Wake Up Running

“This beautiful and powerful book is a masterpiece for our time and for all times! Walter Fluker has transfigured his erudite scholarship on his intellectual mentors, Howard Thurman and Martin Luther King Jr., into a philosophical and poetic text that speaks to the core of our grim moment: the need for a prophetic fugitivity grounded in deep moral and spiritual memories. It is a remarkable achievement!”

Cornel West

“In our current climate of political authoritarianism and social uncertainty, Fluker offers a compelling and eloquent argument on faith, leadership, and democracy, insisting that democratic possibilities can yet be imagined. In a context of clamoring perspectives that often lean toward pessimism and despair, Fluker reminds us of the deep, rich Black faith tradition that fugitively reimagines not optimism, but hope.”

Keri Day

“We are running--have been running--and in Walter Fluker's hands that running becomes a resource to imagine and build a more just and loving community. Beautifully written and convincingly argued, Waking Up Running demands our attention in these maddening days.”

Eddie S. Glaude

“Walter Fluker once again creates a text that speaks to multiple generations and disciplines. Whether one is looking for a study to understand the power of moral leadership and practice or a text to expand one's historical knowledge of leadership models, Dr. Fluker crafts a phenomenal, readable, and relatable text for the activist, academic, layperson, and student.”

Otis Moss III

“This is a deeply engaging text that draws the reader into movements of crossing, imagining, and homing. Grounded in a rich interplay of personal experience, history, biblical reflection, and key artistic works, Fluker's analysis consistently orients itself toward the demands of ethical leadership in our time. The result is an invaluable resource for those concerned with the future of democracy and freedom in our society, as well as the ethical commitments required in their pursuit.”

Pamela Lightsey

“Take a deep breath before you begin this book, and expect to burn some calories while you read it, because Walter Fluker is counting on you to keep up. Like the sower in Jesus's famous parable, he has a bag full of good seed that he flings with gracious abandon. There is shamanic storytelling in one handful and broad scholarship in the next; stirring hymnody in one swing of his arm and taut prophecy in the next. Fluker won't calm down and he won't be contained--which is what he asks of his readers as well--because his mission is too urgent: to seed the field with new, nonlinear leaders of faith who are willing to make a way out of no way at the crossroads of madness and hope.”

Barbara Brown Taylor

“Where is the home we wake up running towards? What home can we imagine in this new moment where the ground has shifted? Wake Up Running reflects in the archives of history and tradition to trace the path to freedom and homemaking. Asking us to shape contemporary leadership by waking up and running like Marrons, weaving intergenerational wisdom and ethical awareness to interdependence. This necessary work is a must-read, faithfully responding to the urgency of the current sociopolitical moment at the 'crossing of madness and hope.'”

Yara González Justiniano