What does a prophet look like?
Albert Raboteau profiles seven people who shaped the theology and practice of activism in 20th-century America.
In Review
American Prophets
Seven Religious Radicals and Their Struggle for Social and Political Justice
Albert Raboteau’s short history of prophecy in 20th-century America hints at what a prophet might look like in today’s world. Raboteau is a historian of African American religion who taught at Princeton University. The book is based on a course he taught on religious radicals, and this pedagogical origin makes it useful as a resource for preaching or adult education.
The titular prophets are seven Americans, an interfaith and ecumenical group, all active in the middle third of the 20th century. Raboteau profiles Abraham Joshua Heschel, rabbi and biblical scholar; A. J. Muste, pacifist and head of the Fellowship of Reconciliation; Dorothy Day, founder of the Catholic Worker Movement; Howard Thurman, theologian and advocate for interracial community; Thomas Merton, Catholic contemplative and interfaith activist; Martin Luther King Jr., leader of the civil rights movement; and Fannie Lou Hamer, voting rights advocate and leader of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party. Each prophet is the subject of a chapter that features a mixture of biography and analysis of writings and speeches.
The stories of these seven prophets share significant themes. Each of them was an activist who worked to address racism, materialism, and militarism. While Raboteau’s book is not about race, the civil rights movement is his paradigm of religious activism for justice.
