Dr. Cornel West is leaving his post as a professor of Princeton University to follow what he believes God is leading him to do.
West is a 1973 graduate of Harvard University and starting 2012 will be a Professor at Union Theological Seminary, where he will teach Religious Philosophy and Christian Practice. West is known for his combination of political and moral insight and criticism and his contribution to the post-1960s civil rights movement.
Dr. West has said: “Owing to my family, church, and the black social movements of the 1960s”, he says, “I arrived at Harvard unashamed of my African, Christian, and militant de-colonized outlooks. More pointedly, I acknowledged and accented the empowerment of my black styles, mannerisms, and viewpoints, my Christian values of service, love, humility, and struggle, and my anti-colonial sense of self-determination for oppressed people and nations around the world.”
Most recently West is known for his criticisms of President Barack Obama. Cornel West and famed PBS host Tavis Smiley launched a nation-wide poverty tour in August to raise awareness of the poverty situation affecting America.
