The study of rhetoric is closely linked with the understanding of homiletics. The nexus of rhetoric and homiletics has relevance with the Christianization of rhetorical thought that occurred during the period between Roman times and the Renaissance. The growth of the Christian church has had a corresponding impact on applications of rhetorical knowledge. There are four types of Christian oratory that have been impacted by this evolution: 1) apologies - rhetoric directed toward non-Christians attempting to persuade them to accept Christianity; 2) polemics - focused their efforts on the heretics (people who actively rejected the Christian teachings); 3) sermons- a Christian message delivered to a collection of Christians (to reinforce their belief) and 4) -panegyric sermons- a form of sermon that stressed delivery style over content.  

The common understanding of the Wesleyan tradition conveys contextual understanding for how evangelism has evolved. “Our sharing and inviting others to experience the good news affirms that God loves us and invites us into a transforming relationship through which we are forgiven, receive new life, and are restored to the image of God, which is love.”  A corresponding variable with this is that the history of evangelism is deeply rooted within the societal context that it has functioned.  “Few historical transitions have been more momentous for evangelical thinking in North America than the reorganization of higher education at the end of the nineteenth century, for this was a reorganization that saw the evangelicals, who had dominated college life to that time, utterly displaced as the intellectual arbiters of the nation.”  Such a phenomenon impacted the university contexts within which Howard Thurman taught, preached and engaged in research.

Acknowledging Thurman’s status as a mystic and a prophet is key to understanding his ideas and interpretations.  Luther Smith addresses this in his book Howard Thurman: The Mystic as Prophet.  In doing so Smith frames what is meant by being a prophet.  “It will prove more useful to speak of him (Thurman) as an American prophet. . . . Prophets are products of their culture, speaking to specific traditions, problems and purposes of their culture.   Their warnings and urgings deal with particular crises of their particular age.”     This explanation helps to clarify how Thurman maintained insights that were beyond normal applications of rationality but still grounded in a sense of logic that is within the realm of explanation.

His description of Thurman’s mystic capabilities often goes beyond rational explanation.  “Thurman’s earliest contact with mysticism was through mystical experiences. . . . he mentions mystical experiences with nature. .(a) Presence that spoke to him without a voice, revealed itself to him without a vision.  It included an oak tree to which he talked over all his troubles.” Thurman’s practices in this regard clearly places him outside of the norm but being outside of the norm is not always problematic.  It is merely uncommon.  I can deduce how his abilities as a prophet could concurrently complement his functioning as a mystic.

“Thurman’s witness offers new credibility to religious liberalism and mysticism as systems of thought which are useful in the development of a theology which speaks to the conditions of Blacks in America.”   This phrasing “systems of thought” implies a patterned line of processing rather than mere serendipitous occurrences. The phrase “conditions of Blacks in America” is also rich with meaning and should not be assumed to be readily understood by the non-Black population.   Unique conditions will certainly produce unique systems of thought.

The book Visions of a Better World: Howard Thurman’s Pilgrimage to India and the Origins of African American Nonviolence (Quinton Dixie and Peter Eisenstadt) offers further insight into how his functioning as a prophet and mystic went full circle into consideration for fundamentals of homiletics.   This begins with description of the birth of Thurman.“On November 19, 1899 Alice Ambrose Thurman’s baby boy was born with a caul . . . . still covering his face. . . . It conferred ‘second sight,’ the powers of clairvoyance, the ability to predict the future.”   This type of explanation moves into the realm of the supernatural.  At the same time it stresses the spirit of the supernatural as foundation for a form for employment of secondary levels of vision.

These secondary levels of vision were commensurate with recognizable homiletic patterns. “The goal (with his preaching) was to inspire, to let his hearers find their own meanings and causes in his words, to find their own life stories in his anecdotes about his own experience. . . .It drew on several homiletic traditions.”   This idea of trusting his audience to find their own meanings in his words stresses an unusually strong bond with that audience.   It assumes a common frame of reference that perpetuates readily shared collective meanings that can be used as foundation for more individual sets of conclusions to be embraced.

Thurman was also unique in his maintaining a critical position toward the Christian church.   This posture is fully understandable.   In his autobiography he explains his perspective.   “In spirit we met at two critical points:  we were sensitive to the immorality and amorality of the Christian church in its ineffectiveness in the face of racial discrimination in its own body, as well as in the general society; in the second instance, we were convinced that a way could be found to create a religious fellowship worthy of transcending racial, cultural, and social distinctions.”   This underscores his critical position toward the institution of Christianity while strongly embracing the teachings of Jesus. 

William Apel explains “Thurman embraced a revolutionary gospel. . . . Jesus is on the side of freedom, liberty, and justice for all people, black, white, red, yellow, saint, sinner, rich or poor.”   As such, Thurman stakes claim to his bold position against the status quo often found in White Christian churches of his time by putting the world on notice that Jesus stands with the oppressed.   Apel elaborates in saying “Thurman believed that, as children of God, African-Americans would need to express themselves in their own voice as a free people.”   Thus, Thurman proclaims the Christian church is negligent and the African-American community is fully correct in standing up for themselves in word and in deed. 

 In The Luminous Darkness Howard Thurman reaches into the guts and remnants of chattel slavery.  In doing so he peels back the insidious ingredients layer by layer and shines a light on the lasting ramifications that burden Black and White alike.   “A man must be at home somewhere before he can feel at home everywhere. . . . There is no waking moment or sleeping interval when one may expect respite from the desolation and despair of segregation.”  In this statement Thurman illustrates the plight of the oppressed as being akin to being on a long passenger aircraft flight destined for home but that never arrives to the desired destination.   The notion of home is elusive to the person who lives in the stigmatized end of a segregated existence.

 He elaborates on this painful segregated existence that seemingly hammers away at the sense of self.  “The real evil of segregation is the imposition of self-rejection. . . . We were despised so long at last we despised ourselves”   To despise oneself is a burden that is practically beyond measure.   The far reaching effects of such a view would extend toxicity into every facet of life, death and in between.   I cannot imagine socializing a child into such a framework in any way that would not dilute the soul.

I was struck by Thurman’s description of the White population that bordered his world.   “They were not hated particularly; they were not essentially despised; they were simply out of bounds.”  This description is riddled with features that connote dehumanization.  When relations are so poor that the other is not really recognized as being human.  I cannot speculate on where one goes from such a posture.   This state of affairs reveals how both sides of the fence, the oppressed and the oppressors, suffer a costly penalty that taints the soul.

This realization that both Blacks and Whites suffer from such a state of affairs is painfully obvious.  “The burden of being Black and the burden of being White is so heavy that it is rare in our society to experience oneself as a human being.”    I am reminded of transactional analysis theories of human interaction that purport that we live our lives in accordance with rules for how to act that are perpetuated by family and culture.  When we are so busy tending to the script of being White or Black or other we seemingly vacate the luxury of simply being human.   So much about life is missed in such a circumstance.

Thurman addresses such questions from varied angles that offers insightful reflection.  He offers an observation and question that at first glance seems relevant but somewhat out of place.   “The masses of men live with their backs constantly against the wall. They are the poor, the disinherited, and the dispossessed.   What does our religion say to them?”  However, as he weaves other insights into the fabric of life for consideration that makes his position all the more relevantly placed and fertile for harvesting.

A primary point of view that Thurman stresses is the distinction between the “interpretation of Jesus as a religious subject rather than a religious object . . . . And to inquire into the content of his teaching with reference to the disinherited and the underprivileged.”   That is, the focus Jesus gave to the disinherited and oppressed was not tangential; it was central to the teachings of Jesus and should be continually recognized as such.

What we know about the life of Jesus certainly bears this out.   “The basic fact is that Christianity as it was born in the mind of this Jewish teacher and thinker appears as a technique of survival for the oppressed.   That it became, through the intervening years, a religion of the powerful and dominant, used sometimes as an instrument of oppression, must not tempt us into believing that it was thus in the mind and life of Jesus” This should present a pivotal realization in the mind of the reader regardless of whether the reader be an oppressed, oppressor or somewhere in between. 

Thoughtful reflection on this point about the life of Jesus being drenched in oppression opens the eyes to how opportunities abound today for us to recognize and address such needs for intervention.   It is compelling how the dynamics of oppression have not changed over the centuries and that the spirit supporting the means for intervention have not changed either.   One can come to the realization that oppression is a seemingly timeless construct that haunts humanity. 

One would think that religion would be addressing such oppression in vividly bold terms but it has not been the case when one considers the historical record.   Thurman asks “Why is it that Christianity seems impotent to deal radically and therefore effectively with the issues of discrimination and injustice on the basis of race, religion and national origin?”  It is a good question and certainly relevant as we consider the place of the Christian church in our lives. 

That our houses of worship are still so segregated does offer a factor for consideration and part of this reflection reveals awareness that resolution could be addressed in meaningful ways.  “The first step toward love is a common sharing of a sense of mutual worth and value . . . . The experience of the common worship of God is such a moment. It is in this connection that American Christianity has betrayed the religion of Jesus almost beyond redemption.”   Hence, the act of people from varied backgrounds worshipping together can serve as foundation for building mutual engagement, respect, love and understanding.  It seems to be such a simple conceptualization but it has been elusive in practice.

The American culture offers a continually changing framework of variables that parallel a moving constellation of stars.   Thurman is such a star in that constellation, albeit a bright star at that.   Still there are other stars in the constellation that provide context for understanding the continuing relevance of Thurman’s views.  A question that has come to my mind has to do with how much Thurman contrasted with and/or affirmed the views of other African-Americans of his day and soon after.  

My reading of works by and about Howard Thurman prompted my curiosity with regard to how his rhetorical essence could be compared and contrasted with similarly oriented contributions by other scholars from the African-American academic community.   I pursued this inquiry with two general framing constructs in mind:

1) I aimed to focus on publications produced during the time that the works of Thurman were fully acclaimed and the 10-15 years after his death. This would allow for such authors to be fully apprised of and current with Thurman’s contributions; 

2) I used the Moorland-Spingarn Research Centre at Howard University as means for gauging the relevance of the African-American scholars that I was considering. 

The Moorland-Spingarn Research Centre is the "largest and the most valuable research library in America for the study of Negro life and history" and "the most comprehensive and interesting group of books by Negroes ever collected in the world"  Such a comprehensive collection of African-American scholarship offers a unique opportunity to study African-American contributions in a variety of subject areas.  Since it is recognized as the largest collection of African-American scholarship in the U.S. I view it as a collective voice for African-American thought. 

I used a variety of key words to search for information relevant to rhetorical traditions via the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center website.  The seven most useful key words were rhetoric, communication, narration, persuasion, political oratory, nonverbal communication, and interpersonal relations.  The following lists, in parentheses, the number of relevant titles found under each key word heading: rhetoric (36), communication (75), narration (71), persuasion (6), political oratory (7), nonverbal communication (17), and interpersonal relations (35).

The aforementioned titles total 247.  I considered these 247 titles and other relevant materials located in the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center as I proceeded with my study.  As earlier stated, the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center is recognized as a comprehensive collection of African-American scholarship so I recognized it as the most logical place to search for African-American perspectives having to do with the rhetorical tradition.  It is "one of the world's largest and most comprehensive repositories for the documentation of the history and culture of people of African descent." 

Representative works reviewed in this process, regarding the key words noted, include African Culture: The Rhythms of Unity, Kemet, Afrocentricity and Knowledge; The Anatomy of Black Rhetoric; A Comparative Study of Two Approaches for Analyzing Black Discourse; Rhetoric of Racial Hope; Handbook of Intercultural Communication; Black Communication; From Behind the Black Veil: A  Study of African-American Narrative; Transracial Communication; Contemporary Black Thought; Language, Communication, and Rhetoric in Black America and Afrocentricity. 

 In this focus on African-American rhetorical scholars the most prominent name I located was Molefi Asante.  Molefi Asante is recognized as one of the most important writers regarding the African-American rhetorical perspective that was evolving in the 1980’s-1990.  Given his stature in and outside of academia Asante is an African-American scholar who can be studied as a key player in the development of African-American rhetorical thought.  As such, the content of his writings can be viewed as exemplifying the African-American perspective.

My focus on Asante's publications revealed 24 books of particular relevance that listed Asante as author or co-author.  Some of these books are listed under the name Arthur L. Smith, the previous name of Molefi Asante.  A review of rhetorically related works attributed to Asante sheds light on his perspective.  I will address this in chronological order.  Under his previous name, Arthur L. Smith, Asante edited Language, Communication and Rhetoric in Black America that describes "communicative experiences of Black Americans."  He then authored Transracial Communication that analyzes Black-White interaction from a Black perspective.  In 1979, he co-edited the Handbook of Intercultural Communication that focuses on intercultural communication dynamics.

Contemporary Black Thought was co-edited by Asante.  He wrote three chapters dealing with international and intercultural relations, the "communication person" and television's impact on the language of Black children.  The same year he also co-authored A Guide to African and African-American Art which is a 40 page pamphlet describing art that is linked to the African tradition.

Two books deal specifically with the African tradition. The Great Zimbabwe: An Ancient African City-State that Asante edited and The Rhythms of Unity: A Bibliographic Essay in African Culture that Asante co-edited.  Obviously, these two books are related to African-American scholarship in communication arts only in that Africa provides a foundation for African-American thought.

A similarly titled book, African Culture: The Rhythms of Unity, was co-edited by Molefi Asante.  This book describes African culture, dance, education, time awareness, socialism and personality.  Yet another book with the same title and authors, African Culture: The Rhythms of Unity, elaborates on the previous book of the same title.  This book was preceded by Afrocentricity.  It is a 100 page booklet that describes Afrocentric views on science, sociology, black liberation and oppression.  Kemet, Afrocentricity and Knowledge gives Asante's perspective on the oppression of Blacks. His work exemplifies the rich abundance of material authored by African-American writers that can be analyzed in case study analysis using rhetorical theories.

Given the constraints of space with this assignment I have highlighted the contributions of Molefi Asante by conveying titles and summaries of his works.  As such, these elements offer insight for primary subject domains that Asante emphasized within his writing.   This inquiry ultimately points toward acknowledgement of Howard Thurman as providing contextual landscape for the domains Asante stressed in his writing.   Thurman’s function as a mystic and prophet allow for his providing foundation for such progressions.   

When beginning this report I anticipated that Molefi Asante to some degree would pick up where Howard Thurman left off.   The result of this inquiry is the conclusion that it is not the case.   Not only is it not the case but it does not seem to be the case at all.  I can barely comprehend them sitting in a room together and sharing much in common. I am not an expert on Thurman or Asante so I do not speak as an authority about such an observation.  However, I have had the opportunity to digest the positions of both and they seem to be on different paths; not contradictory paths but different nonetheless. I proceed in this inquiry with this realization.

Asante seems to be very much consumed with reaching back to Africa from the American culture whereas Thurman seems to be reaching into American culture from more of an African mindset.   Ironically, as I have watched Thurman’s presentation of self in his video deliveries and spent much time listening to recordings of his sermons I see and hear a person who is very much aware of the western orientation.   The logical positions he presents shows awareness of the scientific method.   Even though he is often offering speculations that are in the mystical realm he exhibits awareness that he is addressing audiences who operate from the western mindset.

 Aside from reading works written by Asante I have seen Asante in videotaped interviews and had the opportunity to interpret his presentation of self.   As such Asante will often wear clothing that seems to represent native African traditions.   Very much a contrast to Thurman’s western oriented coat and tie.   Still, I have a gnawing sense that Thurman is more knowledgeable about African phenomena than Asante. My hunch, and it is only a hunch, is that for as much as Thurman is well grounded with his understanding of African culture I am sensing that Asante has correspondingly less grasp of the underpinnings for African culture

These paragraphs I am conveying may create the impression that I have a negative view of Asante.   That is not the case.   It is simply that I am far more impressed with Thurman.   I think he has far more substance to offer.   Asante emphasizes provocative opinions but they do not seem to be any more than provocative opinions.   Thurman is much more inclined to offer viewpoints that reflect insight with intellectual contextual framing I am accustomed to seeing in the academic community.

That the speaking of Thurman has been preserved and presented for public consumption so thoroughly speaks to the continuing relevance of his work.   His views offer insight with historical underpinnings as well as popular culture whereas Asante seems to be more of a spectacle of popular culture.   Part of a parade of anecdotes.   Again, I feel compelled to qualify that I am not critical of Asante but am just more impressed with Thurman and am struck by the stark nature of contrast between them.  Ironically, I think the casual observer might be tempted to but them in the same category.

My background is in rhetoric. Rhetoric is ultimately the study of influence. The study of rhetoric is firmly grounded in the ancient Greeks but it has relevance with interpreting non-western phenomena.   Thurman clearly exercises full facility with matters of rhetoric even when he is speaking and writing about matters that are not from the western traditions.  When I enrolled in this course I did not anticipate him to be as such.  I anticipated him to be some form of an earlier version of Molefi Asante.  Hence I proceeded with this idea of focusing on the two of them in this report.   I am struck by the contrast.   Part of my learning curve.

 I am left wondering what guided Asante to take the path he embarked on.   He would have certainly been aware of Howard Thurman and had the opportunity to build upon the teachings of Thurman.  Instead he seemed to take a different route. I am a believer that any phenomena must be understood within the context of the time it existed in.   That is, one should not be fully judged by what went on in the 1930’s without consideration for what life was like in the 1930’s. Similarly, one should not judge Asante’s views from the 1980’s without giving full consideration for the cultural context of the 1980’s.   I am aware of this as a matter of principle intellectually and also personally as a person who was born in 1955 and has observed the drumbeat of social evolution and experienced a corresponding personal evolution with the unfolding of each decade. 

Molefi Asante is a name that Asante adopted for himself.  His given name that he answered to well into adulthood (and published under) was Arthur Smith.   I can only guess that something possessed him to “reach back” to Africa so as to more fully embrace his African heritage. I do not see that Howard Thurman did such a thing.   I am not critical of Asante’s decision to embrace an African name.  I just conjure a view whereby Howard Thurman would not do such a thing unless there was some well-defined objective for doing so.   I have found I have a better learning experience when I am able to internalize aspects of what I am learning and identify some elements of it within my own life.   I have encouraged this kind of approach with the students I have worked with over the years.

 Names are a relevant marker for how we are perceived in the social order. My background with rhetoric (as influence) has led me to believe the name we carry often sets the stage for how we will be interpreted.   It does not tell the whole story but it sets the stage. It is part of the first impression.

My son is 23.   His mother is Chinese; born, raised and lived in China until she was 24. We got married in Beijing.   She has a very Chinese orientation that she manages to continue living in Columbus, Ohio. I convey this description in regard to the reality that she had minimal interest with what name we assigned to our son.  I put much thought into it from the time I learned she was pregnant until the day he was born and do not regret the time spent doing so.  

I think his name has been relevant in setting the stage for his interactions with the world around him.   His mother is Chinese and his father has Germanic features but Brian has inherited Native American features from his father and very little Chinese physical orientation from his mother.   MTSO stands on ground that was once hunted by varied Indian tribes, to include the Sandusky Indians—that were a subunit of the Wyandottes.   My ears perked up the first time I heard their recognition at a MTSO chapel service that acknowledged the Native Americans who previously occupied the land where MTSO now stands.   My mother’s maiden name was Sandusky and I grew up with my mother’s people (who carried the name Sandusky) and was socialized with their traditions.

The main street in Delaware is Sandusky Street. Sandusky Street intersects with Belle Avenue as you enter Delaware.   My high school years were spent building houses off of Belle Avenue.   I aspired for placement on the carpentry crew but could not advance beyond the concrete crew—that involved back breaking shovel duty.  Hence, the encouragement from my high school guidance counselor to attend college via funding from the Air Force seemed like a more desirable option—though college summers found me back on the concrete crew, shovel in hand and daily reminders that college held more opportunities for me that were less physically demanding.

 I grew up in a very close knit community in Gahanna with over 50 relatives who lived within walking distance of our house.   Gahanna was much smaller in my youth.  I was particularly close with my maternal grandmother.   Her name was Beulah.  I should mention her father’s first name was Howard.  My mother’s name was Wanda.   These were common types of names when I was very young and our part of Gahanna was separate from the larger world. Barely recognizable today. As I grew up Gahanna got swallowed up by Columbus and life changed quickly. The names and orientations that had been common became distant and subject to ridicule.   I got into more than a few fights with my peers over such matters.  

 I observed how my dad informally dropped his legal name in favor of something more modern.   I am aware that he and mom made it a point to give their four children names that would place us within normative acceptance when our first-grade teachers took attendance the first day of school.  It worked.   My 50th high school class reunion is later this fall and there are former classmates that still will not attend  such gatherings due to painful rejections they endured during our school years in relation to the unusual (by today’s standards) names they have that represent the past of Gahanna rather than the future.   

All of this comes to mind when I observe that Molefi Asante changed his name from Arthur Smith.   I am left wondering if the decision came from reaching toward something, distancing himself from something or degrees of both.   And I am left wondering how Howard Thurman would interpret such a gesture.   There is much more to Asante than his name but it offers me a starting point from which to build my understanding of his thinking and the principles he has lived by. There are times when such indicators are hiding in plain sight.

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