Cornel West

Episode 103: Spiritual Socialists

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Does the American Left have religion problem? What can progressives learn from people like Dorothy Day, Ignazio Silone, Henry Wallace, Staughton Lynd, and Cornel West? Many of these thinkers and activists offered a powerful vision for a moral and just...

Cornel West on identity politics

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West’s thoughts here come from the transcript of a conversation on identity politics between West, philosopher Judith Butler, journalist Glenn Greenwald, and Simon Critchley. The entire transcript is at Public Seminar. Here is West: I want to begin, really, with...

Cornel West talks with The New Yorker

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The noted moral philosopher talked with Vinson Cunningham of The New Yorker. It’s a wide-ranging conversation that covers seminary students, Harvard, public philosophy, his forthcoming Gifford Lectures, Barack Obama, Democratic Socialists of America, free speech, American imperialism, Ukraine, and grief....

Is Democratic Socialism anti-Christian?

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Here is a taste of Stephen Mattson‘s piece at Sojourners: “Why Democratic Socialism Isn’t Anti-Christian“: Contemporary Christians are among those who have embraced the democratic socialist platform as a necessary check against an economy and political system they view as...

Cornel West is threatening to leave Harvard

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Harvard offered the 67-year-old public intellectual an endowed chair, a ten year contract, and a pay raise, but Cornel West is holding out for tenure. I can’t read the Boston Globe story because I don’t have subscription, but here is...

Cornel West and Robert George on “The Politics of the Gospel”

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We have written before about the unusual friendship between West and George. Plough magazine recently talked to these prominent public intellectuals about religion and politics.  Here is a taste of the interview: Plough: The mission of Plough is to “apply Christianity publicly,” to quote from...

Cornel West and Robert George at Liberty University

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I spent a little time last night watching Cornel West and Robert George at Liberty University.  I have learned a lot from both of these men and I love watching them talk with one another.  This conversation is no different. ...

The Cornel West–Robert George Road Show Discuss MLK

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Check out Adelle Banks’s piece at Religion News Service on a recent event sponsored by Baylor University’s program in Washington D.C.  I am encouraged when I hear conservative Robert George and progressive Cornel West working together to find common ground.  At...

Cornel West and Robert George Discuss MLK’s Legacy

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From the Wall Street Journal: In his own time Martin Luther King Jr. was regarded by some as a rabble rouser and even a communist sympathizer, and by others as an Uncle Tom and a “house Negro.” In demanding an immediate...

Cornel West Takes a Shot at Ta-Nehisi Coates

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In The Guardian.  A taste: Ta-Nehisi Coates’ We Were Eight Years in Power, a book about Barack Obama’s presidency and the tenacity of white supremacy, has captured the attention of many of us. One crucial question is why now in this moment...

Cornel West Backs a "People's Party"

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Bernie Sanders supporters are trying to launch a “People’s Party” and convince Sanders to lead it.  The movement is led by Nick Brana, the former outreach coordinator for the Bernie Sanders campaign. The movement appears to have the blessing of...