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Cornel West

Cornel West is a philosopher, author, critic, actor, civil rights activist and Dietrich Bonhoeffer professor of philosophy and Christian practice at Union Theological Seminary (NYC)

March 2023

  • A woman holds a sign outside a bookstore where Florida governor Ron DeSantis was signing copies of his book on 28 February 2023.

    US educational authorities must resist ‘anti-woke’ censorship

    Ta-Nehisi Coates, Angela Davis, Ibram X Kendi, Gloria Steinem, Nikole Hannah JonesCornel West, Kimberle Crenshaw, V (formerly Eve Ensler) and others
    We are deeply concerned about disinformation campaigns that seek to discredit intersectionality, Black feminism and antiracism

May 2022

  • Mourners at the scene of a mass shooting in Buffalo, New York, 19 May 2022

    Trump isn’t out there with a gun, but he’s enabled this war against black people

    Cornel West
    White supremacy is as American as apple pie, as the latest killings in Buffalo show, says the US philosopher and civil rights activist

June 2020

  • ‘The focus on the protesters’ assaults on persons or property takes our attention away from the police killing of hundreds of black, poor and working-class people.’

    A boot is crushing the neck of American democracy

    Cornel West
    The fundamental question at this moment is: can the United States be reformed?

May 2019

  • Joe Biden holds a rally in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 30 April 2019.

    Joe Biden wants us to forget his past. We won't

    Adolph L Reed Jr and Cornel West
    As times have changed, Biden’s expressed retrospective misgivings about some of his earlier actions and stances. That’s not enough

December 2018

  • Maritime demonstrations in Gaza<br>GAZA CITY, GAZA - DECEMBER 3: Palestinians throw stones using slingshots in response to Israeli forces’ intervention during the 18th ‘maritime demonstration’ to break the Gaza blockade by sea with vessel near the north coast border in Gaza City, Gaza on December 3, 2018. (Photo by Ali Jadallah/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

    Why did CNN fire a pro-Palestinian commentator?

    Cornel West
    No one gets closer to peace by silencing voices critical of a lethal status quo, writes the academic and activist Cornel West

April 2018

  • VARIOUS<br>Mandatory Credit: Photo by Underwood Archives/UIG/REX/Shutterstock (3838655a) Mississippi: June 8, 1966. Martin Luther King being shoved back by Mississippi patrolmen during the 220 mile ‘March Against Fear’ from Memphis, Tennessee to Jackson, Mississippi. VARIOUS

    Martin Luther King Jr was a radical. We must not sterilize his legacy

    Cornel West
    If King were alive today, his words would threaten most of those who now sing his praises

February 2018

  • Roma migrants from Romania demonstrating in Oslo in 2015

    Roma and African Americans share a common struggle

    Margareta Matache and Cornel West
    Despite the abolition of Roma and African American slavery, criminalization and demonization continues, write Margareta Matache and Cornel West

January 2018

  • A demonstrator protesting the shooting death of Alton Sterling is detained by law enforcement near the headquarters of the Baton Rouge Police Department in Baton Rouge, Louisiana<br>FILE PHOTO -- A demonstrator protesting the shooting death of Alton Sterling is detained by law enforcement near the headquarters of the Baton Rouge Police Department in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, U.S. July 9, 2016. REUTERS/Jonathan Bachman/File Photo

    America is spiritually bankrupt. We must fight back together

    Cornel West
    The undeniable collapse of integrity, honesty and decency in our public and private life has fueled racial hatred and contempt

December 2017

  • ta-nehisi coates

    Ta-Nehisi Coates is the neoliberal face of the black freedom struggle

    Cornel West
    The disagreement between Coates and me is clear: his view of black America is narrow and dangerously misleading

April 2017

  • Nancy Pelosi

    The Democrats delivered one thing in the past 100 days: disappointment

    Cornel West
    The time has come to bid farewell to a moribund party that lacks imagination, courage and gusto

January 2017

  • barack obama

    Pity the sad legacy of Barack Obama

    Cornel West
    Our hope and change candidate fell short time and time again. Obama cheerleaders who refused to make him accountable bear some responsibility

November 2016

  • barack obama

    Goodbye, American neoliberalism. A new era is here

    Cornel West
    Trump’s election was enabled by the policies that overlooked the plight of our most vulnerable citizens. We gird ourselves for a frightening future

July 2016

  • protest

    Obama has failed victims of racism and police brutality

    Cornel West
    The president and his cheerleaders refused to engage deeply with systemic problems facing our country. That came back to haunt America last week

March 2011

  • Capitol Square in Madison, Wisconsin

    Just say no to austerity

    Frances Fox Piven and Cornel West

    Frances Fox Piven and Cornel West: The political allies of corporate greed insist cuts in services must be made. Join our national teach-in and learn why they're wrong

September 2005

  • Exiles from a city and from a nation

    Cornel West
    Cornel West: It takes something as big as Hurricane Katrina and the misery we saw among the poor black people of New Orleans to get America to focus on race and poverty.
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