The City on the Hill From Below: The Crisis of Prophetic Black Politics

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments T his book could not have been written were it not for the extraordinary support I have received over the years. Three persons in particular have played herculean roles. I am permanently indebted to Mary Hawkesworth, my teacher and friend, whose encouragement inspired the genesis of the book and whose careful reading of the entire manuscript saw the book through to completion. I am similarly beholden to Shirley Thompson, without whose editorial skill and less-than-gentle prodding at the midnight hour, I would still be writing. Finally, I am deeply indebted to Cornel West, my teacher and friend, whose writings awakened me to the importance of the prophetic tradition and whose guidance trained me to read black political thought as political and social theory. I have also received generous assistance from friends and colleagues who read partial drafts and/or provided me with invaluable suggestions that were later incorporated into the book. Among the members of this group, Juliet Hooker—who has been and remains an invaluable interlocutor and who read early versions of the manuscript—deserves special mention. I also thank Jafari Allen, Matt Richardson, Christen Smith, David Kim, Jeff Tulis, John Lewis, Keith Wright, Mike Wilcox, Eddie Glaude, Jim Fuerst, Mark Jefferson , Tom Pangle, Lorraine Pangle, and Ted Gordon. I am grateful as well for the nurturing and stimulating intellectual community provided by the John L. Warfield Center for African and African American Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. As a departmental home, the Warfield Center has offered me financial and administrative x acknowledgments­ support. As a community of scholars, activists, and students, the Warfield Center has provided me with much-appreciated compatriots. The same can be said of the support I have received from my colleagues in the Department of American Studies. A wonderful community of interdisciplinary scholars and fabulous graduate students, the Department of American Studies at the University of Texas at Austin has given me a context for rediscovering my groove. When my soul looks back in wonder, I have answered and will continue to answer with a prayer of gratitude for my family. The love and faith of my parents, Lois Christine Houston Marshall and Isaiah Willis Marshall, continue to sustain me. The friendship and unconditional love of my sisters , Carol, Andrea, and Shelly, continue to hold me up, while my brilliant nephew, Bjorn, constantly engenders my hope. My father-in-law and motherin -law, Dr. Joseph Thompson and Dr. Shirley W. Thompson, have provided me with love and much-appreciated acceptance. Shirley and Solomon Marshall are my condition of possibility. Were it not for my beautiful wife and beloved son, I’d be a tossed and driven vessel on an open and angry sea. I dedicate this book to them. The City on the Hill from Below ...