Throughout the 400 years since the first "20 and odd Negroes" were brought to the British colonies, American Descendants of Slavery have experienced a Black Holocaust: enslavement, black codes, sharecropping, Jim Crow, lynchings, convict leasing, redlin-ing, restrictive covenants, police brutality, subprime lending, mass incarceration, all of which have resulted in the ghettoization/impoverishment of black communities across America.
Contained within each daily prayer and reflection page is an excerpt from the documentary, The Underground Rail Road: A Record, by William Still. Each excerpt is a direct quote from Mr. Still; therefore, any wording that does not align with standard or contemporary English is reflective of that time.
The second reading on the daily prayer and reflection page is a collection of historical facts revealing the ongoing systemic oppression leveled against our black forebears who were first enslaved and that continued against American Descendants of Slavery.
The third writing on each daily prayer and reflection page is the “We Are the Voice of One” Prayer Declaration, which is adapted from Isaiah 40. We ask that you speak this prayer declaration aloud each day, and then close with your personal prayer.
Participants are encouraged to participate in the 40 Days of Prayer within circles of influence — with spiritual partners, church members, organization members, friends, and family members. During these 40 days, participants may want to join with others on a teleconference and read the daily reflections together. Be encouraged to join with those of other races or ethnicities. Everyone can pray aloud using the Prayer Declaration, with a designee closing the prayer time and paying homage to those formerly enslaved and their descendants.
At the close of the 40 days, participants are invited to host a commemoration ceremony. The ceremony guide is available as a separate resource.
For twenty-five years, Cheri L. Mills has served in full-time ministry at St. Stephen Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky under the leadership of Rev. Dr. Kevin W. Cosby, senior pastor. Cheri serves as church administrator at St. Stephen and administrative assistant to the senior pastor. She teaches adult Sunday School there and serves in the church's prayer ministry. Cheri is also prayer director for the Prayer Department at Simmons College of Kentucky, the nation's 107th HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities), where Dr. Cosby serves as president. She holds a bachelor's degree from Western Kentucky University and is a candidate for a Master of Divinity degree from the Baptist Seminary of Kentucky. Cheri is the visionary leader and founder of 1 Voice Prayer Movement, which unites churches across racial, denominational, and cultural lines to pray on behalf of their cities, states, nation, and world that God's justice will be dispensed on behalf of the poor and oppressed. As of November 2019, 1 Voice Prayer Movement celebrates ten years of intercessory prayer ministry. She was awarded the Mary McLeod Bethune Achievement Award by the Louisville Section of the National Council of Negro Women, Inc. for her contributions impacting the community, city, state, and beyond.
