Praying in the Moment
Reflections on the Election of President Barack Obama
by
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A good father is no stranger to black families Two sisters, Mrs. Marian Briggs Williams and Mrs. Barbara Briggs Turner, tell their story: As the image of President Barack Obama with his wife First Lady Michelle, and their two daughters Sasha and Malia flashes across the television screen into homes around the world, it shatters stereotypes because the American media more commonly portrays criminalized black men. Like many black husbands and fathers before him, President Obama is an outstanding role model. Mrs. Marian Briggs Williams was born in 1930 and grew up with a strong black father. Mr. Alexander Briggs married Lillian Edmonds Briggs. They moved north from Petersburg, Virginia in 1925, after the birth of their second child. They lived in Cranford and Roselle Park before settling in Roselle, where Mr. Briggs established Briggs Sign Shop and became nationally renowned for his slogan, “Who knows without a sign.” A newspaper article from the “Afro Magazine Section” of a newspaper dated December 7, 1957 states that Mr. Briggs was “the first colored person to serve on a jury in the Fifth Judicial District Court in 1941...” He was also a Trustee at Second Baptist Church in Roselle. Sadly, Mr. Briggs lost his wife and mother of their nine children in 1943. At that time, Mrs. William’s youngest sibling, Mrs. Barbara Turner, was only seven; their oldest sibling was 23. “When I was working at AT&T and we had classes, the instructor asked us to point out who was a good example of a role model,” said Mrs. Williams. “Most mentioned celebrities. When they asked me, I said my father. My mother died when I was 13 and he raised us. We all had good jobs and good reputation and honesty.” As Mrs. Williams learned about President Obama during the campaign, she was impressed by him, and was not surprised that he won the election. She described how she responded to someone who was less optimistic: “Someone said, we’re never going to have a black president. They’re not going to have a black man in the White House. I thought, eventually we will. Things have been changing all along. Eventually, it had to come to pass.” To her, it seemed to take a long time, considering that Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. rose to leadership during the 1960s and it’s taken over 40 years for another black leader to earn the support of all races throughout the nation.
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About the Book
Praying in the Moment: Reflections on the Election of President Barack Obama groups reflections written between the president's election and inauguration, giving voice to Americans who experienced segregation, lynching and discrimination and thought they would never live to see the day that America would elect a black president. Eight of the reflections are told through the eyes of Americans who have experienced race relations at its worst, but have now witnessed progress beyond many of their expectations. The ninth reflection documents the experience of a young adult who attended the inauguration. The tenth gives voice to three children under age ten who express how they feel about the election of America’s first black president. All attend Second Baptist Church in Roselle, New Jersey, a historically black church that celebrated its 118th anniversary in 2008, as President Obama was being elected. Join Dinah White, Josephine Evans, G.G. Woody, Edith McIntyre, Theodore and Merlin Bragg, Joseph Thompson, Marguerite White, Marian Williams and her sister Barbara Turner, Jennifer Jones, twin siblings Jared and Jaida Baptist, and Annie Carty on a journey through American history.
About the Author
Shauna Jamieson Carty received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Lehman College, City University of New York. She also graduated from the school of journalism at Columbia University where she received her Master’s degree. She is a born again Christian whose work frequently documents the impact of prayer and faith on society. She lives in New Jersey.