NIGERIANS ABROAD REMEMBER HOMELAND IN PRAYERS

Pat Greenhouse/The Boston Globe

About 200 African-Americans and Africans gathered Sunday at St. Katharine Drexel Parish Church to celebrate the start of Black History Month. Posters at the entrance to the sanctuary illustrated the legacy of black achievements.

They paid homage to African-American trailblazers who tore down barriers and thrived. And they held hope for their countrymen in Nigeria, who are bracing against Boko Haram extremism and reeling from ethnic tensions marking this month’s presidential election between a Christian man and his Muslim rival.

“The upcoming elections are causing a lot of troubles, worries, and pain,’’ prayed Adesuwa Igbineweka, a 30-year-old Nigerian immigrant who lives in Dorchester. “Let us pray for all the Christians and non-Christians in Nigeria . . . that God will bring peace to the country.”

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Her words inspired contemplation among about 200 African-Americans and Africans who gathered Sunday at St. Katharine Drexel Parish Church for a Mass to celebrate the start of Black History Month.
Black people from all over the world have learned from one another and leaned on each other in times of strife, the Rev. Donatus Ezenneka said during Sunday’s homily.
Harkening the resolve of civil rights icon Rosa Parks — who refused to give up her seat on an Alabama bus — and alluding to problems in his Nigerian homeland, Ezenneka preached a message of peace and love. He urged worshippers to never forget the suffering of people in far-off countries, where religious and ethnic turmoil rages.
“When we celebrate freedom today, let us also think about our brothers and sisters outside the United States,’’ Ezenneka said.
St. Katharine Drexel Parish Church is a century-old church whose worshippers include African-Americans and Africans. In early February each year, parishioners gather for one giant celebration of black achievements.
At the church’s main entrance, a large poster showcased their the legacy: Willie Thrower, the first African-American quarterback in the National Football League in 1953; Bessie Coleman, the first African-American woman licensed pilot in 1921; and Matthew Henson, the first African-American explorer to reach the North Pole in 1909.
Black immigrants are gaining ground in Massachusetts and across the country bringing the potential for gains in political clout and changing what it means to be black in America, the Globe recently reported.
The number of new black citizens in Massachusetts has more than doubled, to 76,000 since 2000, census estimates show, a rise fueled by transplants from the Caribbean and Africa, the report said.
More than 1,000 Nigerians attend St. Katharine Drexel Church, with many traveling from as far as Pawtucket, R.I. and as nearby as Hyde Park. They all sit together in the pews, sharing a heritage from their former homeland, said Kate Chinwe Okoye, vice president of the church’s Nigerian Catholic Community.
Heavy on their hearts Sunday, she said, is the upcoming presidential contest between Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, the Christian presidential candidate from the south, and Muhammadu Buhari, a Muslim candidate from the north. It is a campaign, news reports say, that will test the country’s resolve for unity and one that has exposed ethnic divisions across Nigeria.
Nigerians are also living in fear of Boko Haram terrorists, responsible for slaughtering civilians and kidnapping last year more than 250 schoolgirls. On Saturday, the church held a special service to pray for peace in Nigeria, Chinwe Okoye said.
“Civil rights is Nigeria is not so much about black and white as it is here,’’ Chinwe Okoye said. “But civil rights in my country is about ethnic groups not accepting each other. It creates a lot of tension.”
Chinwe Okoye said the church is hoping to send a message of love and peace that “the ethnic strife and Boko Haram issues will end.”
Peter Uzoma, who lives in Hyde Park and attends the church, said the crises will need the help of everyone — both in Nigeria and abroad.
“When they say it takes a village, we know that we will need each other to lift each other up,’’ he said.