Quoted: Cornel West on...
Compiled by the AOL Black Voices News Staff
Philosopher and Princeton University professor Cornel West delivered a rousing sermon at Howard University's Rankin Chapel on April 23. He said many events, including the surprising success of Tavis Smiley's book 'The Covenant With Black America,' signal a 'new day' of progress in America. But he also pointed to a number of problems still facing African Americans and challenged some black celebrities for things they've said, done or not done.
On T.D. Jakes …
"I had to talk to my dear brother T.D. Jakes. Yeah, we had a dialogue, y'all. Went out to dinner spoke four hours before we ordered salad. I love my dear brother. He has enriched my life. He really has. But I told him, 'Brother, I think you lack political courage.' He said 'Oh, brother West why would you say something like that to me? I said because 'I think it’s true.' Interaction with the right wing televangelists is not a healthy thing for those who love justice. "
On George Bush …
"Don't hate the man. Don't demonize the man. Talk about the effects and consequences of his policy."
On Some Megachurches …
"You go to some of these churches today. You see two ATM's before you see a cross."
On Minister Farrakhan …
"I love Minister Farrakhan. We just lovingly disagree. He has a deep love for black people. He's under death threats everyday. I just don't agree with all of his vision. I'm part of the King legacy. I'm going with Jesus. I've experienced something."
On the Golden Rule …
"You can't love Jesus if you don't love your neighbor. Every neighbor -- not qualified by your finite mind. You know how some Christians are. They love their neighbors but not Negroes, Jews, gays, lesbians, Catholics. Everybody but your friends. You can't love your neighbor if you don't have a loathing for injustice."
On Harry Belafonte …
"My dear brother Harry Belafonte. Paid bills for the King family. Paid for Martin's funeral. Supported the family when they were down and out. Disinvited by the White House. By what authority the powers-that-be tell folks how to bury their dead with dignity and integrity? I love the members of the family but they must be responsible, too."
On Tavis Smiley …
"When you are number one on the New York Times Bestseller List you're sending a sign to the nation and the world that you're serious about the subject matter in that text and the 'Covenant With Black America' is about some serious subject matter. It's about folks catching hell, it’s about folks wrestling with social misery, it’s about folks trying to come to terms with their grief and their pain but transfiguring it into vision."
On Materialism in the Black Middle Class …
"One of the worst things the older generation told young folk: be successful, be successful as they broke the back of American apartheid and Jim and Jane Crow. Be successful. Be successful. They begin to think freedom is really about material choice. It’s about personal security. No! Who told you that lie? It's about self respect and self regard and self determination. It's about service to others."
On Universal Poverty …
"We got white, poor brothers and sisters in Appalachia. I'm a Christian. I love everybody."
On Black People During Slavery ...
"We might have had no political rights. We might have had no land and power and territory but we could still take back power because that's what democracy is. It's about those people Sly Stone calls "everyday people" taking back power in the face of elite abuse of power. And sometimes the only thing you have is just your voice and your body so you just take back power in terms of how you sing and how you stylize space and time with your body -- and how you walk. That's a form of power. People want to walk like you and sing like you."
On the Country's Reaction to 9/11 …
"9/11 first time in the history of America, all Americans feel unsafe, unprotected, subject to random violence and hated for who they are. Be a nigger for 400 years, unsafe, unprotected, subject to random violence, hated for who you are. It's true. What happens when the nation in some sense gets niggerized? But Emmitt Till's mother did not let death have the last word."
On Mythologizing Black Leaders …
"There's a Santa Clausification of Mandela taking place in South Africa, y'all. Martin Luther King underwent the same thing. The most powerful againstthe status quo become like Santa Claus: Big smile, domesticated, tamed, defanged with toys in a bag. All of a sudden all that love and commitment to justice gets flattened out."
On Black Icons …
"Imitation is suicide. I want to say that to young folk. There will never be another Martin. Like there will never be another Curtis Mayfield. There will never be another Ella Baker and Fannie Lou Hamer. There will never be another Malcolm X. Like the jazz musicians, you have to find your own voice."
On Bill Cosby …
"My dear brother Bill Cosby who I love greatly. Comic genius but your language of correction must be informed by a language of compassion or they won't hear it that way. I know you love them but make sure you put that love upfront when you talk about irresponsibility."
On Oprah Winfrey ...
"Embrace Oprah's entrepreneurial genius but ask for accountability in terms of her political courage."
On Kanye West …
Even Kanye West -- thank God for him -- gets real nervous speaking the truth from his soul. Say it, brother! You say it well in the studio. George Bush does not put a high priority on poor folks, especially black folks. Go on and say it with conviction. We got evidence."
On 50 Cent …
"Here comes a brother of infinite value, he calls himself two quarters, half a dollar, 50 Cent.’Kanye's wrong about that. Kanye's wrong about that.' What are you saying 50 Cent? George Bush is in love with poor people? George Bush's policy highlights black people? C'mon 50 Cent. We know you got nine bullets in you. We praying for you. Why don't you speak the truth?"
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