Prophetic Speech in a Non-prophetic Age

In his first book on social commentary and the African American church, Dr. Earl C. Johnson addresses the burning social issues of our time and challenges America's urban churches in Prophetic Speech in a Non-Prophetic Age. In his deep-seated analysis, Dr. Johnson writes about ways to save urban communities by addressing the pathologies that trap people into positions of isolation and class warfare. He believes that the 'prophetic voice' of many local churches has been silenced and co-opted while the people in its congregations suffer from a leadership dearth in the church community, the silence of many black clergy on social issues, the myths surrounding health care, the HIV/AIDS crisis, and the mass incarceration of black men and women. Additionally, he discusses how the new rise of charter schools and the decline of public schools affects urban children. One of the most compelling questions Dr. Johnson raises is this: Does the African American church have a social agenda for congregations that are suffering from bad political policies, poverty, job loss, social engineering, voter suppression, community violence and mass incarceration? Dr. Earl C. Johnson is the Pastor of the Martin Street Baptist Church in Raleigh, North Carolina. A former print journalist and instructor, he has been involved in the social gospel movement for more than 30 years. He was one of the first voices of the 'Moral Monday' Movement in Raleigh and worked against the resegregation of public schools. He was jailed along with 945 other moral Monday protesters in 2013. Dr. Johnson has been interviewed by the Washington Post, CNN, The Grio, The Raleigh News and Observer and other media outlets. He and his wife, Elia Davis, MFA, and they have two college-aged daughters, Kristen and Kelli, and live in Raleigh.