Cornel West Arrested At Supreme Court

Smiley And West On Wall Street Corruption / "Knock It Off With The black Business Will Ya?"

Steve Harvey: Cornel West, Tavis Smiley Are 'Uncle Toms'

Image by Glory Foods via Flickr

By Deron Dalton

During his syndicated radio show, comedian Steve Harvey called out Cornel West and Tavis Smiley for their poverty bus tour, while defending President Barack Obama.

After a listener sent an email about the duo's tour being a hustle, Harvey didn't shy away for offering his own opinion -- accusing West and Smiley for using personal vendettas to damage the Obama's name.

"I was a huge fan of Cornel West," he said. "[But] Tavis, I seen him coming a mile away. His anger started when he had a town hall meeting, President Obama couldn't come because of the campaign trail and he sent Mrs. Obama. He has held that grudge every since." CONTINUE....

Doth We Protest Too Much?

Image via Wikipedia

By: John McWhorter

It's all about this business of "contesting." And it's about all of us.

One thing we all know is that if Cornel West actually met Barack Obama alone in a room -- and we can be sure this will happen one day, and likely more than once -- he would embrace him and call him brother.

That's what he does with everybody, and I doubt he truly thinks Obama has a "fear of free black men." West was thinking of himself as a prophet, as so many of us encourage him to do. He was telling, thus, a truth that many are uncomfortable with. Except that this time, the truth wasn't true.

Why tell it, then? Because what West was doing was contesting for the sake of it, out of a sense that this is the noble thing for smart, engaged people to do.

You have to watch out for that stuff. CONTINUE....

Crisis In Egypt: Their Problem Is Our Problem

Image by Takver via Flickr

When protesters in Egypt called for a "Million Man March" to mark the one-week anniversary of their Jan. 25 uprising against Hosni Mubarak's 30-year autocratic rule, they did what many African-American public figures have yet to do: draw on the history and example of the black freedom movement to express support for the ongoing global struggle for democracy. With some exceptions (Cornel West being the most notable), members of the black intelligentsia have yet to provide significant commentary on the democratic aspirations being expressed so strongly and courageously in recent months in Arab countries in Africa and Asia. But even if some of us in America remain slow to take up the mantle of our own historical legacy, people around the world are taking note (just as Black History Month commences, no less). CONTINUE....