Dr. Cornel West
*In a recent article, Dr. Boyce Watkins posited that he sees history replaying itself.
He sees Barack Obama as John Kennedy and Dr. Cornel West as Martin Luther King Jr.
In other words, and this is deep, Cornel West is Martin Luther King, the preacher/scholar who is determined to die telling the truth, no matter what the consequence may be.
RELATED: Smiley and West Turn Up Heat on Obama & Black Progressives on Poverty (Watch)
“It’s important to remember, he writes, “that it was possible to love both Kennedy and King,even as Dr. King refused to work for even the most benevolent politicians (as Rev. Al Sharpton has done with the Obama Administration). In the same vein, it is possible to love both Cornel West and Barack Obama, and I find myself in that category.”
Cornel West is, in my opinion, the most dangerous black man in America, and that’s why most self-serving, manipulative politicians hate him. There is nothing the establishment fears more than a highly-intelligent,conscientious, powerful, courageous and determined black man. Among all of the public figures I’ve had the chance to interact with, Cornel West has been the most impressive and the most persuasive: Even those who disagree with him respect him in the end, and his agenda is not tainted by a quest for money, fame or power. In my assessment, Dr. West is simply “burdened” with the intense desire to honor a higher power by relentlessly advocating for those who are less-fortunate, which can be a crime in a capitalist society.
In a recent interview,Tavis Smiley asked if President Obama is ever going to say the words “prison industrial complex” in public. Perhaps there are those who don’t care or think that these problems belong to other people. But I’ve seen families up close who’ve been devastated by this issue, and this is simply a fight I cannot ignore. Other matters, such as black unemployment,urban violence and unequal educational systems are not problems that we created ourselves, and similar to white Americans, we too have the right to demand that our tax dollars be used to help resolve these issues. Anyone who attacks a black person for speaking up for black people might need to check his psyche.
In the same interview as Smiley, Dr. West goes directly at those who should be his allies, Al Sharpton, Michael Eric Dyson, and Melissa Harris-Perry, using the term “up for sale” to describe their behavior over the last two years. I consider all of these people to be friends, but the lines in the sand have been drawn by dollar bills being supplied by MSNBC like machine guns being sold to African rebels so they can kill and contain their own people. There are ways that an outside power can use its ability to reward and punish to create factions where none previously existed, making it easier to take resources from the people without compensating them. In Africa, the resource being taken might be oil, and in black America, the resource is votes. Divided black leadership and the containment/control of Al Sharpton have made black people easier to conquer for the Democratic Party.
Read/learn more at Black Blue Dog.
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This article is a lot of b. s. Ain’t worth the ink!!!
There is nothing the establishment (and apologist house negroes) fears more than a highly-intelligent,conscientious, powerful, courageous and determined black man.
Anyone who attacks a black person for speaking up for black people might need to check his psyche.
Tavis Smiley is only angry because he had deals in place if Hillary Clinton won against Obama with Walmart and Clinton backers and they fell through when she lost. The deals were brokered by Clinton.
You know, we can come up with all these conspiracy theories to explain Smiley and West’s advocacy. Or we can just choose the more simpler obvious explanation.
As Dr. Watkins said of Cornel, which can also be applied to Tavis:
Cornel West has been the most impressive and the most persuasive: Even those who disagree with him respect him in the end, and his agenda is not tainted by a quest for money, fame or power. In my assessment, Dr. West is simply “burdened” with the intense desire to honor a higher power by relentlessly advocating for those who are less-fortunate, which can be a crime in a capitalist society.
I don’t question West’s motivation so much as his timing. Black poverty isn’t new, so why did he choose the Obama administration to become passionate about this dilemma? Some may say perhaps he’s always been passionate about poverty, but he’s never been this vocal in the past. And wasn’t Dr. West taking advantage of photo ops during the President Obama’s first campaign? Now he’s become one of his biggest antagonists. With the intelligence, power, and platform West has, he could be doing so much more to help the community. Dr. Steve Perry is on a mission to save young black men. What is Dr. West doing besides stalking the president? His empty rhetoric is becoming stale. There is more to being smart than trying to lambaste a man who is doing something many men would never have the courage to do. As far as comparing Dr. West to Dr. King: Dr. King addressed President Kennedy’s apathy toward the movement, but only to awaken him so that he would provide protection for the freedom fighters. Dr. King wasn’t sitting in some public forum, bringing attention to himself and doing nothing. I don’t see the similarities.
Str8up, why does Tavis’ or West’s motivation matter? Say you’re right (even though you’ve offered no proof), so what? Does that make their points any less valid? You are okay with a Black president totally IGNORING his Black constiuency? How is that okay with you?
I agree with Dr. Watkins in that the Black community has a psyche problem. My diagnosis would be Stockholm syndrome, “psychological phenomenon in which hostages express empathy, sympathy and have positive feelings towards their captors, sometimes to the point of defending them.” They are being used by Democrats, especially Obama, who knows how to speak their “language” when need be and washes away their concerns with his “down-ness” and charisma (ie singing Al Green, hanging with JayZ, etc.), as well as the political media industrial complex, in this case MSNBC working in conjunction with the Obama White House, to pick off a few public Black faces, dangle a few dollars in front of them and bring them on board to serve as a buffer for any criticism to the Obama White House.
Honestly, when you think about it, Blacks almost don’t stand a chance. They are exploited by almost everyone. Everyone around them treats them like ignorant weaklings who have no right to complain, who have no right to remind anyone of America’s sordid past, who “just needs to shut up and work on themselves and don’t expect their government to in any way cater to them. They need to just get over it. What more do they want? They have a “Black” president and even the permed shakedown artist has a show! They should be happy for goodness sake!”
TGEN: I agree with some of your comments:
“Honestly, when you think about it, Blacks almost don’t stand a chance. They are exploited by almost everyone. Everyone around them treats them like ignorant weaklings who have no right to complain, who have no right to remind anyone of America’s sordid past, who “just needs to shut up and work on themselves and don’t expect their government to in any way cater to them. They need to just get over it. What more do they want? ”
The poor have lots of opportunities… but they have to be willing to seek them out!
They are “exploited” by: rappers, sports stars, politicians, etc.
We have the best dressed poor people in the world! They are willing to spend, steal, do whatever it takes to obtain the latest / greatest / clothing, hair styles, etc. to look “good!”
The question that resonates with me is how do “WE” get most on the same page to work towards a “COMMON GOAL” of Uplifting our people?
We have poor, working poor (some used to be middle-class), middle-class, rich….
I don’t think you and I are necessarily on the same page with how to solve.
I typically see a program that is temporary… after a short period of time, it appears to be like using a bandaid to deal with a broken arm! We have seen this historically.
Eg. Public assistance… without a bridge to independence. So people continue for generations to be dependent.
Lady_Elle I agree with you about programs. In the long term, lots of programs have actually benefited the black middle class more than the poor. In fact, the black middle class is too heavily concentrated in the public sector. Of course this is understandable since the public sector was the first to put anti-discrimination policies in place that allowed educated blacks to be hired and advance when the private sector would not hire us. However, the negative is that when budgets are tight and services are cut, the black middle class is disproportionately affected. Ultimately we are going to have to own the footprint in our communities. Currently many of the small businesses and franchises in black communities are owned by non-blacks who in turn hire their own. How do we gain ownership? Whenever I hear some really bright young black person talk about starting yet another non-profit, I think no, there are plenty of non-profits, set your goal on owning the gas station or the beauty supply store on the corner. However, the government does play a role in ensuring that we are not discriminated against unfairly in the process.
Nowhere in my post did I offer that “public assistance” was a solution I was putting forth. I’m not sure how you surmised that, but you are wrong. I’m interested in long-term solutions just like you, but I’m not interested in excuses why this administration can’t address anything. I don’t buy the b.s. that their hands are tied. It throws enough money at continuing Bush’s wars that it can throw some money at comprehensive education programs DIRECTED at Black students, especially Black men, or employment incentives focused on this group, or more money given to HBCU’s to reach into the community and elevate these at-risk youth (NOT just in the form of more loan money either, I’m talking scholarships and feeder programs), or gutting the prison industrial complex, or promoting positive entertainment and taking on trash (ala Clinton and sista soulja). My point is that when someone cares about something, it shows. There is no hidden agenda, no secrecy, none of that. If he gave a damn, you’d know it by now. He would say it explicitly. He would not answer a question about Black male unemployment with ‘a rising tide lifts all boats.’” YES, Black folks have a lot of internal ish to do, but that does not absolve the government to which THEY ALSO PAY TAXES of its responsibility to address the issues adversely affecting its citizens.
TGEN: I never said you said anything about “public assistance”. Perhaps you should go back and read my post.
I have my own opinions that I speak to in my post!
I am interested in long-term solutions as stated in my post.
im still trying to understand how one can juxtapose cornel against that of the great dr. king? correct me if im wrong but i dont ever recall dr. king calling another brother outside of their name. that casting of aspersion in and of itself is enough alone to question boyce’s article. i cant even get past this component to begin to delve into anything else that he has to say here.
on one hand boyce states:
“Let President Obama open the door for real leadership by letting black leaders propose solutions to piercing problems. ” and then on the other hand states:
“(notice that certain black faces are dispatched to the airwaves to keep the field negroes under control whenever we start to think for ourselves)”
im sick and tired of this “black leaders” mess. thats antiquated thinking. why are these same so-called “black leaders” thrown out there by boyce? they aint my leaders. who’s leaders is he talking about? boyce himself sounds like he is one of the “field negros” that he is talking about.
I don’t think there is anything wrong with people questioning the president on what he does or does not do for the black community. They are right to raise some of the issues; however, it is very complex and I think some people have unrealistic expectations that it is the federal government’s responsibily to fix all issues. I think the federal government definitely plays a role but not on every single issue. Smiley and West sometimes appear to take the approarch of the government needs to come in and save us rather than formulating specific tactics around specific issues. The government isn’t just going to come in and handout jobs and in reality even if they did there is significant numbers of black people who still would not qualify for them. While I think government definitely plays a role, I believe there are some issues we are going to have to figure out on our own. Let’s take violence for example, I honestly not sure what we expect the president to do because it all can’t be blamed on poverty; there are cultural issues involved that I feel have to be handled internally. The artilce also mentioned the prison issue. On this the government plays a role in making sure there are fair sentencing laws in place. Obama has alreay dealt with this issue somewhat but he could do more but I’m not sure I want him getting involved with the violence issue. Many of us seem to have forgotten that one of the reasons we ended up with unfair sentencing guidelines in the first place is because we asked the government to do something about the crack problem and the response was tougher drug and sentencing laws that basically only affected blacks.
This sh$t has gone way overboard, These 2 have been at Obama since he brushed off Tavis’s invite. You know it reminds of that spoiled little brat in grade school who got mad he didn’t get his way so he did everything he could do to annoy you at every turn. This is really beginning to turn my stomach.
The article should have read:
Cornel West is, in my opinion, the most dangerous black man in America, and that’s why most self-serving, manipulative politicians hate him. There is nothing the establishment fears more than a highly-intelligent,conscientious, BIG MOUTH!!!!!!
Cappaucino hit the nail right on the head! West and Smiley are still pissed that Obama didn’t accept Tavis’s invite several years ago. Of course, POTUS offered to send Michele Obama, his secret weapon, and they turned that offer down. How stupid can they be? She has proven to be an outstanding advocate for the President. Disagreeing is one thing but this is something much deeper and personal. They aren’t black leaders and Dr West is certainly no Dr Martin Luther King. Keep moving forward. NEXT!!