ABSTRACT
Prophetic voices have played a pivotal role in preserving the vibrancy of America’s precious experiment with democracy throughout its history. At moments of chaos and concern, voices like those of Susan B. Anthony, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, Wong Chin Foo, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Cesar Chavez have challenged the nation to live up to its core values. The recent surge in political tension and disunity in the United States suggests an urgent need for a new set of prophets if we are to return society to values that have been lost, forgotten, or ignored. However, prophetic rhetoric depends on a community capable of receiving the prophecies, and the advent of the so-called posttruth society complicates such an intervention. In this essay, I suggest that the rhetorical challenges of our posttruth moment mirror those faced throughout the Black freedom struggle. The historical voices of that struggle offer new possibilities for recovering the prophetic influence for service during our own age and beyond.
