The Destruction of Harriet Tubman’s Legacy, Starring Kanye West as Stephen from Django Unchained
by Sabrina Dawkins
Perhaps Kanye West forgot Harriet Tubman’s nickname: “Moses.” Has he even read the entire Bible? Maybe he didn’t read Numbers 14:29-30 where God said, “Your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from 20 years old and upward, which have murmured against me, doubtless ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.”
We are currently in the wilderness, not the promised land. God chose another “Moses,” Harriet Tubman, to lead us again out of hard bondage so that we could be tested in the wilderness: “And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in mortar, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigor.” – Exodus 1:14.
“And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these 40 years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no.” – Deuteronomy 8:2
“For the children of Israel walked 40 years in the wilderness, till all the people that were men of war, which came out of Egypt, were consumed, because they obeyed not the voice of the LORD: unto whom the LORD sware that he would not shew them the land, which the LORD sware unto their fathers that he would give us, a land that floweth with milk and honey.” – Joshua 5:6
So the wilderness is a test, not a prize. Freedom in America is a test for the notoriously disobedient children of Israel.
“And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being 40 days tempted of the devil. (…).” – Luke 4:1-2
God moved the American Civil War Union soldiers, Harriet Tubman among them, to free the slaves, regardless of what the white New World Order planners had in mind. Again, freedom in America is a wilderness experience, a test of the strength of the spirit. God motivated revolutionaries such as Nat Turner, Harriet Tubman, and John Brown to be beacons of light and show slaves how to be strong and struggle for their freedom. And he himself was crucified when he came as Christ to free Israelites from their spiritual prison.
Now the notoriously disobedient Israelites once again are being tested in the wilderness, even though he told Moses in Exodus 32:7-10, “Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves: They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshiped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiff-necked people: Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation.”
“And Moses besought the LORD his God, and said, LORD, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a mighty hand?” – Exodus 32:11
He is God. He doesn’t need to ask Moses’ permission to do anything. So why did he threaten to kill the children of Israel when he didn’t need Moses’ permission to do so? The wise King was revealing Moses’ good heart. Moses did not care about his own elevation and glory, he cared about saving the children of Israel. Harriet Tubman was also selfless.
Remember, it was God himself who sent Moses to save the children of Israel: “Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them. Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt. And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt? And he said, Certainly I will be with thee (…)” – Exodus 3:9-12
God was with Harriet Tubman as he was with Moses before her. And he gave her dreams and visions.
And he told Moses, “I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians (…)” – Exodus 3:8. God was Israel’s Rock: “How should one chase 1,000, and two put 10,000 to flight, except their Rock had sold them, and the LORD had shut them up?” – Deuteronomy 32:30
God guided Harriet as a “Moses” to lead the enslaved Israelites out of hard bondage so that they would be able to worship him freely in the wilderness: “And thou shalt say unto him, The LORD God of the Hebrews hath sent me unto thee, saying, Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness (…)” – Exodus 7:16
On Sunday, July 19, 2020, Kanye West held his first presidential campaign rally in North Charleston, South Carolina, in which he criticized Harriet Tubman by saying, “Well, Harriet Tubman never actually freed the slaves, she just had the slaves go work for other white people.” Right before he said it, he made a gaffe: “What was Samuel L. Jackson’s character in Django? (…) So, that’s a Stephen move,” without the self-awareness to realize he was talking about himself. He is trying to erase Harriet Tubman’s legacy: “Back during slavery, when Black people like me talked to the slaves, they didn’t kill them, they sent some old house Negro along behind him to undo what he said.” – Malcolm X.
However, no one can resist the powerful spirit of God if he decides to take over the body or implant thoughts, or sends one of his angels to do it, not even King Saul, who briefly became a prophet. Consequently, he can force people to tell the truth about themselves and reveal who they really are, stand metaphorically naked before others.
Less than three minutes later Kanye made another gaffe: “Sometimes people are controlled by demons.” Indeed, Kanye. “And Jesus asked him, saying, What is thy name? And he said, Legion: because many devils were entered into him.” – Luke 8:30
I imagine God saying to Harriet Tubman regarding Kanye what he said to Samuel, “Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.” – 1 Samuel 8:7
“And it came to pass on the morrow, that the evil spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of the house (…)” – 1 Samuel 18:10
The Holy Spirit has to dwell firmly within before you can escape the spiritual wilderness.
Kanye West’s “Through the Wire” lyrics:
“Unbreakable, what, you thought they’d call me Mr. Glass?”
“And I still won’t grow up, I’m a grown-ass kid.”