Cornel West

West, Cornel (b. 1953), essayist, public speaker, social activist, and major figure in African American academia. Cornel West was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on 2 June 1953. His mother was an elementary school teacher who later became principal; his father, a civilian administrator in the air force. Both of his parents attended Fisk University. The family, including West's brother, Clifton, moved often. They eventually settled in a middle-class African American neighborhood in Sacramento, California. West graduated with a degree in Near Eastern languages and literature from Harvard University. He received his doctorate in philosophy from Princeton University. As director of Princeton's Afro-American Studies Program from 1988 to 1994, and as a professor in Harvard's Department of Afro-American Studies since 1994, West is one of several high-profile scholars who have strengthened African American studies programs. He has taught at America's most prestigious universities and has lectured at many others. The blend of skills and styles employed by West inspires adjectives from his admirers and critics; unadorned nouns seem unable to capture his complexities.

West is a prolific essayist and author. His first book, Prophesy Deliverance!: An Afro-American Revolutionary Christianity, appeared in 1982 and attempts to synthesize elements of African American Christianity and thought, Western philsophy, and Marxist thinking. In 1988 West published Prophetic Fragments, a collection of essays that discuss similarly disparate elements. The American Evasion of Philosophy: A Genealogy of Pragmatism (1989) engages populism and race, class, and gender issues. The Ethical Dimensions of Marxist Thought (1991) and Keeping Faith: Philosophy and Race in America (1993) continue the discussion of those ideas in the context of modern America. Prophetic Thought in Postmodern Times and Prophetic Reflections: Notes on Race and Power in America also date from 1993. Throughout his career West has also produced collaborative work: Post-Analytic Philosophy (1985), edited with John Rajchman; Breaking Bread: Insurgent Black Intellectual Life (1991), cowritten with bell Hooks; Jews and Blacks: Let the Healing Begin (1995), authored with Michael Lerner; The Future of the Race (1996), with Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and with Roberto Mangabeira Unger, The Future of American Progressivism (1998). West's contributions to journals, popular magazines, and essay collections are myriad. His most influential book is Race Matters (1993), a short collection of essays that epitomizes West's careful attention to African American culture.

As a literary figure West is not easily categorized. His strength lies in his interdisciplinary focus. West synthesizes diverse topics in his writing leading to a careful control of language that is often poetic in its precision. He participates in African American oral and musical literary traditions with a spontaneous, performative element in his work that is as much a legacy from his grandfather, a Baptist preacher, as it is a language borrowed from jazz and rap. In his writing he legitimizes all forms of African American speech and bends them to effective use, employing language as a polemical weapon for social activism. This crafting of language and blending of genres mark West's literary style.

Cornel West's contributions to African American literature and thought range across disciplines and worlds to comment upon African American life. His work exemplifies synthesis and innovation.

Bibliography

• Robert S. Boynton, “Princeton's Public Intellectual,” New York Times Magazine, 15 September 1991, 39+

Elizabeth Sanders Delwiche Engelhardt

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An American philosopher, Cornel West (born 1953) quickly won recognition as a critic of culture, an interpreter of African American experience, an advocate of social justice, and an analyst of Post-Modern art and philosophy.

Cornel West, born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1953, lived most of his childhood and youth in segregated working-class neighborhoods in Oklahoma, Kansas, and California. In high school he excelled in scholarship and athletics. He earned his A.B. at Harvard University, then completed his doctorate in philosophy at Princeton in 1980. While a graduate student, he was a teaching assistant in humanities and ethics at Harvard and in philosophy at Princeton.

In 1977 he joined the faculty of Union Theological Seminary in New York, teaching classical and contemporary philosophy. From 1984 to 1987 he taught at the Yale University Divinity School, then returned to Union in 1987-1988. In 1988 Princeton University tapped him to be the director of its African American Studies Program and as professor of religion. In the former program he drew together a multi-disciplinary group of literary artists and scholars who interpreted the African American experience in history and literature.

West earned an early reputation as a scholar of infectious enthusiasm, sharp insight, and wide-ranging interests. Within a decade of earning his doctorate, he accepted visiting appointments at Barnard College, Williams College, Princeton Theological Seminary, Haverford College, City University of New York (Center for Worker Education), Harvard Divinity School, and the University of Paris. In addition, he lectured at more than a hundred colleges and universities in the United States. He taught philosophy to inmates of a federal prison, an unusual distinction for an academic philosopher. Within the same decade he produced dozens of essays and reviews, published in books and in journals, both scholarly and popular.

In an age of scholarly specialization, West cultivated widely diverse interests. His nimble mind danced from one subject to another with dazzling virtuosity. On one side of his thought he was a social philosopher, drawing much from the Marxist tradition but uninhibited by allegiance to any Marxist orthodoxies. His scholarship was closely related to active involvement in movements for social and racial justice. He was simultaneously an interpreter of African American experience to white Americans, of American philosophy to Europeans, of democratic beliefs to South Africans, of religious insights to secularists, and of secular themes to the religious. As a philosopher, he showed special interest in pragmatism, Post-Modern thought, and philosophy of religion. His artistic interests included literature (he had published one short story and friends predicted that he would write a novel), opera (he was seen occasionally at Salzburg), cinema (he was a fellow at the British Film Institute), and architecture (he lectured at the School of Architecture at Milan, Italy).

The unifying center for these diverse interests was a concern for cultural criticism: intellectual, esthetic, ethical, and religious. Whatever area of human interest he entered, from the arts to the most technical philosophy, he soon related to its expressions in contemporary society and its meaning for human self-understanding and justice. West appreciated culture as an expression of human creativity; he also saw that culture often oppresses human beings, especially marginalized people. He united intellectual analysis and social involvement, scholarship and action, the academic world and political life.

Even as he boldly acknowledged his roots in the African American church, West made trenchant criticisms of religious belief and practice, and he asked no favoritism for religion in the intellectual discussions of universities and society. He drew inspiration from the prophetic tradition of the Bible, and the words "prophetic" and "prophecy" appear often in his writings.

West was an eloquent lecturer, whose lithe and energetic body was totally involved in the torrent of words and ideas that tumbled from his mouth. He asked his listeners not only to hear what he said, but to enter into his thought processes and share his enthusiasms or generate their own thoughts and enthusiasms. His speaking style was symbolic of his convictions, which rejected the divorce of body from mind, of emotion from intellect, characteristic of much philosophy since Descartes. In a time when many philosophers would be horrified to be called preachers, West (although not an ordained minister) was not embarrassed to preach an occasional sermon. For him a passion for social justice was as intellectually respectable and demanding as the most rigorous intellectual analysis of propositions, and the two were never far apart in his philosophy.

West wrote and co-authored numerous books on philosophy, race and sociology. His Race Matters won a Critics Choice Award and was listed as a New York Times Notable Book of the Year in 1992. Other works included Keeping the Faith: Philosophy and Race in American (1993) and Jews and Blacks: Let the Healing Begin (1995), co-authored with Michael Lerner. In 1996 he co-authored The Future of Race with his Harvard colleague, Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

West was a frequent guest lecturer on university campuses nationwide. He joined the Harvard Faculty in 1994 as professor of Religion and African American Studies. During the 1996 Fall Semester he was a visiting professor at the University of Arizona. West was a featured speaker during the 1997 Martin Luther King, Jr./ Human Rights Week Celebration at Boise State University. At Harvard, West was known for his electrifying presentations that inspired students to critically analyze their own beliefs on race, culture, and class. Gates once described West as "the pre-eminent African American intellectual of our generation."

Further Reading

West's first book was Prophesy Deliverance! An Afro-American Revolutionary Christianity (1982). He co-edited Post-Analytic Philosophy (1985), a collection of essays by numerous scholars. Prophetic Fragments (1988) is a gathering of some 50 of West's essays and reviews. The American Evasion of Philosophy: A Genealogy of Pragmatism by West (1989), is a study of an America n intellectual tradition. Out There: Marginalities and Contemporary Culture, co-edited by West (1990), explores artistic interests. Jervis Anderson interviews West in The New Yorker (Jan 17, 1994). Critical reviews of West's work can be found in major newspapers and magazines such as Time. Campus newspapers where West was a guest speaker provide information on current interests and social causes.

college teacher; scholar; social critic; writer

Personal Information

Born Cornel Ronald West on June 2, 1953, in Tulsa, OK; son of Clifton L., Jr. and Irene (Bias) West; divorced twice; married third wife; children: Clifton Louis.
Education: Harvard College, A.B. 1973; Princeton University, M.A., 1975, Ph.D., 1980.
Politics: Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).
Religion: Baptist.

Career

Assistant professor of philosophy of religion at Union Theological Seminary, 1977-83 and 1988, Yale Divinity School, 1984-87, and University of Paris VIII, spring 1987; director of Afro-American Studies and professor of religion at Princeton University, 1989-94; Professor of Religion and African-American Studies, Harvard University, 1994-; involved in Theology in the Americas movement; joined Democratic Socialists of America, 1982; served on national political committee for seven years; became honorary chairperson.

Life's Work

Professor of religion and Afro-American studies at Harvard University, Cornel West has dazzled a vast array of audiences from scholars and activists to students and churchgoers with his analytical speeches and writings on issues of morality, race relations, cultural diversity, and progressive politics. A keeper of the prophetic African-American religious tradition, West taught the philosophy of religion at both Union Theological Seminary, Yale Divinity School, and Princeton before landing his position at Harvard.

As a scholar, activist, and teacher of religion, West juggles his theological concerns with his political convictions. While teaching religion at Yale, for instance, he was arrested for participating in a protest rally. West's blend of philosophy and an "on-the-streets" politics reflected his passion and commitment to his main goal: namely, "uphold[ing] the moral character of the black freedom struggle in America," as he was quoted as saying in Emerge.

Thought of as "our black Jeremiah" by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., chair of Harvard University's African American Studies Department, West served dual roles as prophet and intellectual both within and beyond the black community in the United States. His writings, which reflect the theories of early American historian Sacvan Bercovitch, combine a dual castigation for moral failure with an optimism that insists on the possibility--through struggle--of making real a world of higher morality.

In a 1991 book written with West, African American social critic, bell hooks, wrote that "the word `prophetic' has emerged as that expression which best names both West's intellectual project, his spiritual commitment, and his revolutionary political agenda." Their book, Breaking Bread: Insurgent Black Intellectual Life, draws its title from West's own model for an effective--and sorely-needed--relevant black intellectual community.

West envisions the most effective role for the black intellectual as a "critical, organic catalyst" in what he calls the "insurgency model." In this model, intellectuals would challenge the status quo, voicing opposition to an inherently racist civil authority. The rebellion would then lead to the creation in the long term of a "post- (not anti-) Western civilization" and the revitalization in the short term of institutions that foster insightful critical thought and serve the cause of black insurgency. West defined his vision in Breaking Bread, noting, "The central task of postmodern black intellectuals is to stimulate, hasten, and enable alternative perceptions and practices by dislodging prevailing discourses and powers."

Early Life: Family, Church, and Friends in Struggle

In his autobiographical introduction to his book The Ethical Dimensions of Marxist Thought, West describes the various academic, political, and personal influences on his life, attributing most significance to his experience in "my closely knit family and overlapping communities of church and friends." West was born on June 2, 1953, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the grandson of the Reverend Clifton L. West, Sr., pastor of the Tulsa Metropolitan Baptist Church. West's mother, Irene Bias West, was an elementary school teacher (and later principal), while his father, Clifton L. West, Jr., was a civilian Air Force administrator. From his parents, siblings, and community, young West derived "ideals and images of dignity, integrity, majesty, and humility." These values, presented in Christian narratives, symbols, rituals, and moral examples, provided him "existential and ethical equipment to confront the crises, terrors, and horrors of life." West suggests that the basis for his "life vocation" lies in three essential components of that Christian outlook, which he viewed most clearly in the example of Martin Luther King, Jr. These were "a Christian ethic of love-informed service to others, ego-deflating humility about oneself owing to the precious yet fallible humanity of others, and politically engaged struggle for social betterment."

In Ethical Dimensions, West examined his own experiences and those of his ancestors against a broad historical backdrop. His views on what he calls the "Age of Europe" are informed by his descendence from seven generations of Africans who were "enslaved and exploited, devalued and despised" by Euro-Americans, and three more generations who were "subordinated and terrorized" by the legal racist practices of Jim Crow laws in the South. He recounted that both of his parents were born into a place and time--Louisiana during the Great Depression--when Jim Crow laws of segregation were thriving. West viewed himself, however, as the product of the post-World War II eclipse of this "Age of Europe," when European cultural domination of the world ended. Still closer to home, West sees himself as a child of the "American Century"--what American editor and publisher Henry Luce defined as the period of unprecedented economic prosperity in the United States--and a youth of the time that witnessed the overturning of discriminatory segregationist laws in the United States.

West's community of friends and family participated actively in the struggle to overturn these racist laws. His earliest political actions included marching with his family in a Sacramento civil rights demonstration and coordinating with three other Sacramento high school students a strike to demand courses in black studies. In his youth, West admired "the sincere black militancy of Malcolm X, the defiant rage of the Black Panther Party, and the livid black theology of James Cone [a noted writer and professor of religion at Union Theological Seminary]."

Robert S. Boynton highlighted in the New York Times Magazine the role the Panthers played in refining West's progressive international perspective: they taught him the importance of community-based struggle; introduced him to the writings of Ghanaian anticolonial philosopher Kwame Nkrumah; and acquainted him with the principles of critical Marxist thought, which called for the achievement of a classless society. Still, West recalled in his introduction to Ethical Dimensions that he never fully agreed with these groups and thinkers, since he longed for more of the self-critical humility found in the life and work of Martin Luther King, Jr. In addition, he considers himself a "non-Marxist socialist," since he champions his Christianity over Marxism and believes that religion and socialism are reconcilable doctrines.

Developed Skills of Critical Thinking and Political Action

At age 17, West enrolled in Harvard as an undergraduate. By taking eight courses per term as a junior, he was able to graduate one year early, achieving magna cum laude in Near Eastern languages and literature. While there, he once wrote a spontaneous 50-page essay to work through the differences between Immanuel Kant and George Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel's conceptions of God. He even dreamed of philosophical concepts taking form and battling one another. According to Boynton, government professor Martin Kilson called West "the most intellectually aggressive and highly cerebral student I have taught in my 30 years [at Harvard]."

West credited his time at Harvard with fueling a reexamination of his world views; over those three years, he surveyed his own thoughts and actions and pursued a rigorous study of new ideas. In class, he developed a passionate interest on the effects of time and culture on philosophical thought and historical actions. Outside of class, he participated in a "breakfast program" group in the Massachusetts village of Jamaica Plain, took weekly trips to Norfolk State Prison, and worked with the Black Student Organization, which was responsible for the 1972 takeover of Massachusetts Hall to both protest Harvard's investments in Gulf Oil and show support for liberation forces operating in the southwest African country of Angola. But West attributed his greatest intellectual influences on political matters to a variety of philosophers such as nineteenth-century Serbian political writer Svetozar Markovic. He continued, however, to recognize the limits of "book knowledge" and to value dedication in action.

After Harvard, West began pursuing a doctorate in philosophy at Princeton University. There, he discovered that the values most precious to him were those of individuality and democracy. In the introduction to Ethical Dimensions, he defined individuality as "the sanctity and dignity of all individuals shaped in and by communities," and explained democracy as a way of living as well as a way of governing. The work of Richard Rorty, a philosopher at Princeton, also impressed West. West called Rorty's attention to history "music to my ears" and subsequently developed his own vision of Rorty's favorite philosophical tradition--American pragmatism--in his 1989 book The American Evasion of Philosophy: A Genealogy of Pragmatism. In this book, West defined his own version of pragmatism, called "prophetic pragmatism," which he believes is vital in promoting the formation of a democracy that both recognizes and extols the virtues of individual morality, autonomy, and creativity. Philosopher K. Anthony Appiah, writing in Nation, considered the book "a powerful call for philosophy to play its role in building a radical democracy in alliance with the wretched of the earth" and deemed West possibly "the pre-eminent African-American intellectual of our generation."

Into the Limelight: A Career in Teaching and Writing

West's books began to be published in the early 1980s, but he wrote many of them in the late 1970s. During his mid-twenties, he left Princeton, returned to Harvard as a Du Bois fellow to finish his dissertation, and then began his first tenure-track teaching job as an assistant professor of philosophy of religion at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. While a Du Bois fellow, West married and had a son, Clifton. Both this marriage and a later one ended in divorce.

While teaching at Union, West concerned himself with "the major national progressive multiracial and religious activity in the country in the 1970s." He also traveled to Brazil, Jamaica, Costa Rica, Mexico, Europe, and South Africa, where he saw and involved himself with intellectual and political progressive movements "reminiscent of our 1960s." In the early 1980s, West encountered Michael Harrington's Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), an organization that shaped the version of democratic socialism he would subsequently promote. West described the DSA in Ethical Dimensions as "the first multiracial, socialist organization close enough to my politics that I could join."

West wrote The Ethical Dimensions of Marxist Thought during his time at Union, but it wasn't published until 1991. In the book, he traced Karl Marx's intellectual development to reveal how Marx incorporated the growing consciousness of history in modern thought with values of individuality and democracy. West combined his interests in Marxism and religion in his 1982 book Prophesy Deliverance! An Afro-American Revolutionary Christianity, in which he shows the potential in prophetic Christianity--and especially in aspects of the black church--for meaningful opposition to racism and oppression.

In 1984 West assumed a post at the Yale Divinity School that eventually became a joint appointment with the institution's American Studies Department. He participated in a campus drive for clerical unionism and against Yale's investments in South African companies and was arrested and jailed during one campus protest. West viewed his political actions at Yale as "a fine example for my wonderful son, Clifton," who had become a progressive student body president in his predominantly black middle school in Atlanta. The Yale administration punished West by canceling his leave and requiring him to teach a full load of two courses in the spring of 1987.

Before his leave was canceled, West had already arranged to teach African-American thought and American pragmatism at the University of Paris, so in order to fulfill his responsibilities to both schools, he commuted to Paris for his three courses there while teaching his two courses at Yale. He also served as the American correspondent for Le Monde diplomatique at Yale. In 1988, West returned to Union; one year after that move, he accepted a position at Princeton University as professor of religion and director of the Afro-American Studies program. West continued to write and edit books on philosophy throughout the 1980s and early 1990s. In his 1985 publication Post-Analytic Philosophy, which he edited with John Rajchman, West reflected on the crisis in American philosophy. Prophetic Fragments, an essay collection published in 1988, is considered a tome of contemporary cultural criticism, addressing such subjects as theology, sex, suicide, and violence in America today. In 1991's Breaking Bread: Insurgent Black Intellectual Life, coauthors West and bell hooks limit themselves to the problems of creating black male-female dialogue and an effective black intellectual community while suggesting practical solutions to communication problems.

The Power of Diversity

West's impassioned and insightful writings make a resounding appeal for cross-cultural tolerance and unity, while urging individuals to recognize the power of diversity within a society. As a member of the editorial collective for the journal Boundary 2: An International Journal of Literature and Culture, West draws on his research to relate Marxist thought to cultural politics of difference, including differences in race, gender, sexual orientation, and age. And out of a desire to contribute to the building of coalitions across different communities, he writes a column for the progressive Jewish journal Tikkun. Finally, in an effort to reach out to still wider audiences, West provides commentary on contemporary subjects for popular journals, such as his essay on the 1992 Los Angeles riots for the New York Times Magazine.

West continues his exploration of race relations and cultural diversity in his 1993 book Race Matters, which his publisher, Beacon Press, promotes as a "healing vision for the crisis of racial politics today." Appealing to a "broader audience" than some of his earlier works, West's message "remains ... uncompromising and unconventional," according to Ellis Cose in Newsweek. "He sees salvation in a renewal of love, empathy and compassion, in a radical redistribution of power and wealth--and in facing difficult truths."

As Boynton indicated, West's inimitable drive to keep on teaching and writing is so strong that West feels as though if he were to stop, he would "just explode." Resolute in his belief that people of color must struggle now for a better future, he persists in his quest to create an effective, black, progressive leadership. West ends his introduction to Ethical Dimensions with a call to action: "The future of U.S. progressive politics lies in the capacity of a collective leadership to energize, mobilize, and organize working and poor people. Democratic socialists can play a crucial role in projecting an all-embracing moral vision of freedom, justice, and equality, and making social analyses that connect and link activists together....America's massive social breakdown requires that we come together--for the sake of our lives, our children, and our sacred honor."

Moved Into the Twenty-first Century

West is devoted to celebrating African-American citizens who have left an indelible mark on people of all cultures and races, and continues to address issues that affect the lives of all people. Since his move to Harvard, West has published several more books including The Future of the Race and The African American Century: How Black Americans Have Shaped Our Country, both coauthored with his colleague Henry Louis Gates, Jr. The latter is a book that is comprised of approximately 100 biographies of prominent African Americans, including some obscure notables such as the first black woman aviator, Bessie Colman. For the book, the authors wrote, "At the dawn of the 21st century ... we cannot imagine a truly American culture that has not, in profound ways, been shaped by the contributions of African Americans."

In 1996 West, along with feminist and economist, Sylvia Ann Hewlett, created the Task Force of Parent Empowerment, and later, West and Hewlett coauthored The War Against Parents: What We Can Do For America's Beleaguered Moms and Dads and Taking Parenting Public: The Case For A New Social Movement, which was edited by Hewlett. Both books address how American government policies and the American media work against families. West and Hewlett have called for a Parent Bill of Rights.

West decided to try something new. He recorded a CD that included rap and spoken word, Sketches of My Culture. While the CD may not have measured up to a rap critic's "picks," West was harshly criticized by Harvard President, Larry Summers, President Clinton's treasury secretary. Summers suggested that West pay attention to more scholarly pursuits and inferred that West allowed grade inflation. West was also criticized for leading a committee for Al Sharpton's presidential campaign, should he decide to run. In addition, Summers commented that West should be publishing books that would be reviewed by academic journals rather than in the New York Times. According to The Economist, the incident "spiraled into a full-blown tempest" which caused West, along with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Kwame Anthony Appiah, to consider quitting and going elsewhere. Summers and West have since made peace. Gates, who turned Harvard's fledgling African American Studies department into a robust and thriving department that can boast of having the country's top black intellectuals and has had record number of students enrolled said, "One of Professor West's great gifts is that he can engage in conversation with almost anyone, whatever their ideology. His keen-edged analysis forces us to remember what he has to say. There's no one from whom I've learned more than Cornel West. One of the most important things that he has to teach, I think, is that being a Black intellectual doesn't have to mean mindless, pompous cheerleading."

Works

Selected works

• Albums
• Sketches of My Culture, 2001.
• Books
• Black Theology and Marxist Thought, Theology in the Americas, 1979.
• Prophesy Deliverance! An Afro-American Revolutionary Christianity, Westminster Press, 1982.
• (Coeditor) Theology in the Americas, Orbis Books, 1982.
• (Coeditor) Post-Analytic Philosophy, Columbia University Press, 1985.
• Prophetic Fragments, Eerdmans, 1988.
• The American Evasion of Philosophy: A Genealogy of Pragmatism, University of Wisconsin Press, 1989.
• (Coeditor) Out There: Marginalization and Contemporary Cultures, 1990.
• (With bell hooks) Breaking Bread: Insurgent Black Intellectual Life, South End Press, 1991.
• The Ethical Dimensions of Marxist Thought, Monthly Review Press, 1991.
• Beyond Eurocentrism and Multiculturalism, Common Courage Press, 1993.
• Race Matters, Beacon Press, 1993.
• Future of the Race, 1997.
• (with Sylvia Ann Hewlett)The War Against Parents: What We Can Do For America's Beleaguered Moms and Dads, 1998.
• Cornel West: A Critical Reader, 2001.
• Contributor of articles to periodicals, including Monthly Review, Yale Journal of Criticism: Interpretation in the Humanities, Critical Quarterly, Nation, October, Tikkun, New York Times Book Review, and New York Times Magazine. American correspondent for Le Monde diplomatique, 1984-87; member of editorial collective Boundary 2: An International Journal of Literature and Culture.

Further Reading

Books

• Bercovitch, Sacvan, The American Jeremiad, University of Wisconsin Press, 1978.
• Hooks, bell, and Cornel West, Breaking Bread: Insurgent Black Intellectual Life, South End Press, 1991.
• West, Cornel, The American Evasion of Philosophy: A Genealogy of Pragmatism, University of Wisconsin Press, 1989.
• West, Cornel, The Ethical Dimensions of Marxist Thought, Monthly Review Press, 1991.

• Commonweal, December 20, 1985, p. 708.
• The Economist, January 5, 2002.
• Emerge, March 1993.
• Essence, June 1996, p. 42.
• Nation, April 9, 1990, pp. 496-8.
• National Review, January 28, 2002.
• Newsweek, June 7, 1993, p. 71.
• New York Times Magazine, September 15, 1991.
• The Progressive, January, 1997, p. 26.
• Publishers Weekly, March 30, 1998, p. 60; October 16, 2000, p. 57.
• Religious Studies Review, April 1992, p. 103.
• Time, January 14, 2002, p. 14.
• Voice Literary Supplement, December 1988, pp. 3-4.

— Nicholas S. Patti and Christine Miner Minderovic

For the area of the Ithaca campus, see Cornell West Campus.

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Cornel West

Cornel West in 2008
Born	June 2, 1953 (1953-06-02) (age 58) Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S.
Era	21st-century philosophy
Region	Western Philosophers
School	Pragmatism, Existentialism, Africana Philosophy, Historicism
Main interests	Democracy, Race, Philosophy of religion, Ethics
Notable ideas	Race Matters, Democracy Matters
Influenced by Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, W. E. B. Du Bois, James Cone, Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, Karl Kautsky, György Lukács, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Søren Kierkegaard, Arthur Schopenhauer, Leszek Kolakowski, Herman Melville, Michel Foucault, Antonio Gramsci, Richard Rorty, William James, John Dewey, Frankfurt School

Cornel Ronald West (born June 2, 1953) is an American philosopher, author, critic, actor, civil rights activist and prominent member of the Democratic Socialists of America.

West is a 1973 graduate of Harvard University and starting 2012 will be a Professor at Union Theological Seminary,^[1] where he will teach Religious Philosophy and Christian Practice. He currently teaches at Princeton University. West is known for his combination of political and moral insight and criticism and his contribution to the post-1960s civil rights movement. The bulk of his work focuses on the role of race, gender, and class in American society and the means by which people act and react to their "radical conditionedness." West draws intellectual contributions from such diverse traditions as the African American Baptist Church, pragmatism and transcendentalism.^[2][3][4][5]

Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 2.1 Academic appointments 2.2 Entertainment career 3 Dispute with Lawrence Summers 4 Activism 4.1 Views on race in the United States 4.2 Politics 4.3 Support and Criticism of Obama 5 Published works 6 See also 7 References 8 External links

Early life

West was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma,^[6] and grew up in Sacramento, California, where his father was a general contractor for the Defense Department and his mother was a teacher and a principal. Irene B. West Elementary School, Elk Grove, California, is named for her.^[7] As a young man, West marched in civil rights demonstrations and organized protests demanding black studies courses at his high school, where he was class president. He later wrote that, in his youth, he admired "the sincere black militancy of Malcolm X, the defiant rage of the Black Panther Party [...] and the livid black theology of James Cone."^[8] In 1970, after graduating from John F. Kennedy High School, he enrolled at Harvard University and took classes from philosophers Robert Nozick and Stanley Cavell. In 1973, he graduated magna cum laude in Near Eastern Languages and Civilization. "Owing to my family, church, and the black social movements of the 1960s", he says, "I arrived at Harvard unashamed of my African, Christian, and militant de-colonized outlooks. More pointedly, I acknowledged and accented the empowerment of my black styles, mannerisms, and viewpoints, my Christian values of service, love, humility, and struggle, and my anti-colonial sense of self-determination for oppressed people and nations around the world."^[9]

Career

Academic appointments

In 1980, West earned a Ph.D. from Princeton, where he was influenced by Richard Rorty's pragmatism.^[10] The title of his dissertation was Ethics, historicism and the Marxist tradition,^[11] which was later revised and published under the title The Ethical Dimensions of Marxist Thought.^[10]

In his mid-20s, he returned to Harvard as a W. E. B. Du Bois Fellow before becoming an Assistant Professor at Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York. In 1984, he went to Yale Divinity School in what eventually became a joint appointment in American Studies. While at Yale, he participated in campus protests for a clerical labor union and divestment from apartheid South Africa. One of the protests resulted in him being arrested and jailed. As punishment, the University administration canceled his leave for Spring 1987, leading him to commute from Yale in New Haven, Connecticut, where he was teaching two classes, across the Atlantic Ocean to the University of Paris.^[12]

He then returned to Union for one year before going to Princeton to become a Professor of Religion and Director of the Program in African-American Studies (1988–94).^[12]

He then accepted an appointment as Professor of African-American Studies at Harvard University, with a joint appointment at the Harvard Divinity School.^[13] West taught one of the University's most popular courses, an introductory class on African-American Studies.^[14] In 1998, he was appointed the first Alphonse Fletcher University Professor.^[15] West used this freedom to teach not only in African-American studies, but in Divinity, Religion, and Philosophy.^[13] West returned to Princeton in 2001.^[16] In 2011, he announced his return to the seminary where he had started his teaching career.^[17]

The recipient of more than 20 honorary degrees and an American Book Award,^[2] West is a long-time member of the Democratic Socialists of America, for which he now serves as Honorary Chair.^[12] He is also a co-founder of the Network of Spiritual Progressives.^[18] West is on the Advisory Board of the International Bridges to Justice.^[19]

West is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. He is a member of the fraternity's World Policy Council, a think tank whose purpose is to expand Alpha Phi Alpha's involvement in politics and social and current policy to encompass international concerns.^[20]

Critics, most notably The New Republic literary editor Leon Wieseltier, have charged him with opportunism, crass showmanship, and lack of scholarly seriousness.^[21]

West remains a widely cited scholar in the popular press.^[22]

Entertainment career

West appears in both The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions,^[23] playing Councilor West, who serves on the council of Zion. West's character advises that "comprehension is not a requisite of cooperation."^[23] In addition, West provides philosophical commentary on all three Matrix films in The Ultimate Matrix Collection, along with integral theorist Ken Wilber.^[24]

Cornel West has also made several appearances in documentary films, such as the 2008 film Examined Life, a documentary featuring several academics discussing philosophy in real-world contexts. West, "driving through Manhattan, . . . compares philosophy to jazz and blues, reminding us how intense and invigorating a life of the mind can be."^[25] He also appears in conversation with Bill Withers in the Bill Withers documentary, Still Bill. West also makes frequent appearances on the political talk show Real Time with Bill Maher.^{[26][27][28][29][30]}

A character based on West and events in his career appeared in the Law & Order: Criminal Intent episode Anti-Thesis, significant for introducing the recurring villain character Nicole Wallace.^[31]

On the musical front, West recorded a recitation of John Mellencamp's song "Jim Crow" for inclusion on the singer's box set On the Rural Route 7609 in 2009.^[32] In 2010, he completed recording with the Cornel West Theory, a Hip Hop band endorsed by West.^[32] He has also released two hip-hop/soul/spoken word albums, one under "Cornel West" (entitled Street Knowledge), the other under "Cornel West & BMWMB (Black Men Who Mean Business)" (entitled Never Forget: A Journey of Revelations).^[33]

Dispute with Lawrence Summers

In 2000, economist and former U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers became president of Harvard. In a private meeting with West, Summers allegedly rebuked West for missing too many classes, contributing to grade inflation, neglecting serious scholarship, and spending too much time on his economically profitable projects.^[34] Summers allegedly suggested that West produce an academic book befitting his professorial position. West had written several books, some of them widely cited, but his recent output consisted primarily of co-written and edited volumes. According to some reports, Summers also objected to West's production of a CD, the critically panned Sketches of My Culture, and to his political campaigning.^[35] According to West's book Democracy Matters, Summers wrongly accused him of canceling classes for three straight weeks during 2000 to promote Bill Bradley's presidential campaign. West contends that he had missed one class during his tenure at Harvard "in order to give a keynote address at a Harvard-sponsored conference on AIDS." Summers also allegedly suggested that since West held the rank of Harvard University Professor and thus reported directly to the President, he should meet with Summers regularly to discuss the progress of his academic production.^[36]

West contends that popular coverage of the controversy obscured the true issues at stake in his dispute with Summers. West argues that Summers's vision of academia is corrosive to a deep democratic commitment that strives to connect the academy with society at large, so as to fulfill its calling to educate the public. He contends that the controversy with Summers was indicative of the fact that "a market-driven technocratic culture has infiltrated university life, with the narrow pursuit of academic trophies and the business of generating income from grants and business partnerships taking precedence over the fundamental responsibility of nurturing young minds." ^[37] According to West, during the controversy he was highly regarded in the academic community, "had more academic references than fourteen of the other seventeen Harvard University Professors", and "had nearly twice as many such references as Summers himself."^[37] At the time, West had been focused on reaching wider audiences as part of his effort to encourage civic engagement—especially amongst youth—in the hope of revitalizing what he calls a deep democratic commitment that would counteract the encroaching political nihilism that he argues threatens the future of American democracy. While West doesn't deny the importance of academics engaging the more specialized concerns of their fields, he strongly opposes the sentiment that academia must limit itself to those rarefied interests. Academia and academics, he contends, have an important role to play in promoting public discourse that cannot be achieved if professors lock themselves in their ivory towers instead of engaging society-at-large and the salient issues of the day. Ultimately, this was the root of the quarrel, according to West.^[37]

Summers refused to comment on the details of his conversation with West, except to express hope that West would remain at Harvard. Soon after, West was hospitalized for prostate cancer. West complained that Summers failed to send him get-well wishes until weeks after his surgery, whereas newly installed Princeton president Shirley Tilghman had contacted him frequently before and after his treatment.^[36] In 2002 West left Harvard University to return to Princeton. West lashed out at Summers in public interviews, calling him "the Ariel Sharon of higher education" on NPR's Tavis Smiley Show.^[38] In response to these remarks, five Princeton faculty members, led by professor of molecular biology Jacques Robert Fresco, said they looked with "strong disfavor upon his characterization" of Summers and that "such an analogy carries innuendoes and implications... that many on the Princeton faculty find highly inappropriate, indeed repugnant and intolerable."^[39]

Harvard University's undergraduate student newspaper, The Harvard Crimson, suggested in October 2002 that the premise of Law and Order: Criminal Intent episode "Anti-Thesis" was based on West's conflicts with Summers.^[40]

Activism

Views on race in the United States

West has called the U.S. a "racist patriarchal" nation where "white supremacy" continues to define everyday life. "White America," he writes, "has been historically weak-willed in ensuring racial justice and has continued to resist fully accepting the humanity of blacks." This has resulted, he claims, in the creation of many "degraded and oppressed people hungry for identity, meaning, and self-worth." Professor West attributes most of the black community's problems to "existential angst derive[d] from the lived experience of ontological wounds and emotional scars inflicted by white supremacist beliefs and images permeating U.S. society and culture."^[41]

In West's view, the September 11, 2001 attacks gave white Americans a glimpse of what it means to be a black person in the United States—feeling "unsafe, unprotected, subject to random violence, and hatred" for who they are.^[42] "The ugly terrorist attacks on innocent civilians on 9/11," he said, "plunged the whole country into the blues."^[42]

Politics

West has described himself as a "non-Marxist socialist" (partly because he cannot reconcile Marxism with Christianity)^[43] and serves as honorary chair of the Democratic Socialists of America, which he has described as "the first multiracial, socialist organization close enough to my politics that I could join".^[12] He also described himself as a "radical democrat, suspicious of all forms of authority" on the Matrix-themed documentary The Burly Man Chronicles.^[44]

West believes that "the overthrow of Saddam Hussein's ugly totalitarian regime was desirable,"^[45] but that the war in Iraq was the result of "dishonest manipulation" on the part of the Bush administration.^[46] He asserts that Bush Administration hawks "are not simply conservative elites and right-wing ideologues", but rather are "evangelical nihilists — drunk with power and driven by grand delusions of American domination of the world". He adds, "We are [now] experiencing the sad gangsterization of America, an unbridled grasp at power, wealth, and status." Viewing capitalism as the root cause of these alleged American lusts, West warns, "Free-market fundamentalism trivializes the concern for public interest. It puts fear and insecurity in the hearts of anxiety-ridden workers. It also makes money-driven, poll-obsessed elected officials deferential to corporate goals of profit — often at the cost of the common good."^[47]

West has been involved with such projects as the Million Man March and Russell Simmons's Hip-Hop Summit, and worked with such public figures as Louis Farrakhan^[6] and Al Sharpton, whose 2004 presidential campaign West advised.^[48]

In 2000, West worked as a senior advisor to Democratic presidential candidate Bill Bradley. When Bradley lost in the primaries, West became a prominent endorser of Ralph Nader, even speaking at some Nader rallies. Some Greens sought to draft West to run as a presidential candidate in 2004. West declined, citing his active participation in the Al Sharpton campaign. West, along with other prominent Nader 2000 supporters, signed the "Vote to Stop Bush" statement urging progressive voters in swing states to vote for John Kerry, despite strong disagreements with many of Kerry's policies.^[49]

In April 2002 West and Rabbi Michael Lerner performed civil disobedience by sitting in the street in front of the U.S. State Department "in solidarity with suffering Palestinian and Israeli brothers and sisters." West said, "We must keep in touch with the humanity of both sides."^[50][51] In May 2007 West joined a demonstration against "injustices faced by the Palestinian people resulting from the Israeli occupation" and "to bring attention to this 40 year travesty of justice". In 2011, West called on the University of Arizona to divest from companies profiting from the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian Territories.^[52]

West also serves as co-chair of the Tikkun Community. He co-chaired the National Parenting Organization's Task Force on Parent Empowerment and participated in President Clinton's National Conversation on Race. He has publicly endorsed In These Times magazine by calling it: "The most creative and challenging news magazine of the American left". He is also a contributing editor for Sojourners Magazine.

West supports People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) in its Kentucky Fried Cruelty campaign, aimed at eliminating what PETA describes as KFC's inhumane treatment of chickens. West is quoted on PETA flyers: "Although most people don't know chickens as well as they know cats and dogs, chickens are interesting individuals with personalities and interests every bit as developed as the dogs and cats with whom many of us share our lives."

In 2008, West contributed his insights on the current global issue of modernized slavery and human trafficking in the rockumentary Call+Response.^[53] West is a member of the Campaign for Peace and Democracy.

In 2011, West addressed his frustration about some critics of the Occupy Wall Street, who remark about the movement's lack of a clear and unified message. West replied by saying:

It’s impossible to translate the issue of the greed of Wall Street into one demand, or two demands. We’re talking about a democratic awakening...you’re talking about raising political consciousness so it spills over all parts of the country, so people can begin to see what’s going on through a set of different lens, and then you begin to highlight what the more detailed demands would be. Because in the end we’re really talking about what Martin King would call a revolution: A transfer of power from oligarchs to everyday people of all colors. And that is a step by step process.^[54]

On October 16, 2011, West was in Washington, D.C. participating in the "Occupy D.C." protests on the steps of the Supreme Court, holding a sign reading "Poverty is the Greatest Violence of All". He was subsequently arrested for violating a law against protest signs on the Supreme Court steps.^[55]

Five days later, on October 21, 2011, West was arrested during a protest in Harlem against the New York Police Department's policy of stopping and frisking.^[56]

On October 26, 2011, West was participating in Occupy Norfolk in Norfolk, VA.

Support and Criticism of Obama

Cornel West publicly supported 2008 Democratic Presidential candidate then US Senator Barack Obama. He spoke to over 1,000 of his supporters at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, N.Y.C. on November 29, 2007.^[57]

West criticized President Obama when Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009, saying that it would be difficult for Obama to be "a war president with a peace prize."^[58] West further retracted his support for Obama in an April 2011 interview, stating that Obama is “a black mascot of Wall Street oligarchs and a black puppet of corporate plutocrats. And now he has become head of the American killing machine and is proud of it.”^[59][60]

Published works

• Black Theology and Marxist Thought (1979)
• Prophesy Deliverance! An Afro-American Revolutionary Christianity (1982)
• Prophetic Fragments (1988)
• The American Evasion of Philosophy: A Genealogy of Pragmatism (1989)
• Breaking Bread: Insurgent Black Intellectual Life (with bell hooks, 1991)
• The Ethical Dimensions of Marxist Thought (1991)
• Beyond Eurocentrism and Multiculturalism (1993)
• Race Matters (1993)
• Keeping Faith: Philosophy and Race in America (1994)
• Jews and Blacks: A Dialogue on Race, Religion, and Culture in America (with rabbi Michael Lerner, 1995)
• The Future of the Race (with Henry Louis Gates, Jr., 1996)
• Restoring Hope: Conversations on the Future of Black America (1997)
• The War Against Parents: What We Can Do For America's Beleaguered Moms and Dads (with Sylvia Ann Hewlett, 1998)
• The Future of American Progressivism (with Roberto Unger, 1998)
• The African-American Century: How Black Americans Have Shaped Our Century (with Henry Louis Gates, Jr., 2000)
• Cornel West: A Critical Reader (George Yancy, editor) (2001)
• Democracy Matters: Winning the Fight Against Imperialism (2004)
• Commentary on The Matrix, Matrix Reloaded and Matrix Revolutions; see The Ultimate Matrix Collection (with Ken Wilber, 2004).
• Post-Analytic Philosophy, edited with John Rajchman.
• Hope On a Tightrope: Words & Wisdom (2008).
• Brother West: Living & Loving Out Loud (2009).

See also

• American philosophy
• Black existentialism
• Africana philosophy
• Democratic Socialists of America
• List of African American philosophers
• List of American philosophers

References

1. ^ Goodstein, Laurie (November 16, 2011). "Cornel West Returning to Union Theological Seminary". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/17/nyregion/cornel-west-returning-to-union-theological-seminary.html?_r=1&hp. 
2. ^ ^{a b} "Cornel West". Pragmatism.org. http://www.pragmatism.org/library/west/. Retrieved January 21, 2008. 
3. ^ "Cornel Ronald West". Contemporary Black Biography, Volume 33. Edited by Ashyia Henderson. Gale Group, 2002. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: The Gale Group. 2004.
4. ^ "Cornel West y la política de conversión". Thomas Ward. Resistencia cultural: La nación en el ensayo de las Américas. Lima, Universidad Ricardo Palma, 2004, págs. 344-348.
5. ^ Nishikawa, Kinohi. "Cornel West." The Greenwood Encyclopedia of African American Literature. Ed. Hans Ostrom and J. David Macey, Jr. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2005. 1714-18.
6. ^ ^{a b} Elder, Robert (1998). "Prisoner of Hope". inFlux. University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication. http://influx.uoregon.edu/1998/west/index.html. Retrieved January 21, 2002. 
7. ^ smitty, Fahizah (June 4, 1999). "Opening Doors: Irene West Gave Her All as a Teacher and Principal, Now, a New School Honors Her Name and Hard Work". Sacramento Bee. 
8. ^ West, Cornel (August 13, 2000). The Cornel West Reader. ISBN 9780465091102. http://books.google.com/?id=Kk6ovUWs02AC&pg=PA3&lpg=PA3&dq=the+sincere+black+militancy+of+malcolm+x+the+defiant+rage+of+the+black+panther+party+and+the+livid+black+theology+of+james+cone. Retrieved February 23, 2008. 
9. ^ http://www.answers.com/topic/cornel-west
10. ^ ^{a b} Mendieta, Eduardo (2007). Global Fragments: Globalizations, Latinamericanisms, and Critical Theory. Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press. p. 173. ISBN 978-0-7914-7257-6. http://books.google.com/books?id=CycoIHOtyhYC&pg=PA173. 
11. ^ "Ethics, historicism and the Marxist tradition". http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=753076311&sid=6&Fmt=2&clientId=16746&RQT=309&VName=PQD. Retrieved October 27, 2009. 
12. ^ ^{a b c d} Henderson, Ashyia, ed. (2002). "Cornel Ronald West". Contemporary Black Biography. 33. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale Group. http://www.indiana.edu/~libugls/brown/west.html. Retrieved October 22, 2011. 
13. ^ ^{a b} Aaseng, Nathan, ed. (2003). "Cornel West". African-American Religious Leaders. New York: Facts on File. p. 237. ISBN 0-8160-4878-9. 
14. ^ Duke, Lynn (August 16, 2002). "Cornel West's difficult road to Princeton". The Washington Post. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2002-08-16/features/0208160010_1_cornel-west-president-of-harvard-university-prostate-surgery. Retrieved October 22, 2011. 
15. ^ "Other Key Moments in the Department". Department of African and African American Studies, Harvard University. http://aaas.fas.harvard.edu/about/moments. Retrieved October 22, 2011. 
16. ^ Goldfarb, Zachary A. (August 12, 2002). "West to leave Harvard to become University professor of religion". The Daily Princetonian (Daily Princetonian Publishing Company, Inc.). http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/archives/2002/04/12/news/4886.shtml. Retrieved January 21, 2008. 
17. ^ Goodstein, Laurie (November 16, 2011). "Cornel West Returning to Union Theological Seminary". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/17/nyregion/cornel-west-returning-to-union-theological-seminary.html. 
18. ^ "NSP Co-Founders". Network of Spiritual Progressives. http://spiritualprogressives.org/newsite/?page_id=33. Retrieved October 22, 2011. 
19. ^ "Board of Directors and Advisors". International Bridges to Justice. http://www.ibj.org/about-us/directors-and-advisors/. Retrieved October 22, 2011. 
20. ^ Dawson, Horace; Edward Brooke, Henry Ponder, Vinton R. Anderson, Bobby William Austin, Ron Dellums, Kenton Keith, Huel D. Perkins, Charles Rangel, Clathan McClain Ross, and Cornel West (July 2006) (PDF). The Centenary Report Of The Alpha Phi Alpha World Policy Council. Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity. http://www.alpha-phi-alpha.com/Resources/ImageFile/File/image/WPC06-WEB.pdf. Retrieved May 23, 2011. 
21. ^ All and Nothing: The Unreal World of Cornel West,” The New Republic, March 6, 1995, pp. 31–36.
22. ^ Fletcher, Michael A.; Ferdinand, Pamela (April 13, 2002). "Cornel West Quitting Harvard". The Washington Post. http://search.proquest.com/docview/409336618?accountid=35803. Retrieved October 22, 2011. 
23. ^ ^{a b} Agger, Michael. FILM; And the Oscar for Best Scholar . . .. The New York Times. May 18, 2003. Retrieved 2011-3-7.
24. ^ Pratt, Doug. The Ultimate Matrix Collection. The Hollywood Reporter via AllBusiness. December 6, 2004. Retrieved 2011-3-7.
25. ^ "Examined Life (2008) - Plot Summary". http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1279083/plotsummary. 
26. ^ ""Real Time with Bill Maher" Episode 36". http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0683757/. Retrieved May 14, 2008. 
27. ^ ""Real Time with Bill Maher" Episode 49". http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0683792/. Retrieved May 14, 2008. 
28. ^ ""Real Time with Bill Maher" Episode 78". http://www.hbo.com/billmaher/episode/2006_05_12_ep78.html. Retrieved May 14, 2008. 
29. ^ ""Real Time with Bill Maher" Episode 107". http://www.hbo.com/billmaher/episode/2007_09_07_ep107.html. Retrieved May 14, 2008. 
30. ^ ""Real Time with Bill Maher" Episode 128". http://www.hbo.com/billmaher/episode/2008_04_18_ep128.html. Retrieved May 14, 2008. 
31. ^ Gseis.ucla.edu
32. ^ ^{a b} Han, Lisa. Cornel West Theory. Daily Princetonian. February 4, 2010. Retrieved 2011-3-7.
33. ^ Cornel West, "Books and Music", http://www.cornelwest.com/books_music.html (accessed 10 June 2010)
34. ^ "Who is Cornel West?". Associated Press. Cable News Network. January 10, 2002. Archived from the original on December 26, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20071226113730/http://archives.cnn.com/2002/fyi/teachers.ednews/01/10/west.harvard.ap/. Retrieved January 21, 2008. 
35. ^ Steinberg, Jacques (November 29, 2001). "At Odds With Harvard President, Black-Studies Stars Eye Princeton". The New York Times (New York City, New York: The New York Times Company). http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F06E4D71F31F93AA15751C1A9679C8B63. Retrieved January 21, 2008. 
36. ^ ^{a b} Belluck, Pam; Jacques Steinberg (April 16, 2002). "Defector Indignant at President of Harvard". The New York Times (New York City, New York: The New York Times Company). http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0DE6DB113CF935A25757C0A9649C8B63. Retrieved January 21, 2008. 
37. ^ ^{a b c} Cornell West (2004). Democracy Matters. [Penguin Books]. 
38. ^ "Cornel West Outlines "Pull toward Princeton" and "Push from Harvard" in Exclusive Interview with NPR's Tavis Smiley". Npr.org. January 7, 2002. http://www.npr.org/about/press/020415.cwest.html. Retrieved March 7, 2011. 
39. ^ Jacques R. Fresco (April 24, 2002). "Cornel West's Analogy". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/24/opinion/l-cornel-west-s-analogy-697680.html?pagewanted=1. 
40. ^ Campbell, Andrew C. (October 16, 2002). "Ripped from Harvard Headlines | News | The Harvard Crimson". Thecrimson.com. http://www.thecrimson.com/printerfriendly.aspx?ref=254638. Retrieved March 7, 2011. 
41. ^ Cornel West, Race Matters, p. 27, 2001 edition, ISBN 978-0807009727
42. ^ ^{a b} Cornel West, Democracy Matters, p. 20, 2004, ISBN 0-14-303583-5
43. ^ West, Cornel (1999). The Cornel West Reader. New York: Basic Civitas Books. p. 13. ISBN 0-465-09109-1. http://books.google.com/books?id=bNJD8g1e-QQC&pg=PA13. 
44. ^ Cornel West. The Ultimate Matrix Collection. 
45. ^ Cornel West, Democracy Matters, p. 58, 2004, ISBN 0-14-303583-5
46. ^ Cornel West, Democracy Matters, p. 101, 2004, ISBN 0-14-303583-5
47. ^ "Cornel West: Democracy Matters", The Globalist, January 24, 2005
48. ^ Givhan, Robin (January 25, 2002). "Cornel West, Cloaked in Street Smarts". The Washington Post. http://search.proquest.com/docview/409271497?accountid=35803. Retrieved October 22, 2011. 
49. ^ "Senators Hillary Clinton and John Kerry are exemplary paternalistic nihilists... Their centrist or conservative policies... are opportunistic efforts to satisfy centrist or conservative constituencies." Cornel West, Democracy Matters, p. 35-36, 2004, ISBN 0-14-303583-5
50. ^ Montgomery, David (April 12, 2002). "Peace Demonstrators Arrested, Without Much Conviction". The Washington Post. http://search.proquest.com/docview/409255662?accountid=35803. Retrieved October 22, 2011. 
51. ^ "Thoughts on Anti-Semitism". Supportcom.com. December 6, 2005. http://supportcom.com/PEP/www.pepeace.org/current_reprints/10/Thoughts_On_Antisemitism.htm. Retrieved March 7, 2011. 
52. ^ "Cornel West's Letter to UA: Supporting Divestment, Ethnic Studies", No More Deaths, April 28, 2011
53. ^ "Call + Response". Callandresponse.com. http://www.callandresponse.com. Retrieved March 7, 2011. 
54. ^ "Cornel West on Occupy Wall Street: It’s the Makings of a U.S. Autumn Responding to the Arab Spring". Democracy Now. September 29, 2011. http://www.democracynow.org/blog/2011/9/29/cornel_west_on_occupy_wall_street_its_the_makings_of_a_us_autumn_responding_to_the_arab_spring. Retrieved September 30, 2011. 
55. ^ Dr. Cornel West Arrested On Steps of Supreme Court During 'Occupy DC' (VIDEO) | Addicting Info
56. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvRq68kMPTU
57. ^ Parker Aab, Stacy (October 30, 2007). "Obama, Race, and the Right Side of History". The Huffington News (HuffingtonPost.com, Inc.). http://www.huffingtonpost.com/stacy-parker-aab/obama-race-and-the-righ_b_74871.html. Retrieved January 21, 2008. 
58. ^ "Cornel West Comments on Obama's Nobel Peace Prize: Hard to Be War President with Peace Prize". The Huffington Post. October 10, 2009. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/10/cornel-west-comments-on-o_n_316476.html. Retrieved October 28, 2009. 
59. ^ Schneider, Matt. Wild Shoutfest Between Al Sharpton And Cornel West On Obama And Race. mediaite.com. April 11, 2011. Retrieved 2011-4-11.
60. ^ The Obama Deception: Why Cornel West went ballistic truthdig.com

External links

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Cornel West

• Cornel West on Twitter
• An Interview with Cornel West
• Interview with Dr. Cornel West by JK Fowler on The Mantle March 18, 2011
• Faculty bio at Princeton Religion department
• Faculty bio at Princeton Center for African American Studies
• Interview with Cornel West from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum
• Booknotes interview with West on The Cornel West Reader, February 22, 2000.
• "Cornel West Gives Black Scholars a Bad Rap" By John McWhorter
• Dr. Cornel West Releases Long-Awaited Memoir - video report by Democracy Now!
• Cornel West on Charles Rangel, Bush & Kanye West and Obama Admin
• Cornel West at the Internet Movie Database

Persondata
Name	West, Cornel Ronald
Alternative names
Short description	American philosopher, scholar, public intellectual
Date of birth	June 2, 1953
Place of birth	Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S.
Date of death
Place of death

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