Martin Luther King was a radical democrat, by which I mean someone who is a foe of wealth inequality.
Cornel WestMartin Luther King's legacy is never to be measured by bricks and mortar, but rather by the kind of lives that we live, and the kind of love and service that we render.
Cornel WestThere is something about boldness and fearlessness and being free enough to speak what is on one's mind that warrants freedom.
Cornel WestI think that in a certain sense, we're concerned about the same issues. How do you accent the progressive, the prophetic, those things that are critical of all forms of injustice, all forms of bigotry, all forms of dehumanizing other people, and yet still allow for a certain kind of flow, linguistic flow, certain kinds of melodies and harmonies in the samplings that take place?
Cornel WestIt takes more courage to examine the dark corners of your own soul than it does for a soldier to fight on the battlefield.
Cornel WestFor me, music is in no way ornamental or decorative, it's constitutive of who I am. And that's why, when I say I'm a blues man, that's a very serious vocation - to muster the courage to find your own unique voice, to forge your distinctive style in the world, to leave your imprint in the sands of time in such a way that your singularity, your individuality, remains something that people have to come to terms with.
Cornel West