Why It Matters for FMO The American Experiment: A Living Test of Freedom The American Experiment is the bold, unfinished attempt to build a nation rooted in self-governance, liberty, and justice. It began in 1776 with a radical question: Can a free people govern themselves without kings, tyrants, or elites?
Founded on principles like natural rights, popular sovereignty, and the rule of law, this experiment challenged centuries of monarchy and oppression. But it was never perfect—initially excluding women, enslaved people, and the poor. Every generation has had to fight to expand the promise.
Today, the experiment continues. It’s tested by injustice, division, and inequality. But it also calls us—especially men of faith and color—to engage, reform, and lead. It’s not just about surviving in America. It’s about shaping it.
For men of faith, especially men of color, the American Experiment is not just history—it’s a battleground for justice, dignity, and voice. It’s a call to engage, not retreat. To shape the future, not just survive it.
Unfortunately, black people have failed to understand this issue and how its connected to our survival. The level of crime we have allowed in our communities has blemished our image and has sent signals to other ethnic groups as to whether we have what it takes to live in a democracy and to govern ourselves.
The same can be said about how we value education and work, we are perceived as not being hard workers and as not being studios people.
However, we as a people know the tropes and the stereotypes that come from those that fear our upward mobility and how they falsely believe that someday we will displace them.
We must continue the fight not just for justice but also for perception and dignity, then show the world and America that we will take our place among the powers of this world by the justness of the God who placed us on this planet and in America, let us by our will change our perception first in our own minds then in the imaginations of those who doubt us.