Introduction
The article from 4/13/2024 recommended CultureWatch: Bill Muehlenberg's commentary on issues of the day. The distance from this area to Melbourne, Australia, is about 9,760 miles.
This twenty-first entry under the topic section Worldviews in Conflict recommends a gentleman closer to home, Dr. Harold A. Black. Professor Harold Black’s Webpage is one of three under the “Folks, to Whom I Subscribe” section of this website. I came across his website on leap day (2/29/2024). Before then, I was familiar with Dr. Black, and I had heard him as a guest on local radio stations.
The most recent occasion was Sunday afternoon, 5/19/2024. Dr. Black was a guest on “State Your Case with George Korda” on NewsTalk 98.7 WOKI-FM (Knoxville, TN). The show airs on Sundays, from 12 to 2 PM. As one of the call-ins, I was privileged to speak with Dr. Black. I'd like to meet this good man and engage him in deep conversation, while we sip coffee.
Recommending Dr. Harold Black
Why do I recommend Dr. Harold A. Black and his website? First, he is a man of gravitas, which means dignity of bearing in Latin. Dr. Black's website includes his prestigious and professional biography. Among his many accomplishments, he is a professor emeritus at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
Second, Dr. Black rose to the highest levels of academic, professional, and personal achievements, despite racist and economic obstacles. Not barriers, they were obstacles, over which Dr. Black hurdled. In March, I was moved by his article, “Up from poverty,” Professor Harold Black’s Webpage, 3/13/2024. Two days after the article was published, I attempted to enter the following comment, which does not appear under the article, probably due to an online glitch:
Thank you, Dr. Black, for sharing this amazing story about your family and your ancestors! Despite the impoverished beginnings, especially during the evils of slavery, the focus on hard work and education improved the economic lives as the generations unfolded. This is a wonderful tribute to your ancestors.
If I were a betting man, which I am not, I'd bet a dollar (which ain't worth much these days) that all or most of your ancestors were excellent Christian examples, whom the later generations followed. Did I win the dollar?
Yesterday, in 1983, the Lord took my maternal grandfather to his everlasting and heavenly home. (He was born in 1901.) Papaw's work ethic, despite some minor health problems, was guided by his life as an outstanding Christian example to many, especially to Mom and to me. I wonder if your ancestors and mine have met in heaven. Wouldn't we like to hear their conversations?
Thank you again for sharing a wonderful story and lesson. I hope that your readers, who need to do so, will heed your lesson.
Third, Dr. Harold A. Black is a proficient speaker and writer. His lectures, consultations, and journal publications span several decades. Professor Harold Black’s Webpage includes articles from 12/17/2021 to the current month. (The articles are not indexed by year, month, or topic.) His previous online platform was Caveat Emptor: Professor Harold Black's Blog. (In Latin, “caveat emptor” means “buyer beware.”) I counted 413 articles from 10/14/2008 to 12/23/2013.
Of special interest to the Knoxville, Tennessee, area, Dr. Black is one of twelve columnists for The Knoxville Focus. His first column was published on 1/25/2021, when he was 75. His weekly columns are published each Monday. I read his first column and several of his recent ones.
Finally, and most importantly, Dr. Harold A. Black focuses on the right moral and economic values. His opposition to immorality, socialism, and all forms of tyranny is obvious. His worldview originates from his ethical upbringing. His personal and academic life expanded and deepened that worldview. His is a legacy worthy of following.
Conclusion
On 5/19/2024, while on hold during my call-in to the radio station, I heard The Rolling Stones' song “Brown Sugar” play as lead-in music. Mentally, I questioned the engineer's wisdom in selecting that song, with Dr. Harold Black as the guest. After that lead-in, Dr. Black kindly requested that the host never allow The Rolling Stones songs to be played as bumper music, when he is a guest. Reading the lyrics to “Brown Sugar,” Dr. Black educated the host, and he educated me, as I listened on hold.
On Memorial Day, the first of Dr. Black's two articles is titled simply “Brown Sugar,” Professor Harold Black’s Webpage, 5/27/2024. I have always liked the musical score of that song, but I had not fully understood the lyrics, due to Mick Jagger's enunciation or lack thereof. No longer will I listen to that song! The lyrics are about slavery and raping a black woman! Dr. Black, with an apology to Foreigner and their song "Dirty White Boy," this “white boy” has come clean!
The repentant King David, after committing adultery and murder, cried out unto God, "Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow" (Psalm 51:7b, NIV). The second verse of the hymn “Have Thine Own Way, Lord!” by Adelaide Addison Pollard is:
Have Thine own way!
Search me and try me,
Master, today!
Whiter than snow, Lord,
Wash me just now,
As in Thy presence
Humbly, I bow.
An excellent performance of the song is at “Have Thine Own Way, Lord,” Deutschblitz - Telegram (YouTube), 1/12/2015.
Don't you wish that The Rolling Stones followed Adelaide Addison Pollard's biblical worldview? Well, this article wishes that everyone followed that worldview. Many readers already do. If not, please repent, as King David did, and be washed whiter than snow by the blood of the Lamb!
Dr. Black, if you catch wind of this article, I would be honored to meet you. Perhaps we could meet for coffee and a deep conversation. Readers, your time reading articles on Professor Harold Black’s Webpage will inform and inspire you, as it does me.
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