He’s a renowned scholar and intellectual, philosopher, professor, activist and a best-selling author of more than two dozen books—including “Race Matters”. And as of this week, Cornel West has declared his candidacy for President of the United States under the banner of the People’s Party.
The announcement was made in a twitter video released on Monday, June 5.
“I am running for truth and justice as a presidential candidate for the People’s Party to reintroduce America to the best of itself – fighting to end poverty, mass incarceration, ending wars and ecological collapse, guaranteeing housing, health care, education and living wages for all!,” said the former professor public philosophy at Harvard University and professor emeritus at Princeton University.
Priorities for the 70-year old Tulsa, Oklahoma native—who characterizes himself as a champion for racial justice through the traditions of the Black church—include affordable housing, universal healthcare, abortion rights, climate change and the preservation of democracy.
“I enter in the quest for truth, I enter in the quest for justice, and the presidency is just one vehicle to pursue that truth and justice — what I’ve been trying to do all of my life.”
The People’s Party—under which banner he will run—was founded by former Bernie Sanders campaign staffer Nick Brana in 2017 with the mission of guaranteeing health care, housing, quality education, and peace for all, while remaining free of corporate money and influence.
“I come from a tradition where I care about you. I care about the quality of your life, I care about whether you have access to a job with a living wage, decent housing, women having control over their bodies, health care for all, the escalating of the destruction of the planet, the destruction of American democracy,” West stated.
“Democracy creates disruption. It creates an eruption. It creates an interruption wide from below, the energies of everyday people is manifest.”
The outspoken activist characterized President Joe Biden as a “milquetoast neoliberal” and called Donald Trump a
“neo-fascist.”
“Will we succeed? Only time will tell,” he said, “But some of us are ready to fight until the end. We will fight passionately, with style, and with a smile.”