This article is about African philosophy. For the two journals called African Philosophy see African Philosophy (1369-6823) and African Philosophy (1533-1067). For information on African philosophers and philosophy on the African diaspora, see Africana philosophy.

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African philosophy is used in different ways by different philosophers. Although African philosophers spend their time doing work in many different areas, such as metaphysics, epistemology, moral philosophy, and political philosophy, a great deal of the literature is taken up with a debate concerning the nature of African philosophy itself and if it in fact exists.

Introduction[link]

One of the most basic loci of disagreement concerns what exactly it is that the term ‘African’ qualifies: the content of the philosophy or the identities of the philosophers. On the former view, philosophy counts as African if it involves African themes (such as distinctively African perceptions of time, personhood, etc.) or uses methods that are distinctively African.

In the latter view, African philosophy is any philosophy done by Africans or by people of African descent, or others engaged in the realm of African philosophy.

Pre-modern African philosophy[link]

Joseph I. Omoregbe's broadly defines a philosopher as, "one who devotes a good deal of his time reflecting on fundamental questions about human life or the physical universe and who frequently and habitually does this” and though no clearly articulated and documented philosophy exists, there is still a philosophical tradition. Put simply, even if there were no known African philosophers, there was African philosophy. This may be supported by observing from The Iliad and other Greek literature that philosophic concepts such as hubris, heroism, and the superiority of Greek culture were extant prior to the Late Classical period of Greek Antiquity. Thus, a form of natural philosophy, has been present in Africa since very ancient times.

If we take a philosophy to be a coherent set of beliefs, but not a system explaining the unity of its understanding of all the world's phenomena, the nature of the world and the place of human beings in that world, then few if any cultures lack a philosophy.

The standard view of the rise of philosophical (and of scientific) thought is that it probably required a certain sort of social structure (one in which, for example, a significant part of society had the leisure to think and debate), but that even given this necessary background condition, there's a further complex set of factors needed.

Philosophy in Africa has a rich and varied history, dating from pre-dynastic Egypt, continuing through the birth of Christianity and Islam. Arguably central to the ancients was the conception of "ma'at", which roughly translated refers to "justice", "truth", or simply "that which is right". One of the earliest works of political philosophy was the Maxims of Ptah-Hotep, which were taught to Egyptian schoolboys for centuries.

Ancient Egyptian philosophers made extremely important contributions to Hellenistic philosophy, Christian philosophy, and Islamic philosophy.

In the Hellenistic tradition, the influential philosophical school of Neoplatonism was founded by the Egyptian philosopher Plotinus in the 3rd century CE.

In the Christian tradition, Augustine of Hippo was a cornerstone of Christian philosophy and theology. He lived from 354 to 430 CE, and wrote his best known work, The City of God, in Hippo Regius, (now Annaba, Algeria). He challenged a number of ideas of his age including Arianism, and established the notions of original sin and divine grace in Christian philosophy and theology.

In the Islamic tradition, Ibn Bajjah philosophized along neo-Platonist lines in the 12th century C.E. The purpose of human life, according to Bajja, was to gain true happiness, and true happiness is attained by grasping the universals through reason and philosophy, often outside the framework of organized religion.

Ibn Rushd philosophised along more Aristotelian lines, establishing the philosophical school of Averroism. Notably, he argued that there was no conflict between religion and philosophy, and instead that there are a variety of routes to God, all equally valid, and that the philosopher was free to take the route of reason while the commoners were unable to take that route, and only able to take the route of teachings passed on to them.

Ibn Sab'in challenged the above view, arguing that Aristotelian methods of philosophy were useless in attempting to understand the universe, because those ideas failed to mirror the basic unity of the universe with itself and with God, so that true understanding required a different method of reasoning.

There is at least one example of a pre-modern sub-Saharan African philosopher: Anthony William Amo was taken as a slave from Awukenu in what is now Ghana, was brought up and educated in Europe (gaining doctorates in medicine and philosophy), and became a professor at the universities of Halle Halle and Jena.

In terms of political philosophy, the independence of Ethiopia and the exercise of native African nation expressing its independence in the face of European colonialism and oppression served as a rallying cry in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and was one of the cornerstones of the Pan-African movement that would spur independence from European colonialism by the middle of the 20th century.

Modern African philosophy[link]

Kenyan philosopher Henry Odera Oruka has distinguished what he calls four trends in modern African philosophy: ethnophilosophy, philosophical sagacity, nationalistic–ideological philosophy, and professional philosophy. In fact it would be more realistic to call them candidates for the position of African philosophy, with the understanding that more than one of them might fit the bill. (Oruka later added two additional categories: literary/artistic philosophy, the work of literary figures such as Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achebe, Okot p'Bitek, and Taban Lo Liyong, and hermeneutic philosophy the analysis of African languages in order to find philosophical content.) Maulana Karenga is one of the key philosophers in African-American circles, he produced a 803 page book titled Maat, The Moral Ideal in Ancient Egypt.

Ethnophilosophy & philosophical sagacity[link]

Ethnophilosophy has been used to record the beliefs found in African cultures. Such an approach treats African philosophy as consisting in a set of shared beliefs, values, categories, and assumptions that are implicit in the language, practices, and beliefs of African cultures; in short, the uniquely African world view. As such, it is seen as an item of communal property rather than an activity for the individual.

One proponent of this form, Placide Tempels, argued in Bantu Philosophy that the metaphysical categories of the Bantu people are reflected in their linguistic categories. According to this view, African philosophy can be best understood as springing from the fundamental assumptions about reality reflected in the languages of Africa.

An example of this sort of approach is the work of E. J. Algoa of the University of Port Harcourt in Nigeria, who argues for the existence of an African philosophy of history stemming from traditional proverbs from the Niger Delta in his paper "An African Philosophy of History in the Oral Tradition". Algoa argues that in African philosophy, age is seen as an important factor in gaining wisdom and interpreting the past. In support of this view, he cites proverbs such as "More days, more wisdom", and "What an old man sees seated, a youth does not see standing". Truth is seen as eternal and unchanging ("Truth never rots"), but people are subject to error ("Even a four-legged horse stumbles and falls"). It is dangerous to judge by appearances ("A large eye does not mean keen vision"), but first-hand observation can be trusted ("He who sees does not err"). The past is not seen as fundamentally different from the present, but all history is contemporary history ("A storyteller does not tell of a different season"). The future remains beyond knowledge ("Even a bird with a long neck cannot see the future"). Nevertheless, it is said, "God will outlive eternity". History is seen as vitally important ("One ignorant of his origin is nonhuman"), and historians (known as "sons of the soil") are highly revered ("The son of the soil has the python's keen eyes"). These arguments must be taken with a grain of cultural relativism, as the span of culture in Africa is incredibly vast, with patriarchies, matriarchies, monotheists and animists among the population. The attitudes of groups of the Niger Delta should be no more construed to the whole of Africa than that of Norse Vikings to the inclinations of the Spanish conquistadors.

Another more controversial application of this approach is embodied in the concept of Negritude. Leopold Senghor, a proponent of negritude, argued that the distinctly African approach to reality is based on emotion rather than logic, works itself out in participation rather than analysis, and manifests itself through the arts rather than the sciences. Cheikh Anta Diop and Mubabinge Bilolo, on the other hand, while agreeing that African culture is unique, challenged the view of Africans as essentially emotional and artistic, pointing out that Egypt was an African culture whose achievements in science, mathematics, architecture, and philosophy provided a basis for Greek civilization. This philosophy may also be maligned as overly reductionist due to the obvious scientific and scholarly triumphs of ancient Egypt, Nubia, Axum, as well as the great library of Timbuktu and extensive trade networks of northern and Western Africa. Great Zimbabwe is another example of monumental construction in Southern Africa.

Critics of this approach argue that the actual philosophical work in producing a coherent philosophical position is being done by the academic philosopher (such as Algoa), and that the sayings of the same culture can be selected from and organised in many different ways in order to produce very different, often contradictory systems of thought. One can imagine trying to develop an English theory of mind by collecting proverbs and idioms such as "I'm in two minds about that", "He's out of his mind with worry", "She has a mind like a sieve", etc.

Philosophical sagacity is a sort of individualist version of ethnophilosophy, in which one records the beliefs of certain special members of a community. The premise here is that, although most societies demand some degree of conformity of belief and behaviour from their members, a certain few of those members reach a particularly high level of knowledge and under­standing of their cultures' world-view; such people are sages. In some cases, the sage goes beyond mere knowledge and understanding to reflection and questioning — these become the targets of philosophical sagacity.

Critics of this approach note that not all reflection and questioning is philosophical; besides, if African philosophy were to be defined purely in terms of philosophic sagacity, then the thoughts of the sages could not be African philosophy, for they did not record them from other sages. Also, on this view the only difference between non-African anthropology or ethnology and African philosophy seems to be the nationality of the researcher.

Critics argue further that the problem with both ethnophilosophy and philosophical sagacity is that there is surely an important distinction between philosophy and the history of ideas, although other philosophers consider the two topics to be remarkably similar.^{[citation needed]} No matter how interesting the beliefs of a people such as the Akan or the Yoruba may be to the philosopher, they remain beliefs, not philosophy. To call them philosophy is to use a secondary sense of that term, as in “my philosophy is live and let live”.

Professional philosophy[link]

Professional philosophy is the view that philosophy is a particularly European way of thinking, reflecting, and reasoning, that such a way is relatively new to (most of) Africa, and that African philosophy must grow in terms of the philosophical work carried out by Africans and applied to (perhaps not exclusively) African concerns. This view would be the most common answer of most Western philos­ophers (whether of continental or analytic persuasion) to the question ‘what is African philosophy?’

Critics of this view note the ethnocentricity within this statement. The question to them is "What is philosophy?" Those who hold the viewpoint of the Professional Philosopher would likely answer, "European, Middle Eastern and Asian philosophy alone shall be called philosophy". Professional Philosophers therefore must either provide more detail regarding their views or accept that their views are simply ethnocentric.

Kawaida[link]

Created by Maulana Karenga the philosophy of Kawaida is an ongoing synthesis of African thought and practice in constant exchange with the world. One of its central tenets is that culture is the fundamental source of a people's identity, purpose and direction. Thus, Kawaida is, in fact, a continuous dialog with African cultures, asking questions and seeking answers to central and enduring concerns of the African and human community. Due to the great variety of African cultures, and the vast genetic diversity of the continent, it could be construed that Kawaida is actually a humanistic form of philosophy, due to evidence that all humans originally arose in Africa. At the heart of this project is the continuing quest to define and become the best of what it means to be both African and human in the fullest sense. This involves an ongoing search for models of excellence and paradigms of possibilities in every area of human life, but especially in the seven core areas of culture: history; spirituality and ethics; social organization; political organization; economic organization; creative production (art, music, literature, dance, etc.) and ethos. It also involves creating a language and logic of liberation, one of opposition and affirmation, and a corresponding liberational practice to create a just and good society and pose an effective paradigm of mutually beneficial human relations and human possibility.^[1]

Nationalist–ideological philosophy[link]

Nationalist–ideological philosophy might be seen as a special case of philosophic sagacity, in which not sages but ideologues are the subjects. Alternatively, we might see it as a case of profes­sional political philosophy. In either case, the same sort of problem arises: we have to retain a distinction between ideology and philosophy, between sets of ideas and a special way of reasoning.

Ethnophilosophers attempt to show that African philosophy is distinctive by treading heavily on the 'African' and almost losing the 'philosophy'. Their main rivals, the professional philosophers, adopt the view that philosophy is a particular way of thinking, reflecting, reasoning, that such a way is relatively new to (most of) Africa, and that African philosophy must grow in terms of the philosophical work carried out by Africans and applied to (perhaps not exclusively) African concerns. Thus they tread heavily on the 'philosophy', but risk losing the 'African'; this risk, however, is by no means unavoidable, and many African philosophers have successfully avoided it, including Kwame Anthony Appiah, Kwame Gyekye, Kwasi Wiredu, Oshita O. Oshita, Lansana Keita, Peter Bodunrin, and Chukwudum B. Okolo.

(part of this article is based upon Peter J. King's introduction to African philosophy (see link below), used with permission)

See also[link]

• African philosophers
• Ethiopian philosophy
• Monism

Notes and references[link]

Further reading[link]

• Peter O. Bodunrin Philosophy in Africa: Trends and Perspectives (1985: University of Ife Press)
• Paulin J. Hountondji African Philosophy: Myth and Reality (1983: Bloomington, Indiana University Press)
• Samuel Oluoch Imbo An Introduction to African Philosophy (1998: Rowman & Littlefield) ISBN 0-8476-8841-0
• Bruce B. Janz "African Philosophy" PDF
• Safro Kwame Reading in African Philosophy: An Akan Collection (1995: University Press of America) ISBN 0-8191-9911-7
• H. Odera Oruka [ed.] Sage Philosophy [Volume 4 in Philosophy of History and Culture] (1990: E.J. Brill) ISBN 90-04-09283-8, ISSN 0922-6001
• Tsenay Serequeberhan [ed.] African Philosophy: The Essential Readings (1991: Paragon House) ISBN 1-55778-309-8
• Placide Tempels, La philosophie bantoue (Bantu Philosophy), Elisabethville, 1945, Full text in French here.
• Kwasi Wiredu Philosophy and an African (1980: Cambridge University Press)
• Kwasi Wiredu [ed.] A Companion to African Philosophy (2004: Blackwell)
• Kwasi Wiredu Toward Decolonizing African Philosophy And Religion In: African Studies Quarterly, The Online Journal for African Studies, Volume 1, Issue 4, 1998
• Olabiyi Babalola Yai, Guest Editor: African Studies Quarterly, Volume 1, Issue 4 (1998): Religion and Philosophy in Africa
• Mubabinge Bilolo, Contribution à l’histoire de la reconnaissance de Philosophie en Afrique Noire Traditionnelle, (1978: Kinshasa, Facultés Catholiques de Kinshasa, Licence en Philosophie et Religions Africaines)
• Mubabinge Bilolo, Les cosmo-théologies philosophiques de l'Égypte Antique. Problématiques, Prémisses herméneutiques et problèmes majeurs. Academy of African Thought, Sect. I, vol. 1, (1986: Kinshasa-Munich-Libreville, African University Studies)
• Peter O. Bodunrin Philosophy in Africa: Trends and Perspectives (1985: University of Ife Press)
• Kwame Gyekye An Essay of African Philosophical Thought: The Akan Conceptual Scheme (1995: Temple University Press) ISBN 1-56639-380-9
• Paulin J. Hountondji African Philosophy: Myth and Reality (1983: Bloomington, Indiana University Press)
• Samuel Oluoch Imbo An Introduction to African Philosophy (1998: Rowman & Littlefield) ISBN 0-8476-8841-0
• Bruce B. Janz "African Philosophy" PDF
• Safro Kwame Reading in African Philosophy: An Akan Collection (1995: University Press of America) ISBN 0-8191-9911-7
• Joseph I. Omoregbe “African philosophy: yesterday and today” (in Bodunrin; references to reprint in [E. C. Eze] [ed.] African Philosophy: An Anthology (1998: Oxford, Blackwell))
• H. Odera Oruka [ed.] Sage Philosophy [Volume 4 in Philosophy of History and Culture] (1990: E.J. Brill) ISBN 90-04-09283-8, ISSN 0922-6001
• Tsenay Serequeberhan [ed.] African Philosophy: The Essential Readings (1991: Paragon House) ISBN 1-55778-309-8
• Placide Tempels, La philosophie bantoue (Bantu Philosophy), Elisabethville, 1945, Full text in French here.
• Kwasi Wiredu Philosophy and an African (1980: Cambridge University Press)
• Kwasi Wiredu [ed.] A Companion to African Philosophy (2004: Blackwell)
• Kwasi Wiredu Toward Decolonizing African Philosophy And Religion In: African Studies Quarterly, The Online Journal for African Studies, Volume 1, Issue 4, 1998
• Olabiyi Babalola Yai, Guest Editor: African Studies Quarterly, Volume 1, Issue 4 (1998): Religion and Philosophy in Africa

External links[link]

• African Philosophy Pages — Maintained by Bruce Janz
• African Philosophy — maintained by Peter J. King
• African Philosophy — African Studies Centre
• The Making of a Tradition: African Philosophy in the New Millenium by Dismas A. Masolo [sic]
• Wikiversity Research Project of African Philosophy

Cornel West

Cornel West in 2008
Born	Cornel Ronald West (1953-06-02) June 2, 1953 (age 59) Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S.
Era	21st-century philosophy
Region	Western Philosophers
School	Pragmatism, Existentialism, Africana Philosophy, Historicism
Main interests	Democracy, Race, Philosophy of religion, Ethics
Notable ideas	Race Matters, Democracy Matters
Influenced by Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, W. E. B. Du Bois, James Cone, Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, Karl Kautsky, György Lukács, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Søren Kierkegaard, Arthur Schopenhauer, Leszek Kolakowski, Herman Melville, Michel Foucault, Antonio Gramsci, Richard Rorty, William James, John Dewey, Frankfurt School

Cornel Ronald West (born June 2, 1953) is an American philosopher, author, critic, actor, civil rights activist and prominent member of the Democratic Socialists of America.

West is a 1973 graduate of Harvard University and a doctoral graduate of Princeton University. He is currently a professor of African American studies at Princeton and of Religious philosophy and Christian studies at the Union Theological Seminary in New York.

West is known for his combination of political and moral insight and criticism and his contribution to the post-1960s civil rights movement.^{[citation needed]} The bulk of his work focuses on the role of race, gender, and class in American society and the means by which people act and react to their "radical conditionedness." West draws intellectual contributions from such diverse traditions as the African American Baptist Church, pragmatism and transcendentalism.^[1][2][3][4]

Early life[link]

West was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma,^[5] and grew up in Sacramento, California, where he graduated from John F. Kennedy High School. His father was a general contractor for the Defense Department, and his mother was a teacher and a principal. Irene B. West Elementary School in Elk Grove, California, is named for her.^[6]

As a young man, West marched in civil rights demonstrations and organized protests demanding black studies courses at his high school, where he was class president. He later wrote that, in his youth, he admired "the sincere black militancy of Malcolm X, the defiant rage of the Black Panther Party [...] and the livid black theology of James Cone."^[7]

In 1970, after graduating from John F. Kennedy High School, he enrolled at Harvard University and took classes from philosophers Robert Nozick and Stanley Cavell. In 1973, he graduated magna cum laude in Near Eastern Languages and Civilization. West credited Harvard with exposing him to a broader range of ideas, influenced by his professors as well as the Black Panther Party. West says his Christianity prevented him from joining the BPP, instead choosing to work in local breakfast, prison, and church programs.^[8]

Career[link]

Academic appointments[link]

In 1980, West earned a Ph.D. from Princeton, where he was influenced by Richard Rorty's pragmatism.^[9] The title of his dissertation was Ethics, historicism and the Marxist tradition,^[10] which was later revised and published under the title The Ethical Dimensions of Marxist Thought.^[9]

In his mid-20s, he returned to Harvard as a W. E. B. Du Bois Fellow before becoming an Assistant Professor at Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York. In 1984, he went to Yale Divinity School in what eventually became a joint appointment in American Studies. While at Yale, he participated in campus protests for a clerical labor union and divestment from apartheid South Africa. One of the protests resulted in his being arrested and jailed. As punishment, the University administration canceled his leave for Spring 1987, leading him to commute from Yale in New Haven, Connecticut, where he was teaching two classes, across the Atlantic Ocean to the University of Paris.^[11]

He then returned to Union for one year before going to Princeton to become a Professor of Religion and Director of the Program in African-American Studies from 1988 to 1994.^[11] After Princeton, he accepted an appointment as Professor of African-American Studies at Harvard University, with a joint appointment at the Harvard Divinity School.^[12] West taught one of the University's most popular courses, an introductory class to African-American Studies.^[13] In 1998, he was appointed the first Alphonse Fletcher University Professor.^[14] West utilized this new position to teach not only in African-American studies, but in Divinity, Religion, and Philosophy.^[12] West left Harvard after a widely-publicized dispute with then-President Lawrence Summers in 2002. That year, West returned to Princeton, where he continues to teach in African-American Studies.^[15] In 2011, West announced his return to the seminary where he began his teaching career.^[16]

The recipient of more than 20 honorary degrees and an American Book Award,^[1] He has written or contributed to over twenty published books. West is a long-time member of the Democratic Socialists of America, for which he now serves as Honorary Chair.^[11] He is also a co-founder of the Network of Spiritual Progressives.^[17] West is on the Advisory Board of the International Bridges to Justice.^[18]

West is also a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity and its World Policy Council, a think tank whose purpose is to expand Alpha Phi Alpha's involvement in politics and social and current policy to encompass international concerns.^[19]

Critics, most notably The New Republic literary editor Leon Wieseltier, have charged him with opportunism, crass showmanship, and lack of scholarly seriousness.^[20] West remains a widely cited scholar in the popular press.^[21]

Entertainment career[link]

West appears in both The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions.^[22] In addition, West provides philosophical commentary on all three Matrix films in The Ultimate Matrix Collection, along with integral theorist Ken Wilber.^[23]

He has also made several appearances in documentary films, such as the 2008 film Examined Life, a documentary featuring several academics discussing philosophy in real-world contexts. West, "driving through Manhattan, . . . compares philosophy to jazz and blues, reminding us how intense and invigorating a life of the mind can be."^[24] He also appears in conversation with Bill Withers in the Bill Withers documentary, Still Bill. West also has made frequent appearances on the political talk show Real Time with Bill Maher.^[25] A character based on West and events in his career appeared in the Law & Order: Criminal Intent episode Anti-Thesis, significant for introducing the recurring villain character Nicole Wallace.^[26]

On the musical front, West recorded a recitation of John Mellencamp's song "Jim Crow" for inclusion on the singer's box set On the Rural Route 7609 in 2009.^[27] In 2010, he completed recording with the Cornel West Theory, a Hip Hop band endorsed by West.^[27] He has also released two hip-hop/soul/spoken word albums, one under "Cornel West" (entitled Street Knowledge), the other under "Cornel West & BMWMB (Black Men Who Mean Business)" (entitled Never Forget: A Journey of Revelations).^[28] West also appeared on Immortal Technique's song "Sign of the Times", which appeared on the album The Martyr.

Dispute with Lawrence Summers[link]

In 2000, economist and former U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers became president of Harvard. Soon after, Summers held a private meeting with West, where he reportedly rebuked West for missing too many classes, contributing to grade inflation, neglecting serious scholarship, and spending too much time on his economically profitable projects.^[29] Summers reportedly suggested that West produce an academic book befitting his professorial position, as his recent output had consisted primarily of co-written and edited volumes. According to some reports, Summers also objected to West's production of a CD, the critically panned Sketches of My Culture, and to his political campaigning, including an alleged three weeks to promote Bill Bradley's presidential campaign.^[30] West contended he had missed only one class during his tenure at Harvard "in order to give a keynote address at a Harvard-sponsored conference on AIDS." Summers also allegedly suggested that since West held the rank of Harvard University Professor and thus reported directly to the President, he should meet with Summers regularly to discuss the progress of his academic production.^[31]

Summers refused to comment on the details of his conversation with West, except to express hope that West would remain at Harvard. Soon after, West was hospitalized for prostate cancer. West complained that Summers failed to send him get-well wishes until weeks after his surgery, whereas newly installed Princeton president Shirley Tilghman had contacted him frequently before and after his treatment.^[31]

In 2002 West left Harvard University to return to Princeton. West lashed out at Summers in public interviews, calling him "the Ariel Sharon of higher education" on NPR's Tavis Smiley Show.^[32] In response to these remarks, five Princeton faculty members, led by professor of molecular biology Jacques Robert Fresco, said they looked with "strong disfavor upon his characterization" of Summers and that "such an analogy carries innuendoes and implications... that many on the Princeton faculty find highly inappropriate, indeed repugnant and intolerable."^[33]

Harvard University's undergraduate student newspaper, The Harvard Crimson, suggested in October 2002 that the premise of Law and Order: Criminal Intent episode "Anti-Thesis" was based on West's conflicts with Summers.^[34]

Activism[link]

Views on race in the United States[link]

West has called the U.S. a "racist patriarchal" nation where white supremacy continues to define everyday life. "White America," he writes, "has been historically weak-willed in ensuring racial justice and has continued to resist fully accepting the humanity of blacks." This has resulted, he says, in the creation of many "degraded and oppressed people hungry for identity, meaning, and self-worth." Professor West attributes most of the black community's problems to "existential angst derive[d] from the lived experience of ontological wounds and emotional scars inflicted by white supremacist beliefs and images permeating U.S. society and culture."^[35]

In West's view, the September 11, 2001 attacks gave white Americans a glimpse of what it means to be a black person in the United States—feeling "unsafe, unprotected, subject to random violence, and hatred" for who they are.^[36] "The ugly terrorist attacks on innocent civilians on 9/11," he said, "plunged the whole country into the blues."^[36]

Politics[link]

West has described himself as a "non-Marxist socialist" (partly because he cannot reconcile Marxism with Christianity)^[37] and serves as honorary chair of the Democratic Socialists of America, which he has described as "the first multiracial, socialist organization close enough to my politics that I could join".^[11] He also described himself as a "radical democrat, suspicious of all forms of authority" on the Matrix-themed documentary The Burly Man Chronicles.^[38]

West believes that "the overthrow of Saddam Hussein's ugly totalitarian regime was desirable,"^[39] but that the war in Iraq was the result of "dishonest manipulation" on the part of the Bush administration.^[40] He asserts that Bush Administration hawks "are not simply conservative elites and right-wing ideologues", but rather are "evangelical nihilists — drunk with power and driven by grand delusions of American domination of the world". He adds, "We are [now] experiencing the sad gangsterization of America, an unbridled grasp at power, wealth, and status." Viewing capitalism as the root cause of these alleged American lusts, West warns, "Free-market fundamentalism trivializes the concern for public interest. It puts fear and insecurity in the hearts of anxiety-ridden workers. It also makes money-driven, poll-obsessed elected officials deferential to corporate goals of profit — often at the cost of the common good."^[41]

West has been involved with such projects as the Million Man March and Russell Simmons's Hip-Hop Summit, and worked with such public figures as Louis Farrakhan^[5] and Al Sharpton, whose 2004 presidential campaign West advised.^[42]

In 2000, West worked as a senior advisor to Democratic presidential candidate Bill Bradley. When Bradley lost in the primaries, West became a prominent endorser of Ralph Nader, even speaking at some Nader rallies. Some Greens sought to draft West to run as a presidential candidate in 2004. West declined, citing his active participation in the Al Sharpton campaign. West, along with other prominent Nader 2000 supporters, signed the "Vote to Stop Bush" statement urging progressive voters in swing states to vote for John Kerry, despite strong disagreements with many of Kerry's policies.^[43]

In April 2002 West and Rabbi Michael Lerner performed civil disobedience by sitting in the street in front of the U.S. State Department "in solidarity with suffering Palestinian and Israeli brothers and sisters." West said, "We must keep in touch with the humanity of both sides."^[44][45] In May 2007 West joined a demonstration against "injustices faced by the Palestinian people resulting from the Israeli occupation" and "to bring attention to this 40 year travesty of justice". In 2011, West called on the University of Arizona to divest from companies profiting from the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian Territories.^[46]

West also serves as co-chair of the Tikkun Community. He co-chaired the National Parenting Organization's Task Force on Parent Empowerment and participated in President Clinton's National Conversation on Race. He has publicly endorsed In These Times magazine by calling it: "The most creative and challenging news magazine of the American left". He is also a contributing editor for Sojourners Magazine.

West supports People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) in its Kentucky Fried Cruelty campaign, aimed at eliminating what PETA describes as KFC's inhumane treatment of chickens. West is quoted on PETA flyers: "Although most people don't know chickens as well as they know cats and dogs, chickens are interesting individuals with personalities and interests every bit as developed as the dogs and cats with whom many of us share our lives."

In 2008, West contributed his insights on the current global issue of modernized slavery and human trafficking in the rockumentary Call+Response.^[47] West is a member of the Campaign for Peace and Democracy.

In 2011, West addressed his frustration about some critics of the Occupy Wall Street, who remark about the movement's lack of a clear and unified message. West replied by saying:

It’s impossible to translate the issue of the greed of Wall Street into one demand, or two demands. We’re talking about a democratic awakening...you’re talking about raising political consciousness so it spills over all parts of the country, so people can begin to see what’s going on through a set of different lens, and then you begin to highlight what the more detailed demands would be. Because in the end we’re really talking about what Martin King would call a revolution: A transfer of power from oligarchs to everyday people of all colors. And that is a step by step process.^[48]

On October 16, 2011, West was in Washington, D.C. participating in the Occupy D.C. protests on the steps of the Supreme Court over the court's decision in the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission case the previous year.^[49] Five days later, he was arrested during an Occupy Wall Street protest in Harlem against the New York Police Department's stop and frisk policy.^[50]

Support and Criticism of Obama[link]

Cornel West publicly supported 2008 Democratic Presidential candidate then US Senator Barack Obama. He spoke to over 1,000 of his supporters at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, N.Y.C. on November 29, 2007.^[51]

West criticized President Obama when Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009, saying that it would be difficult for Obama to be "a war president with a peace prize."^[52] West further retracted his support for Obama in an April 2011 interview, stating that Obama is “a black mascot of Wall Street oligarchs and a black puppet of corporate plutocrats. And now he has become head of the American killing machine and is proud of it.”^[53][54]

In 2012, West participated in a "Poverty Tour" with radio host Tavis Smiley in promoting their book The Rich and the Rest of Us. The stated aim of the tour was to highlight the plight of the impoverished population of the United States prior to the 2012 Presidential Election, whose candidates West and Smiley stated had ignored the plight of the poor.^[55]

Published works[link]

• Black Theology and Marxist Thought (1979)
• Prophesy Deliverance! An Afro-American Revolutionary Christianity (1982)
• Prophetic Fragments (1988)
• The American Evasion of Philosophy: A Genealogy of Pragmatism (1989)
• Breaking Bread: Insurgent Black Intellectual Life (with bell hooks, 1991)
• The Ethical Dimensions of Marxist Thought (1991)
• Beyond Eurocentrism and Multiculturalism (1993)
• Race Matters (1994)
• Keeping Faith: Philosophy and Race in America (1994)
• Jews and Blacks: A Dialogue on Race, Religion, and Culture in America (with rabbi Michael Lerner, 1995)
• The Future of the Race (with Henry Louis Gates, Jr., 1996)
• Restoring Hope: Conversations on the Future of Black America (1997)
• The War Against Parents: What We Can Do For America's Beleaguered Moms and Dads (with Sylvia Ann Hewlett, 1998)
• The Future of American Progressivism (with Roberto Unger, 1998)
• The African-American Century: How Black Americans Have Shaped Our Century (with Henry Louis Gates, Jr., 2000)
• Cornel West: A Critical Reader (George Yancy, editor) (2001)
• Democracy Matters: Winning the Fight Against Imperialism (2004)
• Commentary on The Matrix, Matrix Reloaded and Matrix Revolutions; see The Ultimate Matrix Collection (with Ken Wilber, 2004)
• Post-Analytic Philosophy, edited with John Rajchman.
• Hope On a Tightrope: Words & Wisdom (2008)
• Brother West: Living & Loving Out Loud (2009)
• The Rich and the Rest of Us: A Poverty Manifesto (with Tavis Smiley, 2012)

See also[link]

• American philosophy
• Black existentialism
• Africana philosophy
• Democratic Socialists of America
• List of African American philosophers
• List of American philosophers

References[link]

External links[link]

This article's use of external links may not follow Wikipedia's policies or guidelines. Please improve this article by removing excessive or inappropriate external links, and converting useful links where appropriate into footnote references. (December 2010)

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Cornel West

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Cornel West

• Cornel West on Twitter
• An Interview with Cornel West
• Interview with Dr. Cornel West by JK Fowler on The Mantle March 18, 2011
• Faculty bio at Princeton Religion department
• Faculty bio at Princeton Center for African American Studies
• Interview with Cornel West from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum
• Booknotes interview with West on The Cornel West Reader, February 22, 2000.
• In Depth interview with West, January 6, 2002
• "Cornel West Gives Black Scholars a Bad Rap" By John McWhorter
• Dr. Cornel West Releases Long-Awaited Memoir - video report by Democracy Now!
• Cornel West on Charles Rangel, Bush & Kanye West and Obama Admin
• Cornel West at the Internet Movie Database

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Black Thought
Background information
Birth name	Tariq (Tarik)[1] Trotter
Born	(1971-10-03) October 3, 1971 (age 40)
Origin	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Genres	Hip hop
Years active	1987–present
Labels	DGC/Geffen/MCA Records Def Jam Recordings
Associated acts	The Roots, Money Making Jam Boys, Black Star, Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Common, Meek Mill
Website	www.myspace.com/blackthought

Tariq Trotter (born on October 3, 1971), better known as Black Thought, is an American hip-hop artist who is the lead MC of the Philadelphia-based hip hop group The Roots, as well as an occasional actor. Black Thought, who co-founded The Roots with drummer ?uestlove (Ahmir Thompson), is widely lauded for his live performance skills and his complex and politically aware lyrical content.

Early life[link]

Black Thought was born Tariq Trotter and attended the Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts and Millersville University. In 1987, Trotter became friends with drummer Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson and formed a drummer/MC duo performing on the streets of Philadelphia and at talent shows.^[2] Trotter would subsequently spend some time as one of two MCs in the group The Square Roots: the other one was Malik B., who Tariq met in college.^[3] In high-school, Black Thought converted to the Islamic sect of The Nation of Gods and Earths.^[4]

The Roots[link]

The Square Roots renamed themselves the Roots and released its debut album Organix in 1993, to prepare for a concert in Germany. The Roots signed to DGC and followed up with Do You Want More?!!!??! in 1995. Recorded without any sampling, the album was more popular among alternative music fans than those of hip hop. Around the release of the album, the Roots performed at the Lollapalooza alternative music festival and Montreux Jazz Festival. Illadelph Halflife, the band's 1996 album, became its first album to chart within the top 40 spots on the Billboard 200 because of the successful single "What They Do".^[2] Things Fall Apart followed in 1999, the year the band played at the Woodstock 99 concert.^[5]

In 2000, the Roots won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for "You Got Me", with guest performances by Erykah Badu and Eve.^[6] The Roots' album Things Fall Apart was nominated for the Best Rap Album award.^[7] For Jay-Z's acoustic concert for the television program MTV Unplugged, The Roots provided instrumentals.^[8] Succeeding albums were Phrenology (2002), The Tipping Point (2004), Game Theory (2006), Rising Down (2008),How I Got Over (2010) and Undun (2011).

Other work[link]

Films in which Black Thought starred in include Bamboozled (2000), Perfume, Love Rome, and Brooklyn Babylon (both 2001).^[9]

Thought has also made guest performances on several other records including "Pimpas Paradise" by Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley, Team by Dilated Peoples,^[10] One Day It'll All Make Sense by Common, Reanimation by Linkin Park,^[11] Pick a Bigger Weapon by The Coup, The Rising Tied by Fort Minor and A Ma Zone by Zap Mama.

Black Thought recorded a solo album to be titled Masterpiece Theatre and released in summer 2001,^[9] but the project was scrapped after learning that the album wouldn't count towards The Roots' current contract commitments. Most of the songs demoed wound up on The Roots' Phrenology album. In 2006, he began working on a collaborative project with producer Danger Mouse titled Dangerous Thoughts.^[12] In a June 2008 interview with Brian Kayser of the website HipHopGame, Black Thought spoke of yet another solo project, which will come out on the label Razor and Tie. He stated that there would be the possibility of Questlove working on production.^[13] In 2008, Peta2.com nominated Black Thought as among the "World's Sexiest Vegetarians".^[14]

In February 2011, Black Thought, along with 10.Deep and his side collective "Money Making Jam Boys", which includes Dice Raw, S.T.S., Truck North, & P.O.R.N., released the mixtape titled The Prestige.^[15]

Discography[link]

• The Talented Mr. Trotter (TBA)

Appearances[link]

• 1995: "Meiso", Meiso, DJ Krush
• 1996: "Da Jawn", Kollage, Bahamadia
• 1997: "Get This Low", The Psycho-Social, Jedi Mind Tricks
• 1997: "Stolen Moments, Pt. 2", One Day It'll All Make Sense, Common
• 1997: "Listen to This", Listen To This, Walkin' Large
• 1997: "The Agenda", "Sou", Inoran
• 1998: "It's About That Time", Soul Survivor, Pete Rock
• 1998: "Live From the Sretch Armstrong Show", Lyricist Lounge Volume One, Various Artists
• 1998: "Super Lyrical", Capital Punishment, Big Pun
• 1998: "Tabou (Roots Remix)", Princesses Nubians, Les Nubians
• 1999: "Burnin' and Lootin'", Chant Down Babylon (Post-Humous Remix), Bob Marley
• 1999: "Respiration (Flying High Remix)", Respiration 12", Black Star
• 2000: "Cold Blooded", Like Water for Chocolate, Common
• 2000: "Hurricane", The Hurricane Soundtrack, Black Thought, Common, Dice Raw, Flo Brown, Jazzyfatnastees and Mos Def
• 2000: "Network", Plain Rap, The Pharcyde
• 2001: "Hard Hitters", Expansion Team, Dilated Peoples
• 2001: "Zen Approach", Zen, DJ Krush
• 2002: "Clap!", Next, Soulive
• 2002: "Guerilla Monsoon Rap", Quality, Talib Kweli
• 2002: "X-Ecutioner Style", Reanimation, Linkin Park
• 2004: "Live From The PJs", Revolutions, The X-Ecutioners
• 2005: "Appreciate", Love and Life, LaToya London
• 2005: "Flutlicht", Sinnflut, Curse
• 2005: "Pimpa's Paradise", Welcome to Jamrock, Damian Marley
• 2005: "Right Now", The Rising Tied, Fort Minor
• 2006: "Love Movin'", The Shining, J Dilla
• 2006: "My Favorite Mutiny", Pick A Bigger Weapon, The Coup
• 2006: "Yes, Yes Y'all",Timeless, Sérgio Mendes
• 2007: "Clean Up", Deep Hearted, Strong Arm Steady
• 2008: "Give It Up", Thee Adventures Of A B-Boy D-Boy, Muja Messiah
• 2008: "Hold Tight", The Million Dollar Backpack, Skillz
• 2008: "Cause I'm Black", Super Gangster (Extraordinary Gentleman), Styles P
• 2009: "Hot Shyt", "Back to the Feature", Wale
• 2009: "Live Forever", Velvet Ballads, Cradle Orchestra
• 2009: "Philly Boy", Rádio do Canibal, BK-One
• 2009: "Reality TV", Jay Stay Paid, J Dilla
• 2009: "Slow Down", Chiddy Bang
• 2010: "Philadelphia Born and Raised", Meek Mill
• 2010: "Ill Street Blues", More Demand 2, STS
• 2010: "In tha Park", Apollo Kids, Ghostface Killah
• 2010: "Philly Sh*t Remix, Young Chris, Meek Mill & Eve
• 2011: "The Masters of Our Fates", Raekwon
• 2011: "Too Long" The Greatest Story Never Told Saigon (rapper)
• 2011: "Million Star Motel", Pennies In A Jar, Nikki Jean
• 2011: "Riot" LA Riot, Thurz
• 2011: "God Knows Why", Soul is Heavy, Nneka
• 2011: "Mathematics", The Welcome Mat, OCD: Moosh & Twist
• 2012: "Living in Bunkers", Drinking From the Sun, Hilltop Hoods

Filmography[link]

• Bamboozled (2000)
• Brooklyn Babylon (2001)
• Perfume (2001)
• Brown Sugar (2002)
• Love Rome (2004)
• Explicit IIIs (2008)
• In NorthWood (2009)
• Night Catches Us (2010)
• Yelling to the Sky (2011)^[16]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Black Thought on Myspace
• Black Thought at the Internet Movie Database
• TheRoots.com - Official website of The Roots
• Black Thought discography

Yosef Ben-Jochannan (born December 31, 1918), also known as Dr. Ben, is an African American writer and historian. He is considered one of the more prominent Afrocentric scholars.^[1]

Early life and education[link]

Ben-Jochannan claims to have been born the only child of an Afro-Puerto Rican Jewish mother named Julia Matta and an Ethiopian father named Kriston ben-Jochannan, in a Falasha community in Ethiopia.^[2][1]

He was educated in Puerto Rico, Brazil, Cuba, and Spain, earning degrees in engineering and anthropology.^[2] In 1938, Ben-Jochannan earned a BS in Civil Engineering at the university of Puerto Rico, despite the fact that the University of Puerto Rico did not offer this degree, nor was there an Engineering Department until 1942.^[3] In 1939 a Master's degree in Architectural Engineering from the University of Havana, Cuba.^[2] He received doctoral degrees in Cultural Anthropology and Moorish History from the University of Havana and the University of Barcelona, Spain. ^[2]

Career and later life[link]

Ben-Jochannan immigrated to the United States in the early 1940s. He worked as a draftsman and continued his studies. He claims that in 1945, he was appointed chairman of the African Studies Committee at the headquarters of the newly founded UNESCO, a position from which he stepped down in 1970. In 1950, Ben-Jochannan began teaching Egyptology at Malcolm King College, then at City College in New York City. He claims that from 1976 to 1987, he was an adjunct professor at Cornell University.^[4]

Ben-Jochannan is the author of 49 books, primarily on ancient Nile Valley civilizations and their impact on Western cultures.^[2] In his writings, he argues that the original Jews were from Ethiopia and were Black Africans, while the white Jews later adopted the Jewish faith and its customs.^[5]

Ben-Jochannan has also made a number of appearances on Gil Noble's WABC-TV weekly public affairs series Like It Is.

Ben-Jochannan has been criticized for allegedly distorting history and promoting Black supremacy. In February 1993, Wellesley College European classics professor Mary Lefkowitz publicly confronted Ben-Jochannan about his teachings. Ben-Jochannan taught that Aristotle visited the Library of Alexandria. Lefkowitz showed this to be impossible since Aristotle was dead before the library's construction.^[6]

According to the Skeptic's Dictionary, much of Ben-Jochannan's publications are influenced by earlier Afrocentric work by George James.^[7]

In 2002, Ben-Jochannan donated his personal library of more than 35,000 volumes, manuscripts and ancient scrolls to The Nation of Islam.^[8]

Ben-Jochannan currently lives in the Harlem section of New York City.

Selected bibliography[link]

• African Origins of Major Western Religions
• We the Black Jews
• Black Man of the Nile and His Family
• Africa: Mother of Western Civilization
• New Dimensions in African History
• The Myth of Exodus and Genesis and the Exclusion of Their African Origins
• Abu Simbel to Ghizeh: A Guide Book and Manual

See also[link]

	Puerto Rico portal
	New York City portal
	African American portal

• Afrocentrism
• Ancient Egyptian race controversy
• List of notable Puerto Ricans
• Jewish immigration to Puerto Rico
• Anti-Europeanism
• Pseudohistory

References[link]

External links[link]

• African American Racism in the Academic Community
• The Twin Towers of Afrikan Knowledge: Dr. Clarke and Dr. Ben Unearthed Africa's Truths