Cornel WestCritiques

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Finally got around to reading this. It was a very enlightening read. This is not a biography or commentary but simply a collection of MLK's writing curated and introduced by Cornel West. It really gave me a more profound insight into his politics (which was more complex than most discussions tend to show, even me who knew about that didn't know the full extent) but also pacifism in general. I'm not against violence to resist oppression, non-violence does not always work, but I will admit to having a more limited understanding of non-violence which has been expanded by this book.

An engaging premise. The middle chapter on the various strands of resistance, with an emphasis on humanists and art is by far the best. I'd love for someone to compile all of Dr. West's critical writings on literature one day.

I had a lot of trouble deciding exactly how I was going to review this book -- Frankly, there's so much material to cover that I won't get to most of it. First of all, I'm impressed by the density and complexity of the writing -- For that reason alone, I believe the author inherently knows what he's talking about. I appreciate Dr. West's objective assessments of various past and present states of affairs in the USA -- As well as his overall worldview. While I did read the entire book and also reread the first chapter ("Nihilism in Black America") -- My comments here mainly concern what I was able to glean from the prefaces, introductions and epilogue of this work.

Here are some highlights with regard to noteworthy content: (1) Imperial meltdown -- And how imperial meltdown = spiritual blackout); (1) (a) How we're living in a soulless time, in which everything has been commodified and monetized -- Particularly due to the inescapable influence of social media); (2) Bernie Sanders as a missed opportunity -- I'm in agreement with the policies promoted by Sanders, but I never voted for him, as I didn't believe he could win in a general election; (3) The grey area of commonality between Obama and Trump -- In terms of actions both presidents have taken in regard to furthering America's endless wars; (4) The obscene pentagon budget -- That could ideally be allocated to fund infrastructure, healthcare, house, education etc.

Dr. West also seems to be very open, fair and compassionate in his understanding and acceptance of the LGBTQ community (I'm saying this as a white LGBTQ person who's always felt like an outsider in the LGBTQ community) & in recognizing how problematic sexism, homophobia and patriarchal attitudes can be -- Within more conservative sectors of the African-American community.

In Closing: Here's a quote from p. ix of this work [which relates to (1) (a) above]: "The major culprit of democratic possibilities here and abroad is the ever-expanding market culture that puts everything and everyone up for sale. The expansion of corporate power is driven by this pervasive commercialization and commodification ... Market activities of buying and selling, advertising and promoting weaken nonmarket actives of caring and sharing, nurturing and connection. Short-term stimulation and instant titillation edge out quality relations and substantive community."

I found this book to be a great introduction to MLK. We tend to associate MLK with Selma and the Civil Rights Movement, but gloss over the numerous other issues MLK stood and fought for.

Cornell West's collection is a great primer to this towering figure of history. In the collection of various essays, speeches and articles MLK had lent his voice to, we are given insight to his views on issues that are still (if not more so revenant today such as living wages, as well as his views on Capitalism, Communism, Gandhi, WEB Du Bois and Vietnam.

West's collection shows MLK's written word was every bit as potent as his speeches.

Anyone who has done reading on MLK will probably be familiar with the content and it's subject matter. Even so, this is a great collection and would be a good refresher for those already knowledgeable about MLK.

students like it

3.5*
I find it hard to rate this audiobook - the sections by Cornel West were a 3* (or perhaps even a 2.5*) but the sections that came straight from King's own writings were excellent, averaging 4*. Listening to King's words reminded me why he is such a role model to people of all races and ages.

One complaint: Due to the way the book was organized, sometimes there would be repetition (even word for word repetition) in back-to-back entries. This repetition would have been less notable if the writings had been organized differently. Despite that small complaint, I thought the organization was interesting. Below is a list of the contents with the narrator for each specified. West gives introductory comments at the beginning of each section plus before several of the individual entries (and of course again at the end though I suppose those couldn't be called 'introductory'!).

Part 1: Radical Love
1. The Violence of Desperate Men, read by Bahni Turpin
2. Palm Sunday Sermon on Mohandas K. Gandhi, read by Kevin R. Free
3. Pilgrimage to Nonviolence, read by Gabourey Sidibe
4. Loving Your Enemies, read by LeVar Burton
5. What is Your Life’s Blueprint?, read by Michael K. Williams

Part 2: Prophetic Visions
6. The World House, read by Colman Domingo
7. All the Great Religions of the World, read by Mike Colter
8. My Jewish Brother, read by Colman Domingo
9. The Middle East Question, read by Leslie Odom, Jr.
10. Let My People Go, read by Bahni Turpin
11. Honoring Dr. Du Bois, read by Danny Glover

Part 3: Nonviolent Resistance
12. Letter From Birmingham Jail, read by Leslie Odom, Jr.
13. Nonviolence and Social Change, read by LeVar Burton
14. My Talk With Ben Bella, read by Colman Domingo
15. Jawaharlal Nehru, A Leader in the Long Anti-Colonial Struggle, read by Kevin R. Free
16. Where Do We Go From Here?, read by Mike Colter
17. Black Power, read by Wanda Sykes
18. Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence, read by Robin Miles

Part 4: Poverty and Hatred
19. The Bravest Man I Ever Met, read by Michael K. Williams
20. The Other America, read by Wanda Sykes
21. All Labor Has Dignity, read by Kevin R. Free
22. The Drum Major Instinct, read by Mike Colter
23. I’ve Been to the Mountaintop, read by Bahni Turpin

About the authors of this book, quoting from the book's dust jacket, "Cornel West is a prominent and provocative democratic intellectual. A current professor at Union Theological Seminary, he has also taught at Yale, Harvard and Princeton. The recipient of more than twenty honorary degrees, he has written many important books. . . Christa Buschendorf is a professor and the chair of American Studies at Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main., She has published on the transatlantic history of ideas and on African America literature.
About the book, quoting from the book's dust jacket: "In an accessible, conversational format, Cornel West, with distinguish scholar Chr5ista Buschendorf, provides a fresh perspective on six revolutionary African American leaders: Frederick Douglass, W.E.B. (William Edward Burghardt) Du Bois, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Ella Baker, Malcolm X, Ida B. Wells-Barnett. In dialogue with Buschendorf, West examines the impact of these men and women on their own eras and across the decades. He not only rediscovers the integrity and commitment within these passionate advocates but also their fault lines."

Very interesting book, especially after reading Ibram Kendi's books, How to Be an Antiracist and Stamped from the Beginning. You can see the precursors of Kendi's thoughts. And unfortunately, you can also see how little racial progress has been made between the early 1990's of West's book and the late 2010's of Kendi's.

In an accessible, conversational format, Cornel West, with distinguished scholar Christa Buschendorf, provides a fresh perspective on six revolutionary African American leaders: Frederick Douglass, W.E.B. DuBois, Martin Luther King, Jr., Ella Baker, Malcolm X, and Ida B. Wells. In dialogue with Buschendorf, West examines the impact of these men and women on their own eras and across the decades. He not only rediscovers the integrity and commitment within these passionate advocates but also their fault lines.

While the full inclusion of the LGBTQ+ individuals would be a cornerstone of our new community, we would embrace and advocate for the fullest inclusion of all God's people into our church and our society, be they be people of color, immigrants, impoverished, physically or intellectually challenged, or marginalized in any way.

12/11/21

12/5/21

This isn't as recent as some of the others I've read. But it talks concisely, clearly, and thoughtfully about some of the same issues and gives the reader many more sources and names to research. I also loved his definition of humility. I think this selection is unique because he illustrates, quite accurately I thought, the viewpoints of both political parties instead of dwelling on one side(something I haven't read recently---most tend to focus on their belief of choice). He does express his own opinion and the base for it, but gives the broad view first and then narrows his focus.

Chapters 3,4, 6, and 7 were very thought-provoking because he explained concepts in ways I hadn't thought of them before.

This is not an easy book for me. Much of the language is hard to master, with ordinary-sounding words used in surprising ways. For example "evasion," which seems to be about pragmatism's move away from epistemology, and about maybe much more.
(also, see review of 'Pragmatism, Old and New' by Haack)

Cornel West is interesting. He doesn't do a lot of actual research, and he's not a firey or inspirational speaker in the way MLK or Malcolm X were, but he does present a few arguments clearly. One which is pretty reasonable (the state of black americans, both within their community and how broader America interacts with them) -- most of which I tend to agree with, that some combination of improved opportunity and seizing on those opportunities is needed to create a self-reinforcing cycle for better lives. But he's also a pretty doctrinaire socialist, in all sorts of crazy ways, which makes it hard for me to accept anything else he's arguing for on faith -- if he'd provide more data backing up his other viewpoints, it would be easier to judge them in isolation, but that's not his method.

What's particularly depressing about this book is that in the 25th anniversary of initial publication, nothing has particularly changed (except for some decrease in violent crime, likely due to lead poisoning levels from the phaseout of leaded gasoline...).

This is one of my least favorite Cornel West books. It is ostensibly a book about democracy, but it's actually mostly a rant about race (and separately, religion). It's unclear to me what he means by democracy (although I'm not a huge fan of what I understand to be democracy, myself; human rights are critical, but the system of representation for government is an instrumentality.)

His whole "argumentation style" is a mix of nice-sounding rant mixed with fairly out of context and over the top references. When he's talking about racial issues directly, he's more clear, but viewing every single aspect of the world through a racial lens seems insane (he's worse than the white supremacist/nazi/etc whackos in degree!)

The really horrible part is when he goes into economics; he's basically a Marxist.

Finally finished this book, and I certainly was moved. At the end of the day, I do have some mixed feelings about the book. This is not due to the content. It is just that it is the kind of book that the choir will pretty much pick up, nod in agreement, and then move on, and the clueless will just completely miss. I get the feeling that the people who really should be reading this book will either miss it or ignore it. After all, pointing out that poverty exists and calling out those actually responsible for it is just not done in polite company. Smiley and West are saying a lot that needs to be said, but how many out there will listen? More importantly, how many of those who listen will be moved to substantial action? That is my question.

Having said that, this book is a must-read. The book is a follow-up of the authors' 2011 Poverty Tour, a tour that went to 18 cities in the U.S. to highlight issues of poverty. The book combines personal stories, commentary, historical overviews and statistics to show how poverty is not just a significant issue in the U.S. It is a national security threat, not to mention a shame upon the nation since it is something that can be solved, but Americans as a whole choose not to solve it. It is not a new problem. What is new is that white suburbanites, who always saw themselves as solid middle class are suddenly falling into poverty. That is what makes the news now, but poverty has been around long before the recent Recession. At any rate, there is an opportunity for substantial change, but it is going to take a lot of will, courage, and compassion. This is what the authors argue. Unlike other books, the authors also offer a full plan for a solution that is worth a look, and one that politicians, if they actually cared for their constituents, could work toward implementing.

I took some notes, so I will probably do a longer write-up of the book in my blog, but I wanted to jot down some thoughts here and to note that I did finish it. Now, don't just sit there. Go find and read this book.

I love hearing Brother Cornel West speak. I've long been attracted to his unique perspective, style, and eloquence. He's a very likable and dynamic scholar. And that's why I've long been eager to read some of his works.

I thought all of these wonderful qualities would translate well to text, but they really don't. West's brilliance is here, but the POW! is missing. Partly, this is because this slim volume isn't given the space that is needed. Each essay is more of a snippet of a much bigger thought. Part is the age, most of the essays are from the early 1990s, and topics such as Clarence Thomas seem antiquated. Still, Race Matters is an important and very scholarly collection, but not one that left this reader in awe.

West engages in a thoughtful and insightful critique of systemic racial oppression in the United States. I appreciated his brevity and depth of moral vision. Drawing on the influence of the prophetic tradition of black intellectuals allows West to disrupt partisan discourse, critiquing liberal and conservative points of view with a clarion call for justice.

I find it hard to rate this audiobook - the sections by Cornel West were a 3* (or perhaps even a 2.5*) but the sections that came straight from King's own writings were excellent, averaging 4*. Listening to King's words reminded me why he is such a role model to people of all races and ages.

One complaint: Due to the way the book was organized, sometimes there would be repetition (even word for word repetition) in back-to-back entries. This repetition would have been less notable if the writings had been organized differently. Despite that small complaint, I thought the organization was interesting. Below is a list of the contents with the narrator for each specified. West gives introductory comments at the beginning of each section plus before several of the individual entries (and of course again at the end though I suppose those couldn't be called 'introductory'!).

Part 1: Radical Love
1. The Violence of Desperate Men, read by Bahni Turpin
2. Palm Sunday Sermon on Mohandas K. Gandhi, read by Kevin R. Free
3. Pilgrimage to Nonviolence, read by Gabourey Sidibe
4. Loving Your Enemies, read by LeVar Burton
5. What is Your Life’s Blueprint?, read by Michael K. Williams

Part 2: Prophetic Visions
6. The World House, read by Colman Domingo
7. All the Great Religions of the World, read by Mike Colter
8. My Jewish Brother, read by Colman Domingo
9. The Middle East Question, read by Leslie Odom, Jr.
10. Let My People Go, read by Bahni Turpin
11. Honoring Dr. Du Bois, read by Danny Glover

Part 3: Nonviolent Resistance
12. Letter From Birmingham Jail, read by Leslie Odom, Jr.
13. Nonviolence and Social Change, read by LeVar Burton
14. My Talk With Ben Bella, read by Colman Domingo
15. Jawaharlal Nehru, A Leader in the Long Anti-Colonial Struggle, read by Kevin R. Free
16. Where Do We Go From Here?, read by Mike Colter
17. Black Power, read by Wanda Sykes
18. Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence, read by Robin Miles

Part 4: Poverty and Hatred
19. The Bravest Man I Ever Met, read by Michael K. Williams
20. The Other America, read by Wanda Sykes
21. All Labor Has Dignity, read by Kevin R. Free
22. The Drum Major Instinct, read by Mike Colter
23. I’ve Been to the Mountaintop, read by Bahni Turpin½

West says Rorty was the highest stage of pragmatism up to the time of this book. But Rorty did not go far enough. The last chapter presents West's program for the next stage.

He hit the nail on the head, several times. By explaining the nihilistic threat to the existence of the Black Community, he finally gave me words for those feelings of despair that I condemned so often as I was growing up (at the same time as I cursed my parents and myself for having too-light skin): that hopelessness and the constant complaints about the Salvadorean boat-people coming over and taking our jobs, about them not listening to Dad just because he was Black, about having two strikes against us as Black Women, and about how lucky I was to be light-skinned because I would get more job, except that it doesn't always work that way. And my own desperate attempts to make the system work, as the Lt. Col. used to say, but I found that outside of Jr. ROTC, that didn't generally work, either. And now I have the words and the analysis to understand why.
Thank you, Cornel West.
BUT,
I do have to disagree mildly with his statements that there was never much cooperation between Black folks and Jewish folks. Please see my book (ok, yes, it is a short book but a book-sized book, nonetheless) on the subject, with examples, of Black-Jewish cooperation in DC both before and during the 60s: [b:Stayed on Freedom's Call: Cooperation Between Jewish And African-American Communities In Washington, DC|21532511|Stayed on Freedom's Call Cooperation Between Jewish And African-American Communities In Washington, DC|Shira Destinie Jones Landrac|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1396843051s/21532511.jpg|40860923]

p. 15 Cornel West makes vitally important points on our need to empower and inspire a democratic way of thinking and behaving,

p. 16 Socratic? Tikkun Olam, Hope

p. 19 I must read Checkhov after I finish el Quixote

p. 22 Nice citation of Walt Whitman qnd Modern Jim Crow ... "the way we fight"

He hit the nail on the head, several times. By explaining the nihilistic threat to the existence of the Black Community, he finally gave me words for those feelings of despair that I condemned so often as I was growing up (at the same time as I cursed my parents and myself for having too-light skin): that hopelessness and the constant complaints about the Salvadorean boat-people coming over and taking our jobs, about them not listening to Dad just because he was Black, about having two strikes against us as Black Women, and about how lucky I was to be light-skinned because I would get more job, except that it doesn't always work that way. And my own desperate attempts to make the system work, as the Lt. Col. used to say, but I found that outside of Jr. ROTC, that didn't generally work, either. And now I have the words and the analysis to understand why.
Thank you, Cornel West.
BUT,
I do have to disagree mildly with his statements that there was never much cooperation between Black folks and Jewish folks. Please see my book (ok, yes, it is a short book but a book-sized book, nonetheless) on the subject, with examples, of Black-Jewish cooperation in DC both before and during the 60s: [b:Stayed on Freedom's Call: Cooperation Between Jewish And African-American Communities In Washington, DC|21532511|Stayed on Freedom's Call Cooperation Between Jewish And African-American Communities In Washington, DC|Shira Destinie Jones Landrac|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1396843051s/21532511.jpg|40860923]