Viewpoint: The Royal wedding was a landmark for African Americans

Culled from BBC

The diversity on display at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle represented progress that much of the westernized world has yearned to see.

As an African American, I was happy to see Oprah Winfrey in attendance. She has long been, especially within the black community, American royalty.

Watching her arrive alongside the actor Idris Elba set the tone for the rest of the wedding, and forged a connection to the ceremony that black Americans had never previously had.

Harry is the British royal Americans can relate to more than any other. He befriended the Obamas and partied in Las Vegas long before his engagement to Ms Markle. He is more accessible and less formal than his immediate family, and his marriage to a biracial American celebrity seems to make sense. As an American, I felt a connection to not just the guests, but also both of the royal couple.

After the vows, viewers were wowed by teenage cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason, and by stirring renditions from the Kingdom Choir of "This Little Light of Mine" and "Stand by Me". #BlackRoyalWedding and #BlackExcellence began trending on Twitter.

Amid all these moments of significance, it was Bishop Michael Curry's sermonthat felt most profound. His modern, unorthodox invocation of love and unscripted reference to American slavery spoke to the very heart of black theology in America.

Black ministers first began to speak in front of white congregations after the Civil War, and for those white parishioners who overcame racist beliefs, the sermons became transformational events.

"Here was an unlearned man, one who could not read, telling of the love of Christ, of Christian faith and duty in a way which I have not learned," said white Baptist Minister Isaac Brinckerhoff, upon witnessing the sermon of a black preacher in South Carolina soon after the Civil War.

But the style of black preachers was also condemned by many whites, and Southern churches became increasingly segregated after the Civil War - racial divisions that have remained largely intact since.