words of cornel west (from hope on a tightrope).

"It takes courage to interrogate yourself. // It takes courage to look in the mirror and see past your reflection to who you really are when you take off the mask, when you're not performing the same old routines and social roles. It takes courage to ask -- how did I become so well-adjusted to injustice? // It takes courage to cut against the grain and become non-conformist. It takes courage to wake up and stay awake instead of engaging in complacent slumber. It takes courage to shatter conformity and cowardice."

"Any time you surrender a prejudice or give up a presupposition, that's a certain death. To learn how to die in this way is to learn how to live."

"Here's the bottom line: to be inspired by ordinary human beings made by God who undergo suffering but who have the courage to imagine a different future and are willing to fight for it, and to decide to fight along with them. That is prophetic thought and prophetic action as I understand it."