Cornel West

Cornel West

Philosopher

Cornel West is a prominent philosopher, political activist, and author known for his work on race, justice, and democracy, particularly in 'Race Matters.'

People Thinking Kings Black Mean White
Born
June 2, 1952
Quotes
353
Rank
#3027

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Cornel West quotes (page 15 of 18)

353 quotes — follow a thought to its full quote page.

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"I know my dear brother, President [Barack] Obama, has a bust of Martin King right there in the Oval Office, but the question is are is he going to be true to who that Martin Luther King, Jr., actually is? King was concerned about what? The poor. He was concerned about working people. He was concerned about quality jobs. He was concerned about quality housing. He was concerned about precious babies in Vietnam, the way we ought to be concerned about precious babies in Afghanistan and precious babies in Tel Aviv and precious babies in Gaza."

Baby Brother Kings
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"Once you begin to talk about wealth inequality, especially as it relates to corporations and big banks, or engage in an indictment of U.S. foreign policy, you are really getting at the center of a society that is very fearful of that kind of critique."

Corporations Kind Wealth
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"It's true that in reading an interview, I have a little critique of the objectification of women in a [Playboy] magazine that is perceived to doing that."

Reading Magazines Littles
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"If we can't get back to principles and integrity and it's reduced just the interest of calculation and Machiavellian manipulation, we are in deep trouble."

Integrity Principles Manipulation
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"We've got the wrong vision, the wrong values, the wrong priority, and as the great prophetic figure Marian Edelman Wright puts it, we have been AWOL when it comes to poor people and poor children."

Children People Priorities
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"When you think of 244 years of slavery and 81 years of that finally you are going to be allowed to be part of the pool from which people choose jobs. That's not a substantive kind of move, but it was very important."

Jobs Moving Thinking
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"I think anytime we talk about transforming in capitalist society, we are talking about a process not a particular event so you can't talk about a socialist revolution."

Thinking Talking Events
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"The question is really how do we think seriously about this mechanism called a market. It ought to be determining not values but prices."

Thinking Ought Mechanism
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"The problem is that in America is that the nation state has been so weak when it comes to the history of big markets the history of big business in a way so we have a very weak welfare state compared to European nation states."

America Way Problem
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"Pleasure, no matter how desirable, is never innocent: it's always presupposing and assuming a certain kind of social order, one usually shot through structures of domination."

Order Matter Assuming
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"There ought to be a robust, uninhibited conversation in black America with different black ideological perspectives."

America Perspective Black
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"There is always a very delicate interplay between individual actions and institutional conditions."

Action Individual Delicate
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"There's simply no philosophizing without a love of wisdom, absolutely."

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"It would just be nice if we had leaders in Washington who could unequivocally take a stand on behalf of democratic movements in other parts of the world. And even this is true for even Brother Barack Obama."

Brother Nice Leader
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"Black people have been working hard for decades."

Work People Black
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"It's impossible to translate Wall Street greed into one or two demands."

Wall Two Greed
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"I want to be a jazzman until the day I die. To help keep that motion, momentum and movement going, for myself, for my students, for the people who hear me. Oh sure, some days you look around at this country and look at the evidence and think, Oh Lord, don't look good. But you keep moving. You gotta keep moving."

Success Country Moving
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"I must feel the fire of my soul so my intellectual blues can set others on fire."

Fire Soul Intellectual
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