Meeting Cornel West and Notes on His Speech

I was fortunate enough to speak at a symposium where Cornel West was the keynote speaker. At a book signing, I had a brief moment to chat with him and the experience was incredible. I’ve never felt more thoroughly embraced by another scholar. Dr. West was engaging, eloquent, and accepting. He gave a talk to hundreds where he spoke for an hour and a half without so much as one sheet of notes. He tied together issues of hip-hop, evolution, President Obama’s election, and ideas of christian love.

West demonstrated not only the characteristics of a well-rounded humyn being and an excellent scholar, but also that of a great speaker. What scholars try to do at conferences and the like is to sound as intelligent as they write. That rarely happens. It is difficult to vocalize, in a coherent manner, the often complex ideas we trap on paper. To speak to a crowd made up of students, professors and community members alike, adds difficulty to the task.

It is relatively easy to talk to scholars about postmodernism, natural law, racial stereotypes, etc. But it is profoundly more difficult to do that with the community when one’s thoughts are tightly wrapped in the language of the academy. Dr. West was both scholarly and personable. He present his ideas using the diction and tone of a learned man, but was able to connect with the diverse audience all the same. Many have proclaimed that Dr. West is the most prominent public intellectual of our generation and it is not difficult to see why.

I was even more convinced that it was necessary at all costs to be personable to desire the connection that makes our writing and speaking actionable. All the talk in the world means little if people are unable or unwilling to act on it. West clearly desires enabling listeners. He recognizes the connection between scholarship and activism. He knows that people solve problems. It is no coincidence that both words start with “p.”

We should all take these lessons to heart. Sound speaking leads to sound advocacy. Sound advocacy is enforced by a sound connection amongst people. Perhaps that is why Dr. West is indeed one of the most important intellectuals of our time. He understands his responsibility to the community. He simply gets it.

President Obama makes mistakes

We’ve all heard of President Obama’s missteps with appointees.  It seems just like the rest of us, government leaders have money problems.  We all know the Tax Code is complex.  I took tax law and worked with the IRS’s Volunteer Income Taxpayer Assistance Program.  That’s not easy stuff, but is it appropriate to damn everyone and anyone who makes a tax mistake?  Tax law is extremely complex and the more money you make the more complex it gets.  This is not intended to absolve the President’s appointees of their errors, but to recognize that this is not as simple as forging a check or parking a car next to the fire hydrant. 

My guess is that it’s fairly common to make tax mistakes.  Like it or not, most of us have probably made them, although not a Tom Daschle level mistake.  

I am not convinced that we must condemn President Obama for erring in the selection process.  It seems that while we are all quick to cast the first stone, that we ought not to assume that we’re back to politics as usual.  We remember when George H.W. Bush nominated the inept Harriet Myers to the Supreme Court, a silly folly of political favoritism, but he rebounded with John Roberts and Samuel Alito.  Although these two justices were and are stalwart conservatives, they are also imminently qualified jurists.  Although the Court would have benefited from more centrist or more liberal justices, the Court was bolstered by intelligent, experienced selections. 

Obama now has an opportunity to go back to the drawing board and come up with several more qualified candidates.  It will be difficult to replace Daschle’s political power, but all is not lost.  Obama’s political capital will not take much of a hit and a future nominee stands no less chance of being confirmed.  Let’s just hope that this allows President Obama to come back with an equally impressive nominee.