Brooklyn group explores ‘Currency
of Freedom’ for Black History Month
Caribbean L 16 ife, March 1–7, 2019 BQ
Rev. Lenny Duncan, pastor of Jehu’s Table, makes a point.
Photo by Nelson A. King
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By Nelson A. King
Two members of the Black
clergy and a retired US Army
Reserve Colonel in Brooklyn on
Feb. 22 explored “The Currency
of Freedom,” as the Brooklynbased
St. Vincent and the Grenadines
Ex-Teachers Association
of New York held its annual
Black History Month panel discussion
at Trinity Methodist
Church in Brooklyn.
The panelists included
Apostle Dr. Peter Bonadie,
the Vincentian-born pastor
of Kingdom Life Ministries
in the Crown Heights section
of Brooklyn; the Rev. Lenny
Duncan, pastor of Jehu’s Table
on Linden Boulevard in East
New York; and Vincentian-born
retired Colonel and Registered
Nurse Celia Bramble, a former
nursing educator at Kings
County Hospital.
The discussion at the house
of worship on Eastern Parkway
was moderated by Dr. Herman
Ambris, a Vincentian-born
physician and trustee of the
St. Vincent and the Grenadines
Ex-Teachers Association of New
York, who suggested the topic,
“The Currency of Freedom.”
“As we celebrate Black History
Month, ‘The Currency of
Freedom’ is very relevant,” said
Dr. Bonadie in his presentation,
pointing to the “unalienable
rights” of all, as enshrined
in the US Constitution.
“All freedom comes from
God,” he added. “Freedom is the
right to act without restraint.
Currency is the medium of
exchange.”
Apostle Bonadie said freedom
is exhibited in a “multiplicity
of ways,” stating, for
example, that there’s religious
freedom.
But, while, he said, there are
“pertinent extracts” from “The
Currency of Freedom,” sometimes,
people are enslaved.
“Slavery was a law, but it
does not mean it was legally
right,” he said, adding that “the
most powerful form of slavery
is mental slavery.”
Dr. Bonadie said that, while
he’s a firm believer in using
non-violence to attain one’s
freedom, he also believes that,
“if you’re destroying a people
within your midst, people must
form ways to respond.
“The courage to confront
your captor is very important,”
he stressed. “We must have the
courage. Courage is the currency
to confront for liberty.”
Quoting from Ralph Waldo
Emerson, a 19th-century
American essayist, lecturer,
philosopher, and poet, Apostle
Bonadie said: “No man is free
until all men are free every
where.”
For Rev. Duncan, “Black
History Month is not for us,
but for white folks,” he said,
stating that “The Currency of
Freedom” in America is “always
Black boxes (coffins).”
“I’ve never seen a community
that (in which) we’re
given freedom equally,” he said,
declaring that “Blacks were not
in America’s founding documents.”
Rev. Duncan said that the
current political climate in
America, with leanings towards
nationalism, is “a lean towards
racism.”
“It’s a very scary time in
Apostle Dr. Peter Bonadie
makes a point during panel
discussion.
Photo by Nelson A. King
Continued on Page 18
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