The Socratic/Prophetic Traditions
“How do you straighten your back up? How do you tell the truth? How do you bear witness? How do you organize? How do you mobilize? How do you generate forms of resistance and resiliency in the face of some very, very ugly forms of terror and trauma and stigma?” Activist/Scholar Cornel West asks these fundamental questions. And he takes inspiration and guidance from the prophetic tradition of ideas and images that have historically helped oppressed people develop the will and the means for taking action against their oppressors. Wedding that tradition with the Socratic legacy of Ancient Greece of seeking the truth by challenging assumptions and raising the most difficult questions is a powerful formula for achieving freedom and emancipation.
Recorded at the University of Montana.
Speaker
Cornel West
Cornel West is Professor of the Practice of Public Philosophy at Harvard. He has been called “the preeminent African American intellectual of his generation.” With his preacher-like cadences and passionate delivery, he is much in demand as a speaker. Among his many books are Race Matters, The Rich and the Rest of Us and Black Prophetic Fire.
randall withell –
The most compelling address that I have ever experienced, both in the beauteous interweaving of thoughts from different intellectual & religious traditions, & the passionate demonstration of how a single voice can demand your attention to a profound cause that exists, each & every day, not in an ivory tower, but in the streets, alleyways, & shopping malls where we shape our lives. Or, where our lives are shaped.
I was particularly heartened by the very thoughtful modulations in that voice, from the passion of the prophetic phrases, to the wonderfully “street-smart” cadences, to the straight-faced ironies.
If we need another Churchill, & if we need the inspiration for another “finest hour,” Cornell West may be the soul we need to hear, with our thoughts & yes, with our actions.
Lee –
Just heard this speech given at the U of Monatana, Missoula earlier today on KPFA played on KSKQ in souther Oregan. Love Dr. West’s brain and ability to articulate …and he continues to amaze me . Somehow he combines factual and political realities with matters of belief and it doesn’t upset me despite being a non believer. He is full of love, which I do believe in.
Viktir –
Wow. I am blown away by this. It pierces through your soul and you know this is the truth. The american empire is the roman empire and the american is the roman. The decadence is abound.
Red2Envy –
I listened to this quite by coincidence. What an enlightened stretch my soul experienced this morning. So well articulated and thought provoking. It absolutely caused reflection before I stepped into my day. Thank you
Diane F Brown –
I tuned into my NPR station a bit late and missed the introduction. I thought I’d tuned in to a Saturday night church service, with a Black preacher saying more & more interesting and on-point things. By the end I had to know who this amazing preacher was — and it was Dr Cornell West!! I’d heard him speak about his book Race Matters soon after it came out, in his more traditionally academia talk & hairstyle. I was aware via TV interviews that Dr West had let his speaking cadence and his hair be more natural. This talk —which included so much about where we are as a Nation as well as human foibles as well as a call to Action— blew me away. Thank you for continuing to speak out and for living what you preach, Dr West!
Janine Lehmann –
Dr. West is a treasure. His speech at the University of Montana, Missoula, which was aired tonight on KUNM, was wonderful. Thank you, AR and KUNM.
Stephen Blake –
I found this to be amazing and clear.
George J. Robinson (verified owner) –
An inspiring, insightful, thought-provoking, informative, factual presentation. His oratory is so compelling that one must strive to remain focused on the content of his talk.
“The unexamined life is not worth living.”
In the ’70s I enjoyed an undergraduate philosophy course in the Socratic Method; it was a gift that has borne benefits in the decades since.
I’ve purchased the download to enable my 19-year-old Colgate U. sophomore and me to listen to it together.
Though white, I nevertheless consider Professor West an exemplar of the ilk of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and President Barack Hussein Obama, whose speeches I’ve also made a point of sharing with my son.
I’m grateful to Alternative Radio and the radio station hosts on which I depend – and to which I contribute.
Sincerely,
George Jay Robinson
New York, New York and Stamford, New York