Martin Luther King wanted to be morally consistent and speak out against various things that were wrong, not just racism.
Cornel WestThe condition of truth is to allow suffering to speak - that gives it an existential emphasis.
Cornel WestMartin King was fundamentally committed to the least of these [poor, working people]. Of course, he was a Christian soldier for justice from the 25th chapter of Matthew.
Cornel WestI believe philosophy must go to school with the poets; it's not either/or, it's not over or against.
Cornel WestWe're learning lessons from Africa. And the lesson that we need to learn is, how do we straighten our backs up in the face of these oligarchs and plutocrats who are trying to snatch the best of our democracy away?
Cornel WestI'm praying for Barack Obama to stay on the tightrope because I want to fight his right-wing critics. I want to down I want to ensure they don't lie about him. I'm sure they don't demonize him, and too much of that is going on. So I don't want my critiques to be in any way confused with the right-wing critiques, even though I'll fight for the right wing to be wrong in that regard.
Cornel West