The Latham Family "Staying Together"
There is nothing more powerful than the unity of a Black Family. Even before the horrors of the Middle Passage raped our ancestors of their loved ones, we knew the importance of family. Family has more than one meaning. It's not necessarily just bloodlines, but also spiritual.
Our ancestors did not choose us, nor we them; we never knew them, nor they us; yet we are intricately bound together for all eternity and there is no law in the universe, no metamorphosis physical or spiritual, that can ever alter this inalienable truth.
WE owe everything, our very existence, to our ancestors, and yet we know next to nothing of them because mostly their lives were so humbly recorded. It is good that we seek to expand our knowledge of their lives so that we may better understand our own.
THEY made us, body and soul, and we must accept without complaint what they were and what we are, for nothing and no-one can ever change this fact.
WE recognize that the legacy of genetic inheritance is a double-edged sword. We should be grateful for those gifts of personality and disposition our ancestors bestowed upon us which we find beneficial and not rail against those traits we find less appealing, for it is surely in our own hands to change them.
WE should take pride in our ancestors and their achievements wherever possible, whether high-born or low, rich or poor, prince or pauper, and not seek to condemn them for acts of which we know nothing of the causes.
WE must learn from them, from their mistakes as well as their successes; from their tragedies as well as their triumphs; from their sins as well as their virtues; from their hopes as well as their fears.
POSTERITY and history are irrevocably interwined in the present. No vision of the future can exist without an affinity for the past and awareness of the lives of our forebears.
WE bless and thank our ancestors for the legacy of the good things they gave us, forgive them their errors and pray that we will endeavor to use wisely the knowledge which they handed down to us.
WE must remember that we, too, are the ancestors of those yet unborn and we should seek to leave for them a heritage of which they can be as proud as we are of that which our forebears bequeathed to us.
WE must continue to build upon the foundation of this wonderful family which we have all been blessed to be born into.
WE must embrace the spirit of fearless leadership, unbiased wisdom, and unrelenting pride and above all our unwavering trust and faith in the only one greater than ourselves—Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Our ancestors did not choose us, nor we them; we never knew them, nor they us; yet we are intricately bound together for all eternity and there is no law in the universe, no metamorphosis physical or spiritual, that can ever alter this inalienable truth.
WE owe everything, our very existence, to our ancestors, and yet we know next to nothing of them because mostly their lives were so humbly recorded. It is good that we seek to expand our knowledge of their lives so that we may better understand our own.
THEY made us, body and soul, and we must accept without complaint what they were and what we are, for nothing and no-one can ever change this fact.
WE recognize that the legacy of genetic inheritance is a double-edged sword. We should be grateful for those gifts of personality and disposition our ancestors bestowed upon us which we find beneficial and not rail against those traits we find less appealing, for it is surely in our own hands to change them.
WE should take pride in our ancestors and their achievements wherever possible, whether high-born or low, rich or poor, prince or pauper, and not seek to condemn them for acts of which we know nothing of the causes.
WE must learn from them, from their mistakes as well as their successes; from their tragedies as well as their triumphs; from their sins as well as their virtues; from their hopes as well as their fears.
POSTERITY and history are irrevocably interwined in the present. No vision of the future can exist without an affinity for the past and awareness of the lives of our forebears.
WE bless and thank our ancestors for the legacy of the good things they gave us, forgive them their errors and pray that we will endeavor to use wisely the knowledge which they handed down to us.
WE must remember that we, too, are the ancestors of those yet unborn and we should seek to leave for them a heritage of which they can be as proud as we are of that which our forebears bequeathed to us.
WE must continue to build upon the foundation of this wonderful family which we have all been blessed to be born into.
WE must embrace the spirit of fearless leadership, unbiased wisdom, and unrelenting pride and above all our unwavering trust and faith in the only one greater than ourselves—Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.