There come moments when individuals and institutions must decide when to proclaim that which is right and speak truth to power. From the literal inception of black spirituality and Christianity, at its core theologically, it continues to be liberating by its very nature. Recently, The Reverend Jeremiah Wright of Chicago and Pastor of Sen. Barack Obama has come under extreme criticism for his liberating thoughts and critical condemnation of our country. He has been quoted as suggesting that God will somehow damn America because of her policies both domestic and international. I am of the belief that not only were his comments appropriate but patriotic in their intent. However, as continues to be the case, political critics and religious right conservatives have diluted and taken his thoughts out of context for their cause, conservatism.

Wrights expressions, in my opinion, are merely articulations of the African-American experience of inequalities and injustice that continue to exist. They expressed the frustration of the voiceless sentiments of scores of people: the people who continue to be grief stricken because of a pointless war in the Middle East, the financial burdens incurred by insurmountable gas prices, the failed dreams invoked by failing educational systems – all stories of the frustration of people who continue to forfeit their rights for other peoples’ wrongs. He was merely speaking to the many issues that go unnoticed on a continuing basis.

Every major world revolution has evolved from persons who have had liberating experiences. Victor Hugo maintained that one thing stronger than armies is an idea whose hour has come. To be historically relevant and correct, if we sing “my country 'tis of thee,” we must also sing the footnote provided by James Weldon Johnson’s Negro national anthem “stony the road we trod, bitter the chastening rod., felt in the days when hope unborn had died” (see: "The Essential Leontyne Price: Spirituals, Hymns & Sacred Songs"). Both songs are commentary of the path taken here in America and her reality. Liberation theology has an innate way of by being critical, making the world a better place in which to live.

I pity the society in which its citizens do not have the privilege of being critical of the establishment by protest. Both the black church and the black academy have been the foundation of the black experience in this country as it relates to liberation and being progressive in thought. The Rev. Dr. Martin King, Jr. captured it best: “the church must be reminded that it is not the master or servant of the state, but rather the conscience of the state. It must be the guide and the critic of the state, and never its tool. If the church does not recapture its prophetic zeal, it will become an irrelevant social club without moral or spiritual authority”

BlackCommentator.com Guest Commentator, The Reverend D. D. Prather, is a noted Civil/Social Justice Activist, and a native of Atlanta, GA. Click here to contact the Reverend Prather.