I served as a Christian Pastor for 6 yrs and almost 8 yrs to the present outside of it. I realized one of the most overlooked stronghold among African Americans or Negroes is the lack of identity. I was raised with understanding that I am a blood descendant of Israel, but was told it wasn't important in the Church I was raised in. In my sixth of ministry I had an encounter with a white Pastor who said he was born in Africa and he is an American citizen which means, "I am an African American."
From that point on I analyze the current issues with my community only to realize we are suffering from an identity crisis. We're the only group of people who cannot accurately identify ourselves in the Bible due to the layers of deceptive doctrine of those who have appointed themselves gatekeeper of the Holy word. My Damascus road experience began as I was preparing a sermon on John 8. The quote that completely grabbed my attention, "we know we are Abraham seed and never knew bondage."