Publisher’s Commentary by Wallace J. Allen, IV
Both of Leo XIV’s maternal grandparents, Joseph Martinez and Louise Baquié, along with his aunts, Irma and Margaret, made a move in the early 1900’s, that was common among a certain class of people, that resulted in life changing benefits for them and their descendants!
Just as Robert Francis Prevost, the Chicago-born man was graduated in status to become Pope Leo XIV, his grandparents and aunts as they passed across the Mason Dixon Line, also upgraded their status from that of being Black Americans, to being white Americans! As they passed across the Mason Dixon Line, they also passed across America’s color line… These light skinned Black folk were able to do what many light skinned Black folk did then, and now… They were able to pass for white and so they did!
Thought recorded as Black in the Louisiana 1900 census, Pope Leo’s grandparents were recorded as white in Chicago’s 1920 census! Understanding the horror and terrorism involved with being Black in America, especially south of the mason Dixon, few if any of their peers would blame them. Most of those who passed generally kept a low profile. Of course, there is the contradiction named J. Edgar Hoover, which is another, though shameful, story!
Pope Leo XIV is a delightful reminder that the truth will overcome the lie… As we are inundated by obvious lies from official places, Pope Leo’s ascension further indicates that the light at the end of the tunnel is the hoped for light, and not a train!
