oot appear by chance that highly emotion­
ally charged day the cross was laid on the shoulders of
Jesus of Nazareth. He, was part of the great movement,
a follower of the Anointed. He was there on purpose as
were his sons.
Mark 15:21 identifies Simon as "the father of
Alexaooer aoo Rufus." All there were intricate parties
to this movement deatine<! to change the world forever.
'tODAY'S HOLLYWOOD EPICS have gro ly
omitted a therapeutic fact when fumbling the true impact
of those dramatic, historic moments in Jerusalem. In the
movies there ire no Black people to be seen. There are
always stem-faced soldiers and their heavy Roman
weapons. Tbere are weeping followers aoo curious non­
Black onlookers.
There are 00 Blacks to be seen. Fllmmakers in
America and Europe say for their own reasons there were
DO Black people in the struggle to support Jesus of
Nazareth. Not so.
There is a door situated today at one of the stations of
the cross which bears the sign chiseled in stone, "Here
Simon the Cyrenian helped Jesus catry the cro ." In
most Hollywood productions, a Roman officer orders
Simon to help Jesm. Simon in the movie is White. Thus
the films rob Blacks of being a visible part of the power­
ful movement which was later called Chris ianity.
Writers of true history mestaddcredence to it because
Blacks were an integral part of the Christian movement
on that turbulent day in Jerusalem well as the eenturie
which tretched ahead. Thousands of Black North
Africans gave blood, life and limb before waves of
Roman solders, followers of other powerful faiths and
plain fanatics. All in the name of Jesus of Nazareth.
There is something precious and even more ancient
about the association of Blacks with the Christian con­
cept. An Egyptian Pharaoh of the Black Eighteenth
J)yDIaty shook the world nearly ixteen centuries before
leaus wu born .. He was Akhnaton. He publicly ac­
clalmcc1 one god. He learned it from central Africans
who bad embraced the concept thousands of years
before. Early Black Egyptians knew about it.
.LA'fERt MUCH later, in the Fourth Century after
Quiat, Augustine made a relative statement. He referred
to Cbristianity the religion of the ancients. This w
late in the Fourth Century. Augustine was an early father
oftbe Cbriatian Church, the mo t prolific religio writer
the world has seen. He became the celebrated Bi hop of
Hippo.
Engineered anti-Black feelings over the last five
hundred years have taken a disastrous toll. As a result, ..
it is inconceivable to imagine Blacks among the throngs
which followed Him into Jerusalem. Blacks QCCUpied
. Pale tine long before the Jews left BabylOnia. They were
merchants and seafarers. They, too, were fishermen at
Galilee.
In many areas they were the majority population.
After Black Pharaoh Tirharks of Nubia and Egypt led hi
army to help Hezikiah of Judea, he later marched into
Palestine and recaptured town which belonged to Black
Egypt. His dynasty was the twenty-fifth. This was the
sixth century before Christ.
Before Simon is left completely: He had to run for
his life after helping Jesus. Rome's fear and bitterness
made her react viciomly against the followers of Jesus.
Uke .the KGB, Rome's agents tracked Simon to the
Island Qf Chios where they killed him. His sons were
ordered to stop preaching the gospel of Jesus. When they
refused, they were killed. ,
A century or more after the Crucifixion, the name
Christ wadded to Jesus. Rome saw itself threatened
more and more by people who called themselves Chris­
tians. As Rome continued to lash out, the lives of Black
people were taken by the double-edged sword, by drown­
ing. by being lowered into lime pits. They were a part of
the Roman pastime in the area as hungry African lio
devoured them.
. BOW STRANGE IT is 'that the vital roles Blae
played in Christian Church history, and the meaningful
events have become so vague and practically nonex­
istent.
Black Cyprian was big, strong and feared by Rome.
He was lawyer and �uate of the University of
Carthage in North Africa. He rose quickly in'the church
to bishop. His leadership within aoo outside the church
was too much for Rome to bear. The government said
not to baptize. Cyprian baptized. Once he defiantly
called a meeting of bishops.
Eighty- even came from African countri like
Namibia, Egypt, Ethiopia, Mauritania and Nubia. This
was too much power. Finally the deadly doubled-edgcd
sword ended hi life. He lives in memory Saint
Cyprian.
Even before Cyprian, Origin lived in Alexandria, the
prized diocese of the church. He wrote 6000 boob on
the bible, the scriptures aoo anti-Roman theology. HiI
popularity bothered Rome and the Bishop of Alexandria.
Rome threa1ened. Origin kept writing.
Rome and Jenaalem did not, by far, include all of the
Roman fury against ChriJtiana or the granite will of be
Christians. North Africa saw decisive strife: incidents of
violence against the fledgling Christian Church which
almost eliminatec:i it entirely.
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BLACKS, ALONG WITH Christianized Greeks
and civiian Romans living in North Africa- especially
in the Carthage area�tood finn against oldiers sent by
Valerian and Decius, the most ruthless of the anti-Chris­
tian Roman Emperors.
Powerful Tertullian was • North African and a
graduate of the University of Carthage. Uke Cyprian,
he was a brilliant lawyer. His rise in the church was
inevitable.
As a linguist with a knowledge of impeccable Latin,
he caused Latin to become language of the thurch.
Significantly, Tertullian wrote the first exposition of
"The Lord's Prayer" in any language.. Scores of Black
men aoo women like Cyprian and Tertullian took the
role of martyrs as well as productive leaders. Cyprian
in his time was to proudly call the Christian Clurch "the
African Church."
'There is little error here. According to historian
Alexander Graham in his book "Roman Africa," the
Chri�tian Church moved into Europe by way of Africa.
Not Rome. Not Jersualem. Not Antioch. Africa.
all respectable Black identity in the bible.
. The facts remain that Black people were connected
with the Christian concept from the beginning.
played a key and pivotal role during the time of Jesus of
Nazareth. They were the bedrock of the church in Nortl!
Africa until the church moved into Europe.
Jesus, indeed, did not bear the cross alone.
Thousands-of
Black North
Africans gave
blood, life and
limb before
waves of
Roman
soldiers,
followers of
other powerful ·
faiths and
plain fanatics.
All in the
name of
Jesus Of
azareth.
IN THE FOURTH century there w choiarly, crea-
tive, eloquent, Black Augustine. He was a native of
Tagute, an inland town off the Medi1erranean controlled
by Black Carthage. His life and goals during his early
youth had no taste for the church at all.
He credits his African mother aDd her role as "lioness"
for his final commitment to the church. His prolific
writinp gave the church 60 books, most of which were
administrative directions.
The two most popular are The ConfessiolW City
of God. It was not until a half century that the
Catholic Church stopped resisting the fact let it go.
Augustine was Black. It is said very plainly by Warren
Thomas Smith in his book, "Augstine: Hla Ufe aoo
Though IS. "
Far from·the cross in body and time were the three
Black popes of tbe Catholic church. (Saint) Victor of
Africa sat on the papal throne from A.D. 189 to 199. He
determined the day on whICh Easter would be 0 rved.
He is buried next to Saint Peter, the first pope. Saint)
MiUtiades reigned from A.D. 311 to 314.
He reclaimed the land, churches and propertf Rome
had confiscated (rom Christians. (Saint) Gelasius
headed the church from A.D. 492 until 496. His strong
letter to the Roman Emperor declared the church the
ultimate power over the government.
BLACK THEOLOGIANS AND hi to DI are'
beginning to shake off the contortions aDd dis ODS of
European and American theologians. = are re-
searching for themselves and they are co up with .
some startling information.
Dr. Melvin Banks of Chicago, Dr. Cwies Copberof
Atlanta and Dr. Cray tell of �lac in the Bible who ere
not so identified; the Hamites, Mediantiea, Hittites. 1be
Canaanites were in question at one time even thoup
Canaan was the grandson of Noah, the cursed grandIon
of Noah. King James of England practically wiped out