Everyday Prophets: Angela Harrelson's Lift Your Voice and the Evolution of the Black Prophetic Tradition in the Black Lives Matter Era

This paper explores how the Black prophetic tradition manifests in the current Black Lives Matter era through a consideration of Angela Harrelson’s memoir, Lift Your Voice: How My Nephew George Floyd's Murder Changed the World. I argue that Harrelson’s autobiographical appeal demonstrates a shift in the source and scope of Black prophetic literature and orations in the current political moment. Artistic expertise, oratorical ability, political fame, or academic pedigree are no longer the sole qualifications for Black prophecy-making. Everyday aunts can render prophetic thought by virtue of their proximity to police brutality’s latest victim. Analyzing Harrelson’s prophetic intonations demonstrates how Harrelson is one among other Black maternal figures that challenge existing conversations around the scope and source of Black prophetic tradition, demonstrating a shift from “exceptional prophets” to “everyday prophets” in the Black Lives Matter era.