Hold fast to what you have, so that no one may seize your crown

Today, March 30, 2011 marks the 141st anniversary of the 15th Amendment to the Constitution. That historic day, March 30, 1870 ushered in momentous progress in the political emancipation of African Americans.
A day after the 15th Amendment was adopted, Thomas Peterson-Mundy of New Jersey became the first African American to vote. In the South, Hiram Rhoades Revels of Mississippi became the first ever African American to serve in the Congress.
Many more freed slaves - in excess of 600 - served in state and local offices in the South during that first decade of the adoption of the 15th Amendment.
It was also within that momentous decade that the then Republican Party in the South disappeared as Reconstruction also ended and ipso facto state governments nullified the 15th Amendment - along with the 14th - and stripped African Americans of the rights to vote.
It is worthwhile to bear in mind that it took a century - almost - before the nation once again established equal rights for African Americans in the South.
The warning - or advice - in Revelations 3:11 is worth reflecting on whenever there is an occasion to celebrate past achievements: "Hold fast to what you have, so that no one may seize your crown".