Question #1: What are the four main components of "prophetic thought"?

West lists the four main elements of prophetic thought as discernment,
connection, tracking hypocrisy, and hope. By discernment he means the
development of a broad based sense of history that can be critically
utilized to understand where what is happening now has come from.
Connection is the ability to be interdisciplinary and to make a social
connection with your community such that your ideas are not divorced
from practical ends.

Tracking hypocrisy is what bell hooks would call being an "enlightened
observer". West utilizes Martin Luther as an example of someone who
fought against arbitrary and coercive authority both in the church and
in himself. West advises that the best place to start tracking
hypocrisy is in your own life, lest you become prideful in the
judgment of others. Finally West advocates hope as the antidote to
spirit crushing despair, so that we remind ourselves that the future
is open-ended and human nature is not fixed. Hope reminds us that we
can build a better world.

I like West a great deal. His sense of history and diplomacy in
presenting historical truths is quite admirable. He utilizes Derrida's
"always and already" language expertly to talk about how oppression
functions. I liked his characterization of the G.I. bill as
transformative to society, changing it from a pyramid to a diamond. My
father got his education on the G.I. bill and still never made more
than 28,000 a year. Despite financial shortcomings all of his children
learned the value of education and the six of us each have graduate
degrees.

I am generally familiar with how the "other" has been historically
used to define a group as in Bismarck unifying German nobles via a
series of common enemies, but I wasn't familiar with the similar
assertion that the threat of Muhammad created Charlemagne.

"Education must not be about a cathartic quest for identity. It must
foster credible sensibilities for an active critical citizenry." That
quote says a great deal and tickles the part of me that is tempted to
enroll in Florida Atlantic's Public Intellectuals Ph.D. program (Boca
Raton). One of my mentors is teaching there, Wen Ying Xu.

I listen to my fellow students talk about their experiences in the
high school classroom and I worry a little about my future. I've
burned out trying to stay in St. Louis with such a tight job market. I
know instinctively that I can teach anywhere, the question is where
can I best serve? I wonder if I should return to college teaching and
complete my Ph.D.