The black church has served through the centuries to meet the economic, social and political needs of a people that the dominant culture appeared to willfully ignore.

It explains why Old Testament passages like those found in the book of Amos — "Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream" — are central to the prophetic tradition of the black church.

If one examines the lyrics of the Negro spirituals, they soon realize the dual meaning. The refrain in "Go Down Moses" reminds the listener to tell Pharaoh to "let my people go!" In the context of slavery and Jim Crow, who represents Pharaoh?

The prophetic tradition includes a social analysis of the human condition. In this role, the preacher serves as a proxy for the congregation to proclaim what many may be feeling. In this tradition, long before Martin Luther King, Jeremiah Wright or YouTube, there was Vernon Johns.

Taylor Branch wrote of Johns in his Pulitzer Prize winning book, "Parting the Waters," as the forerunner to King.

According to Branch, "Vernon Johns was merely another invisible man to nearly all whites, but to an invisible people themselves he was the stuff of legend."

Johns was the maverick pastor of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Ala. He spoke out about racial issues and at times castigated his congregation for ignoring them. Johns' social analysis was colorblind — he was critical of both the black and the white population of Montgomery.

Dexter Avenue, across the street from the capitol, often would feature controversial sermon titles on its marquee when Johns served as pastor. Once, after a Negro man received a death sentence for stealing $1.95 from a white, anyone passing by Dexter Avenue could see in bright white letters the pastor's sermon for the week: "It's Safe to Murder Negroes in Montgomery."

Johns, several years before Rosa Parks, also attempted to sit in the white section of buses. When the driver refused, Johns demanded and received a refund. Johns was even bold enough to order food in an all-white restaurant.

When Johns became too controversial for the people at Dexter Avenue, a young, well-educated pastor named Martin Luther King, believed to be less confrontational, replaced him.

This is the prophetic tradition that Smith speaks of. It's not hate but it does sometime come in the form of an uncomfortable truth as old as the biblical scriptures. It includes Howard Thurman, who wrote "Jesus and the Disinherited," which clearly portrays Jesus as someone who stood for those whose backs were against the wall.

The prophetic tradition recognizes that change cannot happen unless the status quo feels a measure of discomfort. It is no coincidence when one enters Allen Temple — a church whose prophetic tradition takes a back seat to no one — they see stain glass windows of Thurman, King and Johns.

Much has been focused on what Rev. Wright said and how he said it because it is in sound bite form. Very little attention has been given to whether he is right. To do so requires the courage to examine beyond our collective comfort zones.

It is easy to understand why those outside of the historical black church do not comprehend it or the historical reasons for its existence, especially when they are privy only to sounds bites.

Moreover, in viewing the same situation it is easy to understand how some see hate, while others see a mischaracterization of the historical black church and its prophetic tradition.