DR. CORNEL WEST
GROUNDBREAKING AUTHOR

One of America’s most gifted and provocative public intellectuals...

DR. CORNEL WEST
GROUNDBREAKING AUTHOR

One of America’s most gifted and provocative public intellectuals, Dr. Cornel West's writing, speaking, and teaching weaves together the American traditions of the Black Baptist Church, progressive politics, and jazz. Dr. West graduated from Harvard in three years, magna cum laude, and Martin Kilson, one of Dr. West’s professors, recalls him as “the most intellectually aggressive and highly cerebral student I have taught in my 30 years here.”
He has published 17 books and edited 13 text. In his major bestseller, Race Matters, philosopher Dr. Cornel West burst onto the national scene with his searing analysis of the scars of racism in American democracy. Race Matters has become a contemporary classic, having sold more than 400,000 copies. Praised by The New York Times for his “ferocious moral vision,” Dr. West speaks with an utterly distinctive voice about the thorniest social and political issues of our day and bridges the gap between black and white opinion.
In Democracy Matters, Dr. West returns to the analysis of the arrested development of democracy—both in America and in the crisis-ridden Middle East. In a strikingly original diagnosis, he argues that if America is to become a better steward of democratization around the world, we must first wake up to the long history of imperialist corruption that has plagued our own democracy.
Dr. West is Class of 1943 University Professor at Princeton University. He has held previous positions at Union Theological Seminary, Yale University, Harvard University and the University of Paris.
Dr. West was an influential force in developing the storyline for the popular Matrix trilogy. Not only is he the spokesperson for this box-office hit series, Dr. West also had recurring roles in the final two volumes.

TOPICS INCLUDE:
• The African American Century: What Next?
• Reflections on Hip-Hop: The Role of Black Music in American Culture
• Race & Democracy
• Heart of American Darkness
• Race Matters

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