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Cornel West, Scholar, and Educator born

Cornel West

Cornel West was born on this date in 1953.  He is a Black scholar and activist.

Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, West is a Black intellectual. He earned a B.A. from Harvard University and his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Princeton University. His first book, Prophesy Deliverance! An Afro-American Revolutionary Christianity (1982) sought to fuse Christianity and Marxism. He taught religion and directed the Afro-American Studies Department at Princeton before joining the Harvard faculty in 1994. There, West became Alphonse Fletcher Jr., a University Professor.

Among his other many books are the two-volume Beyond Eurocentrism and Multiculturalism (Common Courage Press, 1993); The Cornel West Reader (2000); Breaking Bread (South End Press, 1991); Race Matters (Beacon Press, 1993); Keeping Faith (Routledge, 1993); Jews and Blacks: Let the Healing Begin, co-authored with Michael Lerner (Putnam Books, 1995); and Restoring Hope: Conversations on the Future of Black America (Beacon Press, 1997).

West is a respected and popular lecturer. His speaking style, forged in the Baptist Church, combines drama, knowledge, and inspiration. A noted social and economic philosopher, he has taken his struggle for racial equity into the national spotlight. A compelling orator and a noted commentator, West supports Blacks and whites in exploring their past and finding common ground. He has researched the issues facing urban African Americans and created a dialog between Blacks and Jews with Jewish journalist Michael Lerner.

Professor West's philosophy is not a theoretical discipline but an attempt to increase the scope of individual development and democratic actions. His work grew from his Oklahoma roots, American transcendentalism and literature, the Black Panthers, and European philosophy. He has recorded two hip-hop-flavored spoken-word CDs, Sketches Of My Culture and Street Knowledge. He seeks to revive the best of liberalism, populism, and democratic socialism. West returned to the Princeton Department of Religion in 2002. He recently wrote another book titled Democracy Matters: Winning The Fight Against Imperialism.

From 2010 through 2013, West co-hosted a radio program with Tavis Smiley called Smiley and West. West is a third party candidate in the 2024 presidential election. After declaring his run with the People's Party in June 2023, a week afterward, he announced he was instead seeking the nomination of the Green Party. In October 2023, he announced he was again switching his affiliation, and is running as an independent candidate.

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