You've got to be a thermostat rather than a thermometer. A thermostat shapes the climate of opinion; a thermometer just reflects it. Cornel West More Quotes by Cornel West More Quotes From Cornel West Drew Dellinger is one of the most creative, courageous and prophetic poets of his generation. I love his spirit. Don't miss him! Cornel West generations creative missing When you love poor people THAT MUCH, when you love 'working people' THAT MUCH, that makes you the freest man/woman in the country." - Cornel West in explaining that Obama is A fulfillment of MLK's dream not THE fulfillment of MLK's dream Cornel West dream men country Our problem is that we don't have enough people in America, including black people, who are progressive and willing to sacrifice their popularity in order to tell the truth. Cornel West sacrifice order america We want an economic team, Paul Krugman and Robert Kuttner, Joseph Steiglitz's people and others, who say, you know what? We're sophisticated economists but we're concerned about poor and working people. Cornel West team want people I'm a bluesman moving through a blues-soaked America, a blues-soaked world, a planet where catastrophe and celebration... "Joy and Pain" - sit side by side. The blues started off in some field, in some plantation, in some mind, in some imagination, in some heart. The blues blew over to the next plantation, and then the next state. The blues went south to north, got electrified and even sanctified. The blues got mixed up with jazz and gospel and rock and roll. Cornel West pain heart moving Martin Luther King was an extremist of love. Cornel West luther extremist kings We need to put strong Democratic pressure on President Obama in the name of poor and working people. Cornel West strong names people 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. Cornel West nice leader brother Martin Luther King was not a Marxist or a communist, but his radical love leads him to put poor and working people at the center. Cornel West communist kings people Anybody who takes Martin Luther King seriously has got to go beyond the standard understanding of who he was, has to connect those dots. Cornel West dots understanding kings Prophetic pragmatism attempts to keep alive the sense of alternative ways of life and of struggle based on the best of the past. In this sense, the praxis of prophetic pragmatism is tragic action with revolutionary intent, usually reformist consequences and always visionary outlook. Cornel West alternatives struggle past We had a much deeper sense of community in '67 than we do in '97. This is important to say that not in a nostalgic way because it's not as if '67 was a time when things were so good. Cornel West community important way The American Dream is individualistic. Martin Luther King's dream was collective. The American Dream says, "I can engage in upward mobility and live the good life." King's dream was fundamentally Christian. His commitment to radical love had everything to do with his commitment to Jesus of Nazareth, and his dream had everything to do with community, with a "we" consciousness that included poor and working people around the world, not just black people. Cornel West christian dream jesus Martin Luther King was a radical democrat, by which I mean someone who is a foe of wealth inequality. Cornel West wealth kings mean Wall Street is stronger than ever. Cornel West streets stronger wall What is accurately portrayed is the rich humanity not just of Martin Luther King but of the movement, which was a multiracial movement. You had blacks and whites coming together and sacrificing, organizing and mobilizing the world. That's the first time we've had collective action put at the center of any kind of portrayal of Martin King on the screen. Cornel West sacrifice humanity kings I'm not saying that President Obama should be exempt from criticism, nor do I believe it is some act of racial treason for a black person to hold our president accountable for his actions. Cornel West black criticism believe American citizens have been killed abroad by drones with no due process, no accountability, no judicial review. Cornel West drones accountability citizens We will not allow this day of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial to go without somebody going to jail. Cornel West memorial jail kings Poor people and working people have not been the focus of the Obama administration. That for me is not just a disappointment but a kind of betrayal. Cornel West betrayal disappointment people
