Dr. Cornel West may be looked at as a civil rights leader, but the 56-year-old philosopher is more concerned about the health of America in general. Managing Editor David Sanchirico spoke to Dr. West before his Friday night speech at The Center for the Arts and learned about West's concerns on a bevy of topics.
The Spectrum: You seem to be on the road constantly giving speeches. Do you enjoy leaving Princeton and traveling all across America?
Dr. West: It depends how smooth the plane ride is. Sometimes they're moving all over the place, and I wish I were at home reading some Tolstoy. But generally speaking, meeting wonderful people like you is a joy and allows me to see all sides of America.
S: I got you quoted saying, 'If a nation is sleepwalking and doesn't wake up, it will never be saved. An individual can be a catalyst and spark a nation, but can't totally save it.' While you were campaigning for Obama, did you view him that way?
CW: Some people did, but we know there's no such thing as messiahs in the 21st century. For Christians, there's one particular Jew that they view as one, but other than that, there are none. There was a certain misconception regarding Obama. He was very charismatic and was running a crucial campaign, but of course he's no messiah at all. In a democracy, all of us have to rise up, organize and mobilize.
S: You said you'd be his toughest critic once he stepped into office. It's been a year so far, what are your views of him now?
CW: I've been a tough critic on him, very much so. I give him an A for changing the image of the country around the world, but I give him a C for the economy because he's got a team that's too tied to Wall Street and is not rooted to Main Street enough. Job creation is now an afterthought because the big banks are doing well now, the small banks not so much. I'll give him a B for green policy, which is very important. Foreign policy... I'm not too crazy about the war in Afghanistan.
S: It's seems like people ignored his foreign policy. They viewed him as a peaceful guy that was going to bring this country back together.
CW: In his campaign he did mention Afghanistan, but he downplayed it because the folks were in Iraq.
S: The African American community was obviously ecstatic with Obama's election, but he doesn't seem to be focusing or helping those poor communities out. What's your opinion of Obama and lack of help in poor African American communities around America?
CW: I think that he's kept the whole race at arm's length from the very beginning, because the only way he could win was to neutralize the anxieties of the white moderates who didn't know who he was. He kept the black supporters because they thought, ‘Oh my god if he could win, we'll be ok.' And he was certainly better than McCain. But my concern has to do with poor people in general. He has yet to speak to those people, no matter what color or where they're from.
S: What is your message to those poor communities? Obviously we're in a tough recession right now and the money's not there. How do you get those people to rise up and try to succeed in this tough society?
CW: They have to stay strong, hold together and stay disciplined. There has to be opportunities to reach out to each other and support each other.
S: I'm going to go back in time a little bit: how old were you when Dr. King was assassinated?
CW: I was 14 years old.
S: That must have been a great shock.
CW: It was devastating. I had just run a track meet in Sacramento. The news came out, and my heart broke. I'm sure every African American my age felt the same way.
S: I found out that you weren't the most cooperative child. I've always compared you to Malcolm X, who wasn't the most stable and most law-abiding citizen as a child. What changed for you?
CW: For me, it had to do with the power of love, the power of education, and the power of the church. All of these made me see that the lack of mind meant the lack of success.
S: You were 17 where you traveled cross-country to attend Harvard. Talk about the experience as a kid traveling to a totally new surrounding.
CW: It was like a whole new world. I meant a bunch of magnificent people. Black, white, all colors. Ever since then I've been along the east coast. New York, Princeton, Cambridge. I may be from the west coast but I love the east coast.
S: Now I'm an old school hip-hop guy, and I know you're big on that stuff and have even been mentioned in Lupe Fiasco songs. I'm kind of skeptical of modern hip-hop, pop kind of stuff. What's your view of all of the stuff on the radio?
CW: Guys like Talib Kweli and Lupe Fiasco rap messages and have something to say. Now Jay-Z is on the radio and he's talented, but he's just not at the level he use to be at on Reasonable Doubt and The Blueprint. The genius is still there, but there's no more motivation.
S: Do you think those artists that are on the radio rap about limited messages are providing bad role models to young African Americans?
CW: They're not spiritually deep. I'm a libertarian, people have the right to make noise, but there's a lack of diversity of voices on the radio. Every generation has some music that's questionable and not overly sophisticated. Unfortunately, the radio is so systematic. When I was making my album, they said if I made a catchy and booty-shaking single, they'd play it. But that's not what music should be about, especially the popular songs on the radio.
E-mail: news@ubspectrum.com
Photo: Breadchastick / Wikimedia Commons
