--- title: "22 Luther King Quotes By Cornel West" description: "22 Luther King quotes by Cornel West. Plus more from Cornel West and more Luther King sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4cd/cornel-west-708_extremist_martin-luther-king-was-an-extremist-of-l_3119888.jpg" --- > [Martin Luther King was an extremist of love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/martin-luther-king-was-an-extremist-of-love/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4cd/cornel-west-708_extremist_martin-luther-king-was-an-extremist-of-l_3119888.jpg) > [ I wished the president \[Barack Obama\] were more "Martin Luther King-like." ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/i-wished-the-president-barack-obama-were-more-martin-luther-king-like/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/898/cornel-west-708_barack_i-wished-the-president-barack-obama-were_319455.jpg) > [Martin Luther King wanted to be morally consistent and speak out against various things that were wrong, not just racism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/martin-luther-king-wanted-to-be-morally-consistent-and-speak-out/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/293/cornel-west-708_consistent_martin-luther-king-wanted-to-be-morally_932472.jpg) > [Martin Luther King's legacy is never to be measured by bricks and mortar, but rather by the kind of lives that we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/martin-luther-king-s-legacy-is-never-to-be-measured-by-bricks-and/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/017/cornel-west-708_bricks_martin-luther-king-s-legacy-is-never-to_2056179.jpg) > [Martin Luther King Jr. was not just a man of peace. He was a radical pacifist, and so he was against war…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/martin-luther-king-jr-was-not-just-a-man-of-peace-he-was-a-radical/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c3b/cornel-west-708_king_martin-luther-king-jr-was-not-just-a-man_879413.jpg) > [Anybody who takes Martin Luther King seriously has got to go beyond the standard understanding of who he was, has to connect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/anybody-who-takes-martin-luther-king-seriously-has-got-to-go-beyond/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d6d/cornel-west-708_dots_anybody-who-takes-martin-luther-king-ser_110560.jpg) > [Martin Luther King was a radical democrat, by which I mean someone who is a foe of wealth inequality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/martin-luther-king-was-a-radical-democrat-by-which-i-mean-someone-who/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0b9/cornel-west-708_democrat_martin-luther-king-was-a-radical-democra_1771896.jpg) > [We will not allow this day of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial to go without somebody going to jail.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/we-will-not-allow-this-day-of-the-martin-luther-king-jr-memorial-to/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e4/cornel-west-708_day_we-will-not-allow-this-day-of-the-martin_2496886.jpg) > [Martin Luther King was a victim of surveillance, and had great solidarity with victims of surveillance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/martin-luther-king-was-a-victim-of-surveillance-and-had-great/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f8/cornel-west-708_kings_martin-luther-king-was-a-victim-of-surve_1930905.jpg) > [Martin Luther King was not a Marxist or a communist, but his radical love leads him to put poor and working people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/martin-luther-king-was-not-a-marxist-or-a-communist-but-his-radical/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3b3/cornel-west-708_communist_martin-luther-king-was-not-a-marxist-or_175409.jpg) > [One of the things I love most about Martin Luther King is that he was willing to sacrifice his popularity in favor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/one-of-the-things-i-love-most-about-martin-luther-king-is-that-he-was/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4b5/cornel-west-708_favors_one-of-the-things-i-love-most-about-mart_410059.jpg) > [Martin Luther King Jr's agenda was not to help Negroes overcome American apartheid in the south. It was to make America democracy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/martin-luther-king-jr-s-agenda-was-not-to-help-negroes-overcome/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fee/cornel-west-708_able_martin-luther-king-jr-s-agenda-was-not-t_1206753.jpg) > [We live in a world where people are fearful of extremism, but Martin Luther King would say he was always trying to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/we-live-in-a-world-where-people-are-fearful-of-extremism-but-martin/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/abd/cornel-west-708_always-trying_we-live-in-a-world-where-people-are-fear_449197.jpg) > [Certainly Martin Luther King, in the mainstream perception of him, had a dream. Yes, he did. But the question becomes, what was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/certainly-martin-luther-king-in-the-mainstream-perception-of-him-had/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/610/cornel-west-708_american-dream_certainly-martin-luther-king-in-the-main_1231178.jpg) > [Martin Luther King would celebrate the symbolic status (of having a black president), but he would examine what the real substance was.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/martin-luther-king-would-celebrate-the-symbolic-status-of-having-a/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f72/cornel-west-708_black_martin-luther-king-would-celebrate-the-s_1289752.jpg) > [If Martin Luther King looked at the Obama administration and saw an intimate connection with Wall Street, he'd be very critical. If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/if-martin-luther-king-looked-at-the-obama-administration-and-saw-an/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/349/cornel-west-708_administration_if-martin-luther-king-looked-at-the-obam_147613.jpg) > [I think it's important not to view Martin Luther King Jr. in a narrow political manner. His fundamental commitment is to a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/i-think-it-s-important-not-to-view-martin-luther-king-jr-in-a-narrow/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/627/cornel-west-708_analysis_i-think-it-s-important-not-to-view-marti_2339334.jpg) > [All talks about legacies of white supremacy must be tied to empowering the lives of poor and working people as a whole.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/all-talks-about-legacies-of-white-supremacy-must-be-tied-to/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b16/cornel-west-708_agendas_all-talks-about-legacies-of-white-suprem_2318850.jpg) > [What is accurately portrayed is the rich humanity not just of Martin Luther King but of the movement, which was a multiracial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/what-is-accurately-portrayed-is-the-rich-humanity-not-just-of-martin/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c2/cornel-west-708_action_what-is-accurately-portrayed-is-the-rich_6983.jpg) > [The American Dream is individualistic. Martin Luther King's dream was collective. The American Dream says, "I can engage in upward mobility and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/the-american-dream-is-individualistic-martin-luther-king-s-dream-was/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/efd/cornel-west-708_american-dream_the-american-dream-is-individualistic-ma_672709.jpg) > [I think Martin Luther King would always keep track of collective insurgencies among poor and working people. He was concerned about the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/i-think-martin-luther-king-would-always-keep-track-of-collective/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce6/cornel-west-708_accountability_i-think-martin-luther-king-would-always_187811.jpg) > [ The legacy of \[Martin Luther\] King is the very thing that must be expanded if America is to be free and democratic… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/the-legacy-of-martin-luther-king-is-the-very-thing-that-must-be/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/496/cornel-west-708_21st-century_the-legacy-of-martin-luther-king-is-the_3221308.jpg) ## Other authors on Luther King ## More by Cornel West > [There has certainly been ugly, right-wing hatred targeting Barack Obama.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/there-has-certainly-been-ugly-right-wing-hatred-targeting-barack-obama/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [What is accurately portrayed is the rich humanity not just of Martin Luther King but of the movement, which was a multiracial movement. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/what-is-accurately-portrayed-is-the-rich-humanity-not-just-of-martin/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [I feel as if I have been blessed to undergo a transformation from 'gangster' to 'redeemed sinner with gangster proclivities.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/i-feel-as-if-i-have-been-blessed-to-undergo-a-transformation-from/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [“Like King, we need to put on our cemetery clothes and be coffin-ready for the next great democratic battle.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/like-king-we-need-to-put-on-our-cemetery-clothes-and-be-coffin-ready/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [ “You can't really move forward until you look back. \[From Remaking America panel discussion at George Washington University\]” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/you-can-t-really-move-forward-until-you-look-back-from-remaking/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [When we think of globalization we are thinking in part of structures and institutions that have been developed over time and that have allowed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/when-we-think-of-globalization-we-are-thinking-in-part-of-structures/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [The challenge artists face today is whether to be an underground, unheard genius, or to dilute their art for the marketplace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/the-challenge-artists-face-today-is-whether-to-be-an-underground/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [The need of black conservatives to gain the respect of their white peers deeply shapes certain elements of their conservatism. In this regard, they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/the-need-of-black-conservatives-to-gain-the-respect-of-their-white/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [For me, musicians are poets. Beethoven describes himself as a poet of tones, just like Coltrane's a poet of tempo.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/for-me-musicians-are-poets-beethoven-describes-himself-as-a-poet-of/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/i-don-t-draw-any-distinctions-between-forms-of-bigotry-or-forms-of/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/barack-obama-has-domesticated-the-left-in-such-a-way-that-we-feel-as/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/larry-summers-i-think-he-had-a-long-history-of-arrogance-and-relative/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [The greatest gift you can give someone is the gift of inspiration.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/the-greatest-gift-you-can-give-someone-is-the-gift-of-inspiration/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [You can see it in terms of the obsession on Wall Street with not just profits but greed, more profit, more profit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/you-can-see-it-in-terms-of-the-obsession-on-wall-street-with-not-just/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [Anybody who takes Martin Luther King seriously has got to go beyond the standard understanding of who he was, has to connect those dots.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/anybody-who-takes-martin-luther-king-seriously-has-got-to-go-beyond/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/luther-king/cornel-west/#itemlist", "name": "22 Luther King Quotes By Cornel 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It was to make America democracy a better place, where everyday people, from poor people who were white and red and yellow and black and brown, would be able to live lives in decency and dignity.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Cornel West" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/martin-luther-king-jr-s-agenda-was-not-to-help-negroes-overcome/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fee/cornel-west-708_able_martin-luther-king-jr-s-agenda-was-not-t_1206753.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fee/cornel-west-708_able_martin-luther-king-jr-s-agenda-was-not-t_1206753.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fee/cornel-west-708_able_martin-luther-king-jr-s-agenda-was-not-t_1206753.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Martin Luther King Jr's agenda was not to help Negroes overcome American apartheid in the south. 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And if he saw that poor and working people were not at the center of public policy, he would be deeply, deeply upset.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Cornel West" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/martin-luther-king-would-celebrate-the-symbolic-status-of-having-a/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f72/cornel-west-708_black_martin-luther-king-would-celebrate-the-s_1289752.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f72/cornel-west-708_black_martin-luther-king-would-celebrate-the-s_1289752.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f72/cornel-west-708_black_martin-luther-king-would-celebrate-the-s_1289752.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Martin Luther King would celebrate the symbolic status (of having a black president), but he would examine…” — Cornel West", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 16, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If Martin Luther King looked at the Obama administration and saw an intimate connection with Wall Street, he'd be very critical. If he saw drones being dropped on innocent people, he'd be very critical. If he saw rights and liberties violated by secret policies of the government, of the kind we've seen by the National Security Agency, he'd be very critical.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Cornel West" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/if-martin-luther-king-looked-at-the-obama-administration-and-saw-an/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/349/cornel-west-708_administration_if-martin-luther-king-looked-at-the-obam_147613.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/349/cornel-west-708_administration_if-martin-luther-king-looked-at-the-obam_147613.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/349/cornel-west-708_administration_if-martin-luther-king-looked-at-the-obam_147613.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If Martin Luther King looked at the Obama administration and saw an intimate connection with Wall Street…” — Cornel West", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 17, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I think it's important not to view Martin Luther King Jr. in a narrow political manner. His fundamental commitment is to a radical love of humanity, and especially of poor and working people. And that radical love leads him to a radical analysis of power, domination and oppression. What's difficult is to situate him ideologically under a particular category.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Cornel West" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/i-think-it-s-important-not-to-view-martin-luther-king-jr-in-a-narrow/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/627/cornel-west-708_analysis_i-think-it-s-important-not-to-view-marti_2339334.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/627/cornel-west-708_analysis_i-think-it-s-important-not-to-view-marti_2339334.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/627/cornel-west-708_analysis_i-think-it-s-important-not-to-view-marti_2339334.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I think it's important not to view Martin Luther King Jr. in a narrow political manner. 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Philip Randolph, Martin Luther King Jr, Fannie Lou Hammer to Ella Baker - has always been tied to race talk inseparable from expanding possibilities of democracy, expanding empowerment of everyday people.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Cornel West" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/all-talks-about-legacies-of-white-supremacy-must-be-tied-to/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b16/cornel-west-708_agendas_all-talks-about-legacies-of-white-suprem_2318850.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b16/cornel-west-708_agendas_all-talks-about-legacies-of-white-suprem_2318850.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b16/cornel-west-708_agendas_all-talks-about-legacies-of-white-suprem_2318850.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“All talks about legacies of white supremacy must be tied to empowering the lives of poor and working people…” — Cornel West", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 19, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "What is accurately portrayed is the rich humanity not just of Martin Luther King but of the movement, which was a multiracial movement. You had blacks and whites coming together and sacrificing, organizing and mobilizing the world. That's the first time we've had collective action put at the center of any kind of portrayal of Martin King on the screen.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Cornel West" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/what-is-accurately-portrayed-is-the-rich-humanity-not-just-of-martin/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c2/cornel-west-708_action_what-is-accurately-portrayed-is-the-rich_6983.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c2/cornel-west-708_action_what-is-accurately-portrayed-is-the-rich_6983.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c2/cornel-west-708_action_what-is-accurately-portrayed-is-the-rich_6983.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“What is accurately portrayed is the rich humanity not just of Martin Luther King but of the movement, which…” — Cornel West", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 20, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The American Dream is individualistic. Martin Luther King's dream was collective. The American Dream says, \"I can engage in upward mobility and live the good life.\" King's dream was fundamentally Christian. His commitment to radical love had everything to do with his commitment to Jesus of Nazareth, and his dream had everything to do with community, with a \"we\" consciousness that included poor and working people around the world, not just black people.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Cornel West" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/the-american-dream-is-individualistic-martin-luther-king-s-dream-was/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/efd/cornel-west-708_american-dream_the-american-dream-is-individualistic-ma_672709.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/efd/cornel-west-708_american-dream_the-american-dream-is-individualistic-ma_672709.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/efd/cornel-west-708_american-dream_the-american-dream-is-individualistic-ma_672709.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The American Dream is individualistic. Martin Luther King's dream was collective. 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It's just as simple as that.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Cornel West" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/the-legacy-of-martin-luther-king-is-the-very-thing-that-must-be/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/496/cornel-west-708_21st-century_the-legacy-of-martin-luther-king-is-the_3221308.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/496/cornel-west-708_21st-century_the-legacy-of-martin-luther-king-is-the_3221308.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/496/cornel-west-708_21st-century_the-legacy-of-martin-luther-king-is-the_3221308.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The legacy of [Martin Luther] King is the very thing that must be expanded if America is to be free and…” — Cornel West", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } } ] }, { "@type": "CollectionPage", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/luther-king/cornel-west/#webpage", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/luther-king/cornel-west/", "name": "Luther King Quotes by Cornel West", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/luther-king/cornel-west/#itemlist" }, "primaryImageOfPage": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4cd/cornel-west-708_extremist_martin-luther-king-was-an-extremist-of-l_3119888.jpg" }, "description": "22 Luther King quotes by Cornel West. 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