Quotes from Cornel West

Here is a more nuanced assessment of the "Black Church" by Cornel West, from a 1984 article entitled, "The Black Church and Socialist Politics."

"The prophetic tradition of the black church is worth taking seriously not simply because of its important role in the black freedom movement, but also because it may highlight some of the cultural problems now besetting...the modern West."

"The crisis in black America is threefold...economic...political...and spiritual."

"There have been four basic responses to these crises by the black church. first, there is the conservative alternative put forward by entrepreneurial preachers like Rev. Ike who translate vast numbers of peoples' personal despair into self-serving lucrative ends. Second is the politically cautious yet open-ended perspective of moderates like Rev. Jemison and liberals like Rev. Hooks. Third is the prophetically audacious and authentically counter-hegemonic praxis of leftists like Rev. Daughtry and left-liberals like Rev. Lowery. And lastly there is the courageous electoral campaign of Rev. Jesse Jackson. "

"...despite the numerous processes of modernization occurring in black America, the prophetic black church remains the major source for political leadership. But if it is more adequately to meet the present challenges, it must move toward more sophisticated social analyses of the economic depression in black America. Such analyses should highlight the shifting international division of labor and the dominant role of U.S. corporate power. This analysis should be guided by an egalitarian vision which embraces the needs of working class and underclass Hispanics, Asians, women, whites, as well as the concerns of ecologists, feminists, and peace activists. Lastly, this analysis and vision must be coupled with a spiritual awakening which combats the rapacious hedonism and narcissism in late U.S. capitalist culture, thereby enabling a more virtuous and viable left. "

Cornel West, _Prophetic Fragments_, Eerdmans, 1988. -- Charley Earp