NICHOLAS
HOOD III
USE
TEXT IN BOLD
00:47:49:20
HOOD:
Nicholas
Hood is my name
Nicholas Hood the Third. Pastor and senior minister
Nicholas Hood the Third. Pastor and senior minister
of
the Plymouth United Church of Christ.
00:48:37:09
FOXWORTH:
Christianity
was used to control, to
punish slaves at one point or another.
punish slaves at one point or another.
What's
your take on
the way that Christianity was used as
part of the slave trade?
the way that Christianity was used as
part of the slave trade?
00:49:04:00
HOOD:
Well we have to remember
that the slaves for the most part who
came to America were brought to America
were brought from the west side of
Africa and there they already believed
in God. Many of the slaves had an animist
form of religion where you would worship
these inanimate objects but they already
believed in God and so it wasn't that
big a jump for many of the slaves when
their slave owners exposed them to
Christianity to just have a continuum
from what faith of what they had already
in Africa and
that the slaves for the most part who
came to America were brought to America
were brought from the west side of
Africa and there they already believed
in God. Many of the slaves had an animist
form of religion where you would worship
these inanimate objects but they already
believed in God and so it wasn't that
big a jump for many of the slaves when
their slave owners exposed them to
Christianity to just have a continuum
from what faith of what they had already
in Africa and
[00:49:45:15
it's
funny the slave
owners wanted Christianity to be
given to the slaves to really enforce
slavery. So there's several places in the
New Testament where it says slaves be
obedient to your masters when you read
throughout the Old Testament you'll see
that they're places where some people
had slaves. Abraham had a slave girl
named Hagar who later – in Jewish thought
becomes his wife after his wife Sarah
dies well the slave owners aren't
talking about that but what they were
talking about was be obedient to your
masters but by the same token the same
person who talked about slaves be
obedient to your masters in the New
Testament the Apostle Paul also says
that in Christ there's neither male nor
female, Jew nor Gentile slave nor free
and so the, the African-Americans the
Africans in America gravitated naturally
to those parts of the Bible
owners wanted Christianity to be
given to the slaves to really enforce
slavery. So there's several places in the
New Testament where it says slaves be
obedient to your masters when you read
throughout the Old Testament you'll see
that they're places where some people
had slaves. Abraham had a slave girl
named Hagar who later – in Jewish thought
becomes his wife after his wife Sarah
dies well the slave owners aren't
talking about that but what they were
talking about was be obedient to your
masters but by the same token the same
person who talked about slaves be
obedient to your masters in the New
Testament the Apostle Paul also says
that in Christ there's neither male nor
female, Jew nor Gentile slave nor free
and so the, the African-Americans the
Africans in America gravitated naturally
to those parts of the Bible
00:50:52:00
- end]
I think this
is part of the reason why many of the
slave owners really forbid or forbade
their slaves from learning how to read
because once they began to learn how to
read they're not just reading one part
of the Bible but they're reading the
whole Bible and what they found in the
Bible was not slavery and oppression
but what they found was liberation.
is part of the reason why many of the
slave owners really forbid or forbade
their slaves from learning how to read
because once they began to learn how to
read they're not just reading one part
of the Bible but they're reading the
whole Bible and what they found in the
Bible was not slavery and oppression
but what they found was liberation.
00:51:15:05
FOXWORTH:
So was there a component of Ephesians 6 and 5
that slaveowners got wrong, or did those who were
enslaved
see it in a perspective that they shouldn’t have?
00:51:28:05
HOOD:
They're just like modern-day people
they're modern-day people today who take
parts of the Bible that they like and
they ignore other parts and so the
slaves did that too and the slave owners
did it you know and thank God that our
forefathers our foremothers
had the foresight they had the
intelligence to read between the lines
in the Bible and they interpreted it in
a way that was relevant for their time
and really set the stage for modern day
life in America.
00:52:00:00
FOXWORTH:
And they did that so much so that they left parts
out of the Bible.
There were components that people say
were not in -- not shared or torn out of
the Bible in some way were not--
were not in -- not shared or torn out of
the Bible in some way were not--
00:52:11:07
HOOD:
Well but the same is true with men; male and
female issues in the Bible - the same
mindsets that would say slaves be
obedient to your masters would also
gravitate to those parts of the New
Testament where the Apostle Paul says
it's not right for a woman to teach a
man.
female issues in the Bible - the same
mindsets that would say slaves be
obedient to your masters would also
gravitate to those parts of the New
Testament where the Apostle Paul says
it's not right for a woman to teach a
man.
You know and so it depends on your
perspective and even today of the modern
person white or black it is not just the
African-American all of us if we're
going to be true to our faith we have to
be theological in the sense that we're
not just Biblical we're not just reading
the words of the Bible but we're
theological in that we're trying to
interpret what those words of the Bible
mean in a relevant way for today.
perspective and even today of the modern
person white or black it is not just the
African-American all of us if we're
going to be true to our faith we have to
be theological in the sense that we're
not just Biblical we're not just reading
the words of the Bible but we're
theological in that we're trying to
interpret what those words of the Bible
mean in a relevant way for today.
00:53:03:16
FOXWORTH:
Harriet
Tubman, Sojourner Truth, and a number of
people
have had to rely on the North Star
but
they also used religion as a main way
of
enduring slavery and being able to get out
--Old
Negro Spirituals and so forth. What’s your take
or
your perspective on the need for that in
their
lives at that time?
00:53:28:09
HOOD:
Well they found the need for that
in their lives at that time just as we
today have a real need for that—
in their lives at that time just as we
today have a real need for that—
FOXWORTH:
And if I could I’m sorry, if you could
Repeat part of what I just said, that the
Need for Negro Spirituals, or the North Star
Or those kind of things in your answer, because
People won’t know that I asked you. So yeah,
what was the need for those types of
methods, in order to get through?
00:53:57:22
HOOD:
Well
the Negro
spiritual is really what we call slave
songs and you know the African-American
figured out how to even transpose the
slave songs into melodies -- same words but
the melodies that
people in their generation and in
particular white Americans and Europeans
could understand. So for example there is
a period in the history of Fisk
University where they fell on financial
hard times the university almost closed
and they had a choir called the Jubilee
singers and these young people with the
director took off for two years they
traveled through Europe and they sang
slave songs but what they did was they
were crafty enough to transpose the
slave songs into a classicized model so
for instance the slave song might go
like this (slave dialect) “Lord I know I've been changed,
Lord I know I've been changed, Lord I
know I've been changed, The angels in
heaven done signed my name…” but when they
went to Europe they sang it like this
(Queen’s English dialect)
spiritual is really what we call slave
songs and you know the African-American
figured out how to even transpose the
slave songs into melodies -- same words but
the melodies that
people in their generation and in
particular white Americans and Europeans
could understand. So for example there is
a period in the history of Fisk
University where they fell on financial
hard times the university almost closed
and they had a choir called the Jubilee
singers and these young people with the
director took off for two years they
traveled through Europe and they sang
slave songs but what they did was they
were crafty enough to transpose the
slave songs into a classicized model so
for instance the slave song might go
like this (slave dialect) “Lord I know I've been changed,
Lord I know I've been changed, Lord I
know I've been changed, The angels in
heaven done signed my name…” but when they
went to Europe they sang it like this
(Queen’s English dialect)
“Lord
I know I've been changed, Lord
I
know I’ve been changed”--
and they're smiling the
whole time “Lord I know I've been changed”--
you notice we go from the minor key to
the major key – “The angels in the heaven
done signed my name!” and they’d end with a
big smile and the Europeans were just
throwing money at their feet and those
young people saved Fisk University. It's
an amazing history but that's part of it
you know we take the same songs, same
melodies but we turn around for the
culture and the time but those same
songs “Lord I've been know I've been
changed/the angels in heaven done signed
my name” - that's the kind of song that was
sung down by the river you know on a
Sunday night when master’s not looking
and master thinks is okay because he
hears these words of faith but very
often those words of faith were really
words of encouragement to run away from
slavery. 00:56:26:00 – end]
and they're smiling the
whole time “Lord I know I've been changed”--
you notice we go from the minor key to
the major key – “The angels in the heaven
done signed my name!” and they’d end with a
big smile and the Europeans were just
throwing money at their feet and those
young people saved Fisk University. It's
an amazing history but that's part of it
you know we take the same songs, same
melodies but we turn around for the
culture and the time but those same
songs “Lord I've been know I've been
changed/the angels in heaven done signed
my name” - that's the kind of song that was
sung down by the river you know on a
Sunday night when master’s not looking
and master thinks is okay because he
hears these words of faith but very
often those words of faith were really
words of encouragement to run away from
slavery. 00:56:26:00 – end]
You have you know Sojourner
Truth and Harriet Tubman
and their role in anti-slavery but I
tell you in my own family my grandfather
my great-grandfather was a runaway slave
he and his brother ran away from slavery
according to family legend they were on
a farm owned by a relative of General
John Bell Hood he's the youngest
Confederate General in the Confederate
Army there in outside of Louisville
Kentucky and according to my eldest
uncle I said why did my
great-grandfather run away from slavery
he said because simply he was tired of
being beat and every time the Bears the
Bears in the area like corn and they
were growing corn he said as the Bears
would take the corn they would get
beaten for this but by the same token he
said you know your great-grandfather
told me he said that they made friends
with the Bears
I said really he said yeah they made
friends with the Bears and when they got
ready to run away from slavery they
stocked up on sweet potato pies they
gave them to the Bears and the Bears
provided them safe coverage and I said
uncle that's the most fantastic story
I've ever heard in my life I said I
don't know if it's truth I said that's
what your great-grandfather told me but
the point that I'm making is that for
most of us who are African-American we
have some point in our history our
family history where we can go right
back to slavery and frankly for me it
wasn't that long ago.
Truth and Harriet Tubman
and their role in anti-slavery but I
tell you in my own family my grandfather
my great-grandfather was a runaway slave
he and his brother ran away from slavery
according to family legend they were on
a farm owned by a relative of General
John Bell Hood he's the youngest
Confederate General in the Confederate
Army there in outside of Louisville
Kentucky and according to my eldest
uncle I said why did my
great-grandfather run away from slavery
he said because simply he was tired of
being beat and every time the Bears the
Bears in the area like corn and they
were growing corn he said as the Bears
would take the corn they would get
beaten for this but by the same token he
said you know your great-grandfather
told me he said that they made friends
with the Bears
I said really he said yeah they made
friends with the Bears and when they got
ready to run away from slavery they
stocked up on sweet potato pies they
gave them to the Bears and the Bears
provided them safe coverage and I said
uncle that's the most fantastic story
I've ever heard in my life I said I
don't know if it's truth I said that's
what your great-grandfather told me but
the point that I'm making is that for
most of us who are African-American we
have some point in our history our
family history where we can go right
back to slavery and frankly for me it
wasn't that long ago.
00:58:06:00
FOXWORTH:
When
we jump forward to the civil
Rights
movement, Nicholas Hood, Sr.,
And
his role
00:58:15:15
HOOD:
Well several things --
one my father graduated from Yale
Divinity School in 1949. He was called to
a church in New Orleans the Central
Congregational Church on Bienville
Street my father and mother married and
they had me two years later so 1951. The
civil rights movement was taking off and
my father was the secretary for the New
Orleans Improvement Association just
like you remember
one my father graduated from Yale
Divinity School in 1949. He was called to
a church in New Orleans the Central
Congregational Church on Bienville
Street my father and mother married and
they had me two years later so 1951. The
civil rights movement was taking off and
my father was the secretary for the New
Orleans Improvement Association just
like you remember
Dr. King in Montgomery Alabama had the
Montgomery Improvement Association so
there was a New Orleans component to
that and my father was the secretary.
00:58:58:00
A lot
of people may not know this but the
SCLC Southern Christian Leadership
Council was not founded in Atlanta it
was actually founded in New Orleans and
so guess who was one of the original
signers for the SCLC -- it's my father he
is actually one of a handful of people
who helped to incorporate the SCLC but
he did that because he was active in the
movement and I asked my dad once I said,
“Dad what got you involved in the
movement, he said, “Any minister who really
had a social consciousness was involved
in the movement.” and he talked to me
about how they had the Voting Rights
efforts in New Orleans he said they were
very difficult with the you know all the
restrictions that were put on people the
high tests to even just be given a voter
ID but he said in the outlying parishes
of Louisiana outside of New Orleans
people just disappeared so it was very
dangerous it was very violent and as it
turned out in somewhere during that
period 1949 to 1950, ‘51 Andrew young
who's today one of the last of the
living close associates of Dr. Martin
Luther King the inner working team--
Andrew Young and my father got together
and the way they got together was that
my dad was called to Andrews Church
Andrew was not a great churchman himself--
he's just a boy he was at Howard
University--
but his mother and father who were
pillars of the church and the parsonage
of the church the residence for the
pastor was not ready
so they volunteered to let the new
young pastor who was 27 years old and
his 19 year old bride to come and live
in their house. Andrew comes home from
Howard University and the new
preacher is
in his bedroom and he didn't like that
and but they got together and they
became friends and as it turned out a
couple years later Andrew went to the
Hartford seminary which is also in
Connecticut he wanted to go to Yale
but he got his application in late
and so they didn't admit him but he went
to Hartford and at Hartford he had a
great opportunity to study missions and
also along the way he and my dad, my dad
took him with him to Texas for a
spiritual retreat and the way my dad got
him to go was he said Andrew I've been
invited to go speak at this conference
for young people in Texas will you drive
me? Andrew thought that wherever they
were going in Texas was near where he
had a roommate from Howard -- as it turned
out his roommate was 400 miles away and
he was stuck in a camp with my dad with
nothing to read but a Bible but it's
very funny how life turns around at the
during that conference one of the young
white men who was in the cabin with
Andrew grew up to be after that
experience the head of the National
Council of Churches and when the civil
rights movement kicked off it was Andrew
Young who's one of the few black people
that he knew and Andrew said he's one of
the white few white people that he knew
he called Andrew to literally be what
they call our man in the South our man
in the civil rights movement and so
they paid his salary for him to work
with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. So it's
an interesting continuum and then the
church -- Plymouth United Church of Christ
where we're filming this was actually
one of the northern fundraising sites
for the SCLC and the reason why we were
one of the northern fundraising sites is
guess what -- my father who was the pastor
already had a history with Dr. King -- he
knew Coretta Scott King before Coretta
and Martin got married I'm still trying
to figure that one out…
but there was a lot of inner related
relationships and so the SCLC was very
comfortable coming to Detroit when they
finally started coming to North to raise
money I was part of it as a child I saw
it and it's one of the most fascinating
experiences I've ever had but all right
here in the church. 01:03:32:00 end}
SCLC Southern Christian Leadership
Council was not founded in Atlanta it
was actually founded in New Orleans and
so guess who was one of the original
signers for the SCLC -- it's my father he
is actually one of a handful of people
who helped to incorporate the SCLC but
he did that because he was active in the
movement and I asked my dad once I said,
“Dad what got you involved in the
movement, he said, “Any minister who really
had a social consciousness was involved
in the movement.” and he talked to me
about how they had the Voting Rights
efforts in New Orleans he said they were
very difficult with the you know all the
restrictions that were put on people the
high tests to even just be given a voter
ID but he said in the outlying parishes
of Louisiana outside of New Orleans
people just disappeared so it was very
dangerous it was very violent and as it
turned out in somewhere during that
period 1949 to 1950, ‘51 Andrew young
who's today one of the last of the
living close associates of Dr. Martin
Luther King the inner working team--
Andrew Young and my father got together
and the way they got together was that
my dad was called to Andrews Church
Andrew was not a great churchman himself--
he's just a boy he was at Howard
University--
but his mother and father who were
pillars of the church and the parsonage
of the church the residence for the
pastor was not ready
so they volunteered to let the new
young pastor who was 27 years old and
his 19 year old bride to come and live
in their house. Andrew comes home from
Howard University and the new
preacher is
in his bedroom and he didn't like that
and but they got together and they
became friends and as it turned out a
couple years later Andrew went to the
Hartford seminary which is also in
Connecticut he wanted to go to Yale
but he got his application in late
and so they didn't admit him but he went
to Hartford and at Hartford he had a
great opportunity to study missions and
also along the way he and my dad, my dad
took him with him to Texas for a
spiritual retreat and the way my dad got
him to go was he said Andrew I've been
invited to go speak at this conference
for young people in Texas will you drive
me? Andrew thought that wherever they
were going in Texas was near where he
had a roommate from Howard -- as it turned
out his roommate was 400 miles away and
he was stuck in a camp with my dad with
nothing to read but a Bible but it's
very funny how life turns around at the
during that conference one of the young
white men who was in the cabin with
Andrew grew up to be after that
experience the head of the National
Council of Churches and when the civil
rights movement kicked off it was Andrew
Young who's one of the few black people
that he knew and Andrew said he's one of
the white few white people that he knew
he called Andrew to literally be what
they call our man in the South our man
in the civil rights movement and so
they paid his salary for him to work
with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. So it's
an interesting continuum and then the
church -- Plymouth United Church of Christ
where we're filming this was actually
one of the northern fundraising sites
for the SCLC and the reason why we were
one of the northern fundraising sites is
guess what -- my father who was the pastor
already had a history with Dr. King -- he
knew Coretta Scott King before Coretta
and Martin got married I'm still trying
to figure that one out…
but there was a lot of inner related
relationships and so the SCLC was very
comfortable coming to Detroit when they
finally started coming to North to raise
money I was part of it as a child I saw
it and it's one of the most fascinating
experiences I've ever had but all right
here in the church. 01:03:32:00 end}
01:03:32:16
FOXWORTH:
You mentioned National Council of
Churches. How has the African American
Community, from your perspective been able
To continue to move forward with so many diverse
Factions that were a part of the civil rights
Movement? AME church—the black church in
General, just so many different perspectives on
Religion?
01:04:00:00
HOOD:
Well even today there
are different denominations but during
the civil rights movement all those
churches that you're talking about are
really Protestant the truth of the
matter is that there were also
Catholic there were Jewish congregations
and rabbis who all participated in the
movement but at the end of the day and
again this is part of the history my
father told me he said even on the big
march on Detroit I think was in 1963
even in that March he said there was my
father,
CL Franklin and a couple of other
ministers he said most of the ministers
in Detroit did not participate in the
organizing of the March but once they
realized that their people wanted to be
a part of it and plan to be a part
of it then the preachers got in line and
so even today it's pretty much like that
every church is autonomous even if
you're in a church where you're in a
heavily governed by the denominational
structure but at the end of the day the
preacher -- the minister has tremendous
sway over the congregation and some
churches are with it some are not.
are different denominations but during
the civil rights movement all those
churches that you're talking about are
really Protestant the truth of the
matter is that there were also
Catholic there were Jewish congregations
and rabbis who all participated in the
movement but at the end of the day and
again this is part of the history my
father told me he said even on the big
march on Detroit I think was in 1963
even in that March he said there was my
father,
CL Franklin and a couple of other
ministers he said most of the ministers
in Detroit did not participate in the
organizing of the March but once they
realized that their people wanted to be
a part of it and plan to be a part
of it then the preachers got in line and
so even today it's pretty much like that
every church is autonomous even if
you're in a church where you're in a
heavily governed by the denominational
structure but at the end of the day the
preacher -- the minister has tremendous
sway over the congregation and some
churches are with it some are not.
01:05:16:09
FOXWORTH:
How
should African-Americans see
Religion
in general today? As a way of getting
Through—they
saw it to get through slavery
Now
how should they see religion?
01:05:34:03
HOOD:
Well
I think that those of us
who are people of faith see it this way
what I'm getting to say and I think the
way I would hope people would look at
religion regardless of you’re black or
white
you know religion and faith in God is
really our foundation for building
healthy lives healthy emotional lives,
healthy spiritual lives,
who are people of faith see it this way
what I'm getting to say and I think the
way I would hope people would look at
religion regardless of you’re black or
white
you know religion and faith in God is
really our foundation for building
healthy lives healthy emotional lives,
healthy spiritual lives,
Healthy
financial lives, healthy relational lives
and the person who tries to make it
through life without religion is really
having a tough time we see in modern-day
polls the pew organization and the
Gallup Organization have found that over
65% of every community in America today
is unchurched and so on the one hand we
can bemoan that but on the other hand I
would say it's a tremendous opportunity
for the church. Last Sunday I preached a
and the person who tries to make it
through life without religion is really
having a tough time we see in modern-day
polls the pew organization and the
Gallup Organization have found that over
65% of every community in America today
is unchurched and so on the one hand we
can bemoan that but on the other hand I
would say it's a tremendous opportunity
for the church. Last Sunday I preached a
sermon
called “Crises of Faith” and that
was based on what I'm hearing from young
people they're upset and devastated
because some of their contemporaries
died people who were their age and
they're not used to that and the more I
talk with these younger people the more
I realize that we really do have a
crises of faith and it is the
responsibility of the church in my
perspective to help to make religion
relevant for people today if there's 65
percent of the people in America in
every community in America who are
unchurched that is a great indictment on
the church it means that the church has
got to do more and the church has got to
not only program more but the church has
got to find a way to take the message of
Jesus Christ and make it relevant for
today. 01:07:24:00 end]
was based on what I'm hearing from young
people they're upset and devastated
because some of their contemporaries
died people who were their age and
they're not used to that and the more I
talk with these younger people the more
I realize that we really do have a
crises of faith and it is the
responsibility of the church in my
perspective to help to make religion
relevant for people today if there's 65
percent of the people in America in
every community in America who are
unchurched that is a great indictment on
the church it means that the church has
got to do more and the church has got to
not only program more but the church has
got to find a way to take the message of
Jesus Christ and make it relevant for
today. 01:07:24:00 end]
I hear Jesus saying in John 10:10 I come
that you might have life that you might
have life more abundantly to me what
that means is an abundant
life is not just a happy-go-lucky life
but it's a life where you have enough
money to buy your groceries enough money
to clothe your children a life where
you're secure and the church has an
obligation it has a responsibility I
think that’s God-given for us to provide
that kind of abundant life
to lay the platform for an abundant life
for the people today.
01:08:04:00
FOXWORTH:
Rev.
Nicholas Hood, III has a vision for
The
community in which you serve and
The
people who participate in your
Congregation.
What message out of those
Two
visions can you share that can be beneficial
To a
larger audience even outside of this market?
01:08:27:00
HOOD:
Well I would just
say that every church has to strive to
be relevant where it is whether or not
you're in California, New Mexico, Miami or
even Detroit we all have to struggle to
be relevant and relevant sometimes is
relative you know which means that the
things that are the struggle right here
in Detroit may be a little different. I
have a son who lives in Berkeley
California you know that's a different
population much more diverse than
Detroit but you know the people in
Berkeley, California the people in Miami
the people in Detroit in New York
Washington D.C. they all want to be fed
they all want to feel good about life
they all want to try to understand life
with its complexities its issues and it
is the obligation I think really the
onus of responsibility of the clergy to
help break the faith down on a level
where people can digest it and run
with it take the ball and run with it I
heard your -- one of your earlier
interviews and I would just say that I
just want to add this that
say that every church has to strive to
be relevant where it is whether or not
you're in California, New Mexico, Miami or
even Detroit we all have to struggle to
be relevant and relevant sometimes is
relative you know which means that the
things that are the struggle right here
in Detroit may be a little different. I
have a son who lives in Berkeley
California you know that's a different
population much more diverse than
Detroit but you know the people in
Berkeley, California the people in Miami
the people in Detroit in New York
Washington D.C. they all want to be fed
they all want to feel good about life
they all want to try to understand life
with its complexities its issues and it
is the obligation I think really the
onus of responsibility of the clergy to
help break the faith down on a level
where people can digest it and run
with it take the ball and run with it I
heard your -- one of your earlier
interviews and I would just say that I
just want to add this that
01:09:39:00
we're
living
in a different world today than 1956 and
the civil rights movement
and one of the challenges of today is
that Dr. King and all the people around
him were so successful and making sure
that of any person regardless of the
color of your skin would have an
opportunity to eat at the lunch counter
to have the opportunity to have our
children educated in schools just like
everybody else that we would all be
afforded the opportunity to lead safe
and productive lives and so the question
now is and it's a little different
challenge it's a-- it's a much much more
different challenge than what the civil
rights movement had to deal with which
is what do we do in a society where on
face value everybody has the same
opportunity we have the same opportunity
but we see that black people are not
keeping up with everybody else matter of
fact the law case with the Asians versus
Harvard University is really making a
case that if you just accepted people
into Harvard based on test scores Asians
would come away with 47% of the
spots and so it raises -- that there are all
these different very complex issues that
are happening now and I think the role
of the church is we have to challenge
our young people, we have to challenge
our middle-aged people, we have to
challenge people at every level within
our congregations to hope for the best,
strive for the best, work for the best
and stop feeling sorry for yourself - 01:11:18:00 end]
in a different world today than 1956 and
the civil rights movement
and one of the challenges of today is
that Dr. King and all the people around
him were so successful and making sure
that of any person regardless of the
color of your skin would have an
opportunity to eat at the lunch counter
to have the opportunity to have our
children educated in schools just like
everybody else that we would all be
afforded the opportunity to lead safe
and productive lives and so the question
now is and it's a little different
challenge it's a-- it's a much much more
different challenge than what the civil
rights movement had to deal with which
is what do we do in a society where on
face value everybody has the same
opportunity we have the same opportunity
but we see that black people are not
keeping up with everybody else matter of
fact the law case with the Asians versus
Harvard University is really making a
case that if you just accepted people
into Harvard based on test scores Asians
would come away with 47% of the
spots and so it raises -- that there are all
these different very complex issues that
are happening now and I think the role
of the church is we have to challenge
our young people, we have to challenge
our middle-aged people, we have to
challenge people at every level within
our congregations to hope for the best,
strive for the best, work for the best
and stop feeling sorry for yourself - 01:11:18:00 end]
and so to me that is a different
challenge than what Dr. King and Andrew
Young had -- the challenge today is
nobody's gonna wait for you, nobody's
gonna feel sorry for you and so we as a
people and churches within a people
we've got to encourage our own so at
this church at Plymouth United Church of
Christ you know I'm in my on June 13th I
will be in my 34th year no 44th year as
a minister but my 34th year as pastor
and one of the things I try to do is we
started in 1985 with $0
but today we're giving out $2,000 a year
to 30-plus students who are in college
now
you can't finance a college education on
$2,000 but we figured out how to endow
a lot of money we only give the
scholarships from the awards but that's
one little way that one little church in
this big nation of America is trying to
encourage the children and to say look
you know you cannot wait for anybody
else
don't feel sorry for yourself don't fall
down on your knees in front of anybody
else and beg for help but rather stand
up like a man
stand up like a woman and go for it and
you have a church which is supporting
you in that effort and we're not the
only Church there are other churches
that are doing their parts as well but I
just the point I'm trying to make is the
issues today in some respects are more
complex than they were in 1955.
01:12:53:09
FOXWORTH:
You mentioned 34 years and 44 years, have you
Seen progression among African Americans in their
Lifestyle, in their way of living, and the way they
Treat each other?
01:13:08:00
HOOD:
Certainly
and particularly in Detroit, Michigan
and particularly in Detroit, Michigan
One of the things we see in Detroit is I
think on a quantitative level we
probably have the greatest composition
of African-Americans--African Americans
of middle class and we have a lot of
African Americans I'm sure Atlanta and
New York and Chicago would want to
challenge me on this but if you look at
black enterprise on the list of the top
businesses for years since they've been
recording the top black businesses in
America many of them are right here from
Detroit and it's not by accident many of
our top businesses in Detroit
are connected to the auto industry as
suppliers and so they have an unusual
opportunity to do very well but there
are also a lot of African-Americans in
Detroit who are still working in the
auto industry when I was a boy in the
early 60s we had African
Americans were making $50,000 a year who
think on a quantitative level we
probably have the greatest composition
of African-Americans--African Americans
of middle class and we have a lot of
African Americans I'm sure Atlanta and
New York and Chicago would want to
challenge me on this but if you look at
black enterprise on the list of the top
businesses for years since they've been
recording the top black businesses in
America many of them are right here from
Detroit and it's not by accident many of
our top businesses in Detroit
are connected to the auto industry as
suppliers and so they have an unusual
opportunity to do very well but there
are also a lot of African-Americans in
Detroit who are still working in the
auto industry when I was a boy in the
early 60s we had African
Americans were making $50,000 a year who
lived
in my neighborhood now they had to
work double and triple shifts but people
in Detroit--black people in Detroit have been
used to living well brick houses good
salaries as long as they were willing to
work the metric that's changing now
is the auto industry is not employing
like it used to and it's not hiring it's
not compensating people in the same ways
that they once did but I talked to a
school teacher this week they told me
whose husband works in the auto industry
she said my husband makes three times
what I make and so you just think about
that and so they're great opportunities
today but they're also tremendous
challenges and the role of the church is
we have to rise to the challenge we had
to figure it out and then encourage our
people to keep pressing on to higher ground.
work double and triple shifts but people
in Detroit--black people in Detroit have been
used to living well brick houses good
salaries as long as they were willing to
work the metric that's changing now
is the auto industry is not employing
like it used to and it's not hiring it's
not compensating people in the same ways
that they once did but I talked to a
school teacher this week they told me
whose husband works in the auto industry
she said my husband makes three times
what I make and so you just think about
that and so they're great opportunities
today but they're also tremendous
challenges and the role of the church is
we have to rise to the challenge we had
to figure it out and then encourage our
people to keep pressing on to higher ground.
01:15:02:00
FOXWORTH:
Final question: As you’ve alluded to,
Or shared, rather, the fact that your
Father has paved the way for you in a lot
Of respects, what outside of the educational
endowment that you’ve given, what’s your hope,
at some future point, when you decide to
step aside, do you hope you have been able to do
for someone who’s come up behind you?
01:15:31:15
HOOD:
I hope
that
I've laid the platform I hope I've laid
a foundation for the church my father
did not at least according to my knowledge
he didn't dictate that I would succeed
him matter of fact it was quite a fight
and you know he did advocate for me
quietly but more importantly was that he
laid the foundation and he laid the
expectation for the church to expect a
certain level of ministry an intelligent
informed ministry that is also socially
committed. My father is the he was the
second African American in the last
century to serve on the Detroit
City Council. The preceding century
in the late 1800s we believed there was
an African-American who served on the
City Council but I'm not sure if people
knew it but part of the reason why my
father could go in the City Council in
1965 was that his predecessor Reverend
Horace A. White served in the state
legislature and I really think that's
softened the congregation to that and so
the point that I'm making is none of us
get here by accident and so what I'm
trying to do is to create a platform for
the church where the church will accept
nothing less than what I brought to the
table matter of fact I hope that they
will really look for even much more than
what I brought and can I add one more
thing I'm trying to do my part I've got
you know one full-time associate
minister and two assistant ministers and
I incorporate them in a lot of what I do
because I want them to know I mean
tonight could be my last night and so I
just you know want the church to be in
good hands when my time is gone.
I've laid the platform I hope I've laid
a foundation for the church my father
did not at least according to my knowledge
he didn't dictate that I would succeed
him matter of fact it was quite a fight
and you know he did advocate for me
quietly but more importantly was that he
laid the foundation and he laid the
expectation for the church to expect a
certain level of ministry an intelligent
informed ministry that is also socially
committed. My father is the he was the
second African American in the last
century to serve on the Detroit
City Council. The preceding century
in the late 1800s we believed there was
an African-American who served on the
City Council but I'm not sure if people
knew it but part of the reason why my
father could go in the City Council in
1965 was that his predecessor Reverend
Horace A. White served in the state
legislature and I really think that's
softened the congregation to that and so
the point that I'm making is none of us
get here by accident and so what I'm
trying to do is to create a platform for
the church where the church will accept
nothing less than what I brought to the
table matter of fact I hope that they
will really look for even much more than
what I brought and can I add one more
thing I'm trying to do my part I've got
you know one full-time associate
minister and two assistant ministers and
I incorporate them in a lot of what I do
because I want them to know I mean
tonight could be my last night and so I
just you know want the church to be in
good hands when my time is gone.
01:18:22:23
HOOD:
Hi
this is Reverend Nick Hood
pastor the Plymouth United Church of
Christ and I want to thank NGP.
pastor the Plymouth United Church of
Christ and I want to thank NGP.
01:18:42:00
HOOD:
This is Pastor Nick Hood the Third
and we're on the set with NGP
and we're on the set with NGP
01:19:48:00
HOOD:
This is Pastor Nick Hood the Third
and we're on the set with NGP creative
production that changes lives.
and we're on the set with NGP creative
production that changes lives.
