I wished the president [Barack Obama] were more "Martin Luther King-like." — Cornel West Copy Share Image
Martin Luther King wanted to be morally consistent and speak out against various things that were wrong, not just racism. — Cornel West Copy Share Image
Martin Luther King's legacy is never to be measured by bricks and mortar, but rather by the kind of lives that we… — Cornel West Copy Share Image
Martin King was fundamentally committed to the least of these [poor, working people]. Of course, he was a Christian soldier for justice… — Cornel West Copy Share Image
Anybody who takes Martin Luther King seriously has got to go beyond the standard understanding of who he was, has to connect… — Cornel West Copy Share Image
Martin Luther King was a radical democrat, by which I mean someone who is a foe of wealth inequality. — Cornel West Copy Share Image
We will not allow this day of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial to go without somebody going to jail. — Cornel West Copy Share Image
Martin Luther King was a victim of surveillance, and had great solidarity with victims of surveillance. — Cornel West Copy Share Image
The legacy of [Martin Luther] King is the very thing that must be expanded if America is to be free and democratic… — Cornel West Copy Share Image
Martin Luther King Jr's agenda was not to help Negroes overcome American apartheid in the south. It was to make America democracy… — Cornel West Copy Share Image
One of the things I love most about Martin Luther King is that he was willing to sacrifice his popularity in favor… — Cornel West Copy Share Image
King's response to our crisis can be put in one word: revolution. A revolution in our priorities, a reevaluation of our values,… — Cornel West Copy Share Image
We live in a world where people are fearful of extremism, but Martin Luther King would say he was always trying to… — Cornel West Copy Share Image
We look at the legacy of Frederick Douglass and Ida B. Wells and Ella Baker, Malcolm X and Martin King. We have,… — Cornel West Copy Share Image
Certainly Martin Luther King, in the mainstream perception of him, had a dream. Yes, he did. But the question becomes, what was… — Cornel West Copy Share Image
Martin Luther King would celebrate the symbolic status (of having a black president), but he would examine what the real substance was.… — Cornel West Copy Share Image
Christians got a lot of work to do. But, the spirit of Dorothy Day is alive. Martin Luther King is still alive.… — Cornel West Copy Share Image
I know my dear brother, President [Barack] Obama, has a bust of Martin King right there in the Oval Office, but the… — Cornel West Copy Share Image
I think it's important not to view Martin Luther King Jr. in a narrow political manner. His fundamental commitment is to a… — Cornel West Copy Share Image
When you say that [Martin Luther] King was a prophet, you don't say that he predicted anything; you say that he bore… — Cornel West Copy Share Image
If Martin Luther King looked at the Obama administration and saw an intimate connection with Wall Street, he'd be very critical. If… — Cornel West Copy Share Image
All talks about legacies of white supremacy must be tied to empowering the lives of poor and working people as a whole.… — Cornel West Copy Share Image
What is accurately portrayed is the rich humanity not just of Martin Luther King but of the movement, which was a multiracial… — Cornel West Copy Share Image
The American Dream is individualistic. Martin Luther King's dream was collective. The American Dream says, "I can engage in upward mobility and… — Cornel West Copy Share Image
I think Martin Luther King would always keep track of collective insurgencies among poor and working people. He was concerned about the… — Cornel West Copy Share Image
Martin Luther King was not a Marxist or a communist, but his radical love leads him to put poor and working people… — Cornel West Copy Share Image
The black agenda, from Frederick Douglas to Ida B. Wells to Martin King, has always been the most broad, deep, inclusive, embracing… — Cornel West Copy Share Image
It's clear that he was incredibly courageous in his critique of white supremacy, wealth inequality, and imperial power as it relates to… — Cornel West Copy Share Image
There has certainly been ugly, right-wing hatred targeting Barack Obama. — Cornel West Copy Share Image
What is accurately portrayed is the rich humanity not just of Martin Luther King but of the movement, which was a multiracial movement. You… — Cornel West Copy Share Image
I feel as if I have been blessed to undergo a transformation from 'gangster' to 'redeemed sinner with gangster proclivities.' — Cornel West Copy Share Image
“Like King, we need to put on our cemetery clothes and be coffin-ready for the next great democratic battle.” — Cornel West Copy Share Image
“You can't really move forward until you look back. [From Remaking America panel discussion at George Washington University]” — Cornel West Copy Share Image
When we think of globalization we are thinking in part of structures and institutions that have been developed over time and that have allowed… — Cornel West Copy Share Image
The challenge artists face today is whether to be an underground, unheard genius, or to dilute their art for the marketplace. — Cornel West Copy Share Image
The need of black conservatives to gain the respect of their white peers deeply shapes certain elements of their conservatism. In this regard, they… — Cornel West Copy Share Image
For me, musicians are poets. Beethoven describes himself as a poet of tones, just like Coltrane's a poet of tempo. — Cornel West Copy Share Image
I don't draw any distinctions between forms of bigotry or forms of ideology that lose sight of the humanity of people. I can't stand… — Cornel West Copy Share Image
Barack Obama has domesticated the left in such a way that we feel as if we have no alternative but him...I refuse to accept… — Cornel West Copy Share Image
Larry Summers, I think, he had a long history of arrogance and relative ignorance about poor people's culture and working people's culture and so… — Cornel West Copy Share Image
![“I wished the president [Barack Obama] were more "Martin Luther King-like."” quote by Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/898/cornel-west-708_barack_i-wished-the-president-barack-obama-were_319455.jpg)
![“Martin King was fundamentally committed to the least of these [poor, working people]. Of course, he was a Christian soldier for justice from the 25th chapter of Matthew.” quote by Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/107/cornel-west-708_chapters_martin-king-was-fundamentally-committed_2524206.jpg)
![“The legacy of [Martin Luther] King is the very thing that must be expanded if America is to be free and democratic in the 21st century. It's just as simple as that.” quote by Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/496/cornel-west-708_21st-century_the-legacy-of-martin-luther-king-is-the_3221308.jpg)
![“We look at the legacy of Frederick Douglass and Ida B. Wells and Ella Baker, Malcolm X and Martin King. We have, and part of the struggle now in the age of [Barack] Obama is how do we keep alive the legacy of Martin King?” quote by Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/23d/cornel-west-708_age_we-look-at-the-legacy-of-frederick-dougl_2704483.jpg)
![“I know my dear brother, President [Barack] Obama, has a bust of Martin King right there in the Oval Office, but the question is are is he going to be true to who that Martin Luther King, Jr., actually is? King was concerned about what? The poor. He was concerned about working people. He was…” quote by Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/6cd/cornel-west-708_afghanistan_i-know-my-dear-brother-president-barack_792715.jpg)
![“When you say that [Martin Luther] King was a prophet, you don't say that he predicted anything; you say that he bore witness. He left a committed life so that people would never forget the suffering of people that he was connected to. King was prophetic because he lived a committed life. Now he…” quote by Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/81a/cornel-west-708_bores_when-you-say-that-martin-luther-king-was_1290198.jpg)
![“You can't really move forward until you look back. [From Remaking America panel discussion at George Washington University]” quote by Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/273/cornel-west-708_george-w_you-can-t-really-move-forward-until-you_37313.jpg)
