"The journey continues. In Essays from Church - Volume Two: Crisis Mismanagement Daniel explores the African American community's relationship to money & power, politics & race, and most importantly, faith; thus demonstrating that we are, in fact, not just in one crisis but many." When I read Crisis in 1993, Cruse's wide-ranging critique and recommended solutions transformed my understanding of the black condition as well as my relationship to it, just as he intended. And while the debate about the role black intellectuals should play may continue for some time, I think most would agree that we, African Americans or Negros as in Cruse's day, have not brought all of our strength to bear on the issues that have hounded us for so long. The days of the Civil Rights and Black Power movements are long gone, yet while the NAACP still clings to the long-outdated term "colored", freedom for the descendants of enslaved Africans still has not been fully realized. Primarily because the modern black intellectual class has failed to synthesize Black America's cultural, political, social and economic power into a comprehensive vision to show black people what that freedom can look like. Like Cruse, and W.E.B Du Bois before him, I'm not only convinced that it is the black intellectual's responsibility to cultivate, project and activate this vision; I believe the intellectual is the only one who can.

Whatever anyone may think of my intellectual abilities, I do humbly consider myself to be a member of this group. Likewise, I consider it my responsibility to do my utmost to help in the development and execution of this monumental task. What follows is my best effort toward that goal.