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Worcester State College Press
Release Contact: Lea Ann
Erickson
MORE THAN 1100 ATTEND CORNEL WEST LECTURE AT WSC
More than 1100 people crowded into the Worcester State College Sullivan
Auditorium, Monday, March 3, to hear Author and Scholar Dr. Cornel West. His
lecture was part of the Third World Alliance “Courageous Conversations,”
series. Dr. West praised the college for launching the series and
Currently the Class of 1943 Professor at Princeton University, Dr. West is the author of the bestselling book, Race Matters, a searing analysis of racism in American democracy. In his last book Democracy Matters, Dr. West analyzes the arrested development of democracy both in America and in the crisis-ridden Middle East. Dr. West has published 16 other books and has edited 13 texts. Dr. West delivered a passionate lecture to the crowd on a broad range of topics from history and philosophy to hip hop and rap. But he focused his lecture on unconditional love and humanity. Known for his provocative style, he told the audience at the outset, “I want to say something that unnerves you.”
Dr. West embraced the courageous conversations theme and urged them all to,
“have the courage to think for yourself. It takes courage to seriously
wrestle with race.” Drawing on numerous cultural, historical and literary
references, Dr. West made the case that the truly courageous have always
resisted the temptation to respond to injustice with violence. He spoke of
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. being reduced to tears when he delivered the
eulogy for young girls who were murdered by the Ku Klux Klan. He praised
King and other leaders for their non-violent stance, their humanity and
their “Hatred,” he said, “is cowardly.” Instead he urged the audience to embrace love. “Justice is what love looks like in public,” he said. “When you love someone, you have a sense of righteous indignation when they are victims of injustice.” But he worries that our current culture does not challenge injustice. “The last 40 years have been a political ice age,” he said. “It is fashionable to be indifferent to other’s suffering…indifference to evil is more evil that evil itself.” Photos by Campus Photographer Erika Sidor. For more photos click here. Coverage by the Telegram & Gazette The event was sponsored by Third World Alliance, Diversity Office, Multicultural Affairs Office, Academic Affairs, Center for Human Rights, Center for Service Learning and Civic Engagement, Faith Zeady Foundation, Sociology Department, Henry Lee Willis Center, , Philosophy Department, President’s Office, Student Activities Office and Worcester Youth Center. # # # |
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committed to both academic excellence and dialogue. “Thank God for
Worcester State College,” he said, “you need both an education and
courageous conversations.” Dr. West stressed the importance of including
all voices in the dialogue. “When we engage in courageous conversations,
none of us a monopoly on the truth,” he said.
unconditional love. But he acknowledged that the temptation to resort to
violence is always there and he posed the provocative question: Why don’t we
have a black al-Qaida in the United States? Four hundred years of
oppression and no al-Qaida.”