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Cornel West

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Cornel West

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Also known as Cornel R. West, Cornel Ronald West

American philosopher, political activist and writer (born 1953)

Person · Open Library

Works
58

Top works

  • Democratic socialism and the struggle against racism
  • Truth Matters
  • Plough Quarterly No. 24 – Faith and Politics
  • Black theology and Marxist thought
  • Restoring Hope

via Open Library + Wikidata

Film & TV

Acting · Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA

Cornel Ronald West is an American philosopher, author, critic, actor, civil rights activist and prominent member of the Democratic Socialists of America. West is the Class of 1943 University Professor at Princeton University, where he teaches in the Center for African American Studies and in the Department of Religion. West is known for his combination of political and moral insight and criticism…

Known for

  • Tax Broke — Self2024
  • De "Matrix" à "Sense8", la révolution Wachowski — Self - Postcolonialism Philosopher2024
  • Israelism — Self2023
  • Blood Brothers: Malcolm X & Muhammad Ali — Self2021
  • Spiritual Audacity: The Abraham Joshua Heschel Story — Self2021
  • 137 Shots — self2021
  • When I See Them, I See Us2021
  • Obama: In Pursuit of a More Perfect Union — Self2021
  • We Are George Floyd — Self2020
  • Bernie Blackout — Self2020

via TMDB

Music · MusicBrainz

Type
Person
Gender
Male
Origin
United States
Active from
1977-06-08
african american musiciansbusinesspeoplechipmunk soulchristian hip hopcomposersconscious hip hop

via MusicBrainz · CC0

Listeners · Last.fm

Listeners
4,750
Total plays
20,919

Tags

not racistUnited Statesi love this manliteraryagainst racism

Cornel Ronald West (born June 2, 1953 in Tulsa, Oklahoma) is a prominent African-American scholar and public intellectual. Formerly at Harvard University, West is currently a professor of Religion at Princeton. West says his intellectual contributions draw from such diverse traditions as the African American Baptist Church, socialism, pragmatism, and transcendentalism. The grandson of a preacher, West marched as a young man in civil rights demonstrations and organized protests demanding black s

via Last.fm · Cornel West

Quotes

  • In situations of sparse resources along with degraded self-images and depoliticized sensibilities, one avenue for poor people is in existential rebellion and anarchic expression. The capacity to produce social chaos is the last resort of desperate people.
  • The Enlightenment worldview held by Du Bois is ultimately inadequate, and, in many ways, antiquated, for our time. The tragic plight and absurd predicament of Africans here and abroad requires a more profound interpretation of the human condition — one that goes beyond the false dichotomies of expert knowledge vs. mass ignorance, individual autonomy vs. dogmatic authority, and self-mastery vs. intolerant tradition.
  • To be an intellectual really means to speak a truth that allows suffering to speak. That is, it creates a vision of the world that puts into the limelight the social misery that is usually hidden or concealed by the dominant viewpoints of a society. "Intellectual" in that sense simply means those who are willing to reflect critically upon themselves as well as upon the larger society and to ascertain whether there is some possibility of amelioration and betterment.
  • Analytical philosophy was very interesting. It always struck me as being very interesting and full of tremendous intellectual curiosities. It is wonderful to see the mind at work in such an intense manner, but, for me, it was still too far removed from my own issues.
  • The authority of science … promotes and encourages the activity of observing, comparing, measuring and ordering the physical characteristics of human bodies.… Cartesian epistemology and classical ideals produced forms of rationality, scientificity and objectivity that, though efficacious in the quest for truth and knowledge, prohibited the intelligibility and legitimacy of black equality…. In fact, to "think" such an idea was to be deemed irrational, barbaric or mad.
  • I remind young people everywhere I go, one of the worst things the older generation did was to tell them for twenty-five years "Be successful, be successful, be successful" as opposed to "Be great, be great, be great". There's a qualitative difference.

via Wikiquote · CC BY-SA

Key facts

Born
Cornel Ronald West , ( 1953-06-02 ) June 2, 1953 (age 73) , Tulsa , Oklahoma , U.S.
Political party
Justice For All Party (since 2024) Independent (since 2023) Green (2023) , People's (2023)
Other political affiliations
Democratic Socialists of America (since 1982)
Education
Harvard University ( BA ), Princeton University ( MA , PhD )
Thesis
Ethics, Historicism and the Marxist Tradition (1980)
Doctoral advisor
Raymond Geuss , Sheldon Wolin
Era
Contemporary philosophy
Region
Western philosophy
School
Neopragmatism Existentialism Africana philosophy Historicism Christian socialism Radical democracy Baptist Christianity
Institutions
Union Theological Seminary , Yale University , Harvard University , Princeton University , Dartmouth College , University of Paris in Saint-Denis
Doctoral students
Leah Hunt-Hendrix
Main interests
Political philosophy philosophy of religion ethics race caste democracy liberation theology
Notable works
Race Matters (1993) Democracy Matters (2004)
Website
cornelwest .com

via Wikipedia infobox

~32 min read

Encyclopedic overview

Cornel Ronald West (born June 2, 1953) is an American philosopher, theologian, political activist, politician, social critic, and public intellectual. West was an independent candidate in the 2024 United States presidential election and is an outspoken voice in left-wing politics in the United States. The grandson of a Baptist minister, West's primary philosophy focuses on the roles of race, gender, and class struggle in American society. A socialist, West draws intellectual contributions from multiple traditions, including Christianity, the black church, democratic socialism, left-wing populism, neopragmatism, and transcendentalism.

During his career, he has held professorships and fellowships at Harvard University, Yale University, Union Theological Seminary, Princeton University, Dartmouth College, Pepperdine University, and the University of Paris in Saint-Denis. Among his most influential books are Race Matters (1993) and Democracy Matters (2004). He has been featured in several documentaries, and made appearances in Hollywood films such as The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, as well as providing commentary for both films. West has also made several spoken word and hip hop albums.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Cornel West” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

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