Black Prophetic Fire: Cornel West on the Revolutionary Legacy of Leading African-American Voices

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Dandelion Salad

Updated: Oct. 12, 2014

democracynow on Oct 6, 2014

democracynow – The renowned scholar, author and activist Dr. Cornel West, joins us to discuss his latest book, “Black Prophetic Fire.” West engages in conversation with the German scholar and thinker Christa Buschendorf about six revolutionary African-American leaders: Frederick Douglass, W. E. B. Du Bois, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Ella Baker, Malcolm X and Ida B. Wells. Even as the United States is led by its first black president, West says he is fearful that we may be “witnessing the death of black prophetic fire in our time.”

Part 2

In part two of our interview, Dr. Cornel West compares the legacy of President Obama to another Nobel Prize winner, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

“Barack Obama commits war crimes — Somalia, Yemen. He commits war crimes in Pakistan, Afghanistan,” West said. “Martin Luther King Jr. tried to keep a spotlight on war crimes, to keep track of the innocents killed … There is a major clash. That is why I tell my young brothers and sisters when they walk around with their little sweater Martin, Malcolm and Barack Obama, I say, ‘Please. That’s like Coltrane and Sarah Vaughan and Pat Boone. They are a very different tradition.’ We love brother Pat, but he doesn’t belong on that shirt and Barack Obama doesn’t belong on that shirt. Let’s be clear.”

watch via http://www.democracynow.org/blog/2014/10/6/cornel_west_on_obama_eric_holder

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Updated

TalkingStickTV – Dr. Cornel West – Black Prophetic Fire

talkingsticktv  on Oct 11, 2014

Talk by Dr. Cornel West author of the new book “Black Prophetic Fire” given October 9, 2014 at Town Hall Seattle.

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