Dr. Cornel West & BMWMB are hosting the first annual community listening party reunion for May 31st, 2008 in Sacramento California.
"Black Men Who Mean Business"
Mike Bailey : Clifton West
MTV's Buzz Worthy Artist of the Week, Dr. Cornel West
February 18, 2008
In honor of Black History Month, we’re honoring one of the foremost leaders and thinkers in Black America today: Dr. Cornel West.
Dr. Cornel West is an Ivy League-educated professor of religion and African-American studies at Princeton University. A renown, controversial philosopher, orator, scholar and activist, Dr. West has written close to 20 profoundly influential books on the topics of race, politics, culture and religion, including the best-selling book, Race Matters.
It’s not unusual to see West — a cancer survivor and the son of a Baptist minister — keeping company with everyone from students to senators, rabbis to rappers. In fact, West has a hand in making hip-hop music too: aside from his involvement with Russell Simmons’s Hip-Hop Summit, West has two albums to his name.
On his first album, Sketches of My Culture, released in 2001, he skillfully set the ramifications of slavery to soulful spoken word grooves. On his latest album, Never Forget: A Journey of Revelations, released in 2007 with the Black Men Who Mean Business, he set his thoughts on being Black in post-9/11 Bush Country to funk, soul and hip-hop rhythms. Joining him: hip-hop and R&B heavy-hitters Prince (one of the first times the artist has ever allowed his work to be sampled), Jill Scott, Talib Kweli, KRS-One, Andre 3000, Killer Mike, The Roots‘ Black Thought and the late Gerald Levert.
“This isn’t commentary on hip-hop,” West told Billboard.com. “This is a very political album that doesn’t pull any punches… There are critiques of the Bush administration as well as of unaccountable corporate power, unaccountable police power and homophobia. We’re trying to get young people to wake up and recognize they’re part of the great tradition of struggle, to become organized and fight for freedom of justice.”
This is hip-hop of the deepest, highest order intended to raise awareness, open minds, influence and inspire. As he told the Baltimore Sun, “Hip-hop is a powerful cultural force that can be used as a link to freedom. We’ve always had a group of prophetic musicians that fused the social, political and historical. Hip-hop as a force of change that may not speak directly to the Curtis Mayfield generation, but it speaks to young people and their children. And, my brother, we can’t give up on our young people.”
For his MTV Artist of the Week on-air videos, Dr. West and a few famous friends took that message directly to the schools, directly to the children — specifically to Grace A. Dunn Middle School in Trenton, New Jersey. There, he schooled the young students in Black history, race and class, the Wu-Tang Clan and, above all else, how to lead a respectful, righteous life.
See the photos from Dr. Cornel West’s field trip to Trenton, watch some of his on-air videos below and see them all right here, find out more about Dr. West’s thoughts, and share your views on his.
Tavis Smiley offers opening remarks for The State of the Black Union 10th Anniversary
February 2008
Some of the most influential thinkers, entertainers, and political leaders of our time gather each year to discuss the State of the Black Union during Black History Month. Presented annually in February by Tavis Smiley Presents, the symposium was created to educate, enlighten and empower America by bringing people together and engaging them in thoughtful dialogue, leading the way to constructive action.
NEW ORLEANS — Following a Day of Service rebuilding some of the most devastated areas in New Orleans, the 2008 State of the Black Union symposium hosted a panel of distinguished scholars, policymakers and leaders in a lively discussion about the role of African Americans in
the 2008 presidential elections at the Ernest E. Morial Convention Center this morning. The conversation features a speech by Senator Hillary Clinton at , which was aired live on C-SPAN.
Moderated by Tavis Smiley, the panel included a venerable list of who’s who of AfricanAmerican leaders such as New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Xavier University President Norman Francis, Policy Link President Angela Glover Blackwell, and U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Chair Naomi Churchill Earp. The program also included presentations from Pastor Melvin Jones, a Hurricane Katrina hero, and Daron Boyce, a youth activist and aspiring political leader. DOWNLOAD PDF
Henry Louis Gates, Jr's African American Lives, the most watched PBS program for February '08
February 2008
HENRY LOUIS GATES JR. TAKES AN ALL-NEW GROUP OF AFRICAN AMERICANS ON A QUEST TO DISCOVER THEIR ROOTS IN AFRICAN AMERICAN LIVES 2
--Maya Angelou, Dave Chappelle, Morgan Freeman, Peter Gomes, Linda Johnson Rice, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Tom Joyner and Tina Turner Are Among the Accomplished Group Participating in Sequel to Landmark PBS Series--
--The Coca-Cola Company, Johnson & Johnson and General Motors to Sponsor Series, a Production of Thirteen/WNET New York, Kunhardt Productions and Inkwell Films--
PBS Press Tour; Beverly Hills, CA; July 11, 2007 — The critically acclaimed PBS broadcasts AFRICAN AMERICAN LIVES (2006) and OPRAH’S ROOTS (2007) shined a national spotlight on the powerful process of discovering one’s family history. In February 2008 on PBS, Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. will guide an all-new group — poet Maya Angelou, comedian Dave Chappelle, actor Morgan Freeman, theologian Peter Gomes, publisher Linda Johnson Rice, athlete Jackie Joyner-Kersee, radio host Tom Joyner and rock ’n’ roll legend Tina Turner — on a journey to discover their ancestry in AFRICAN AMERICAN LIVES 2. The new four-part series will draw on DNA analysis, genealogical research and family oral tradition to trace the lineages of the participants down through U.S. history and back to Africa.
In a unique twist to AFRICAN AMERICAN LIVES 2, one ordinary individual, selected from more than 2,000 applicants, will join Professor Gates and this distinguished group on the life-changing quest for their roots.
AFRICAN AMERICAN LIVES 2 is the centerpiece of a multifaceted project that will include a major new book written by Professor Gates and published by Crown, a division of Random House; a companion Web site; and teacher training and outreach events in seven key markets across the country.
In honor of Black History Month, we’re honoring one of the foremost leaders and thinkers in Black America today: Dr. Cornel West.
Some of the most influential thinkers, entertainers, and political leaders of our time gather each year to discuss the State of the Black Union during Black History Month. Presented annually in February by Tavis Smiley Presents, the symposium was created to educate, enlighten and empower America by bringing people together and engaging them in thoughtful dialogue, leading the way to constructive action.
