Cornel West is one of America's most provocative and admired public intellectuals. Whether in the classroom, the streets, the prisons or the church, West's passion keeps alive the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. - a legacy of telling the truth and bearing witness to love and justice.

West graduated Magna Cum Laude from Harvard in three years and obtained his M.A. and Ph.D. in Philosophy at Princeton. He has taught at the Union Theological Seminary, Yale, Harvard and the University of Paris.

The author of nineteen books, he is best known for his classics Race Matters and Democracy Matters, and his memoir, Brother West:  Living and Loving Out Loud. 

He appears frequently on the Bill Maher Show, Colbert Report, CNN and C-Span as well as on his close friend Tavis Smiley's PBS TV Show. He can be heard weekly on  the Smiley and West radio show, a highly acclaimed progressive program. West has also co-authored with Smiley the book, The Rich and the Rest of Us: A Poverty Manifesto.

West made his film debut in the Matrix - and was the commentator (with Ken Wilbur) on the official trilogy released in 2004.  He also has appeared in over 25 documentaries and films including Examined Life, Call & Response, Sidewalk and Stand.  In addition to his publications he has made three spoken word albums including Never Forget, collaborating with Prince, Jill Scott, Andre 3000, Talib Kweli, KRS-One and the late Gerald Levert.  His recent spoken word interludes were featured on Terence Blanchard's Choices (which won the Grand Prix in France for the best Jazz Album of the year of 2009), The Cornel West Theory's Second Rome and the Raheem DeVaughn's Love & War: Masterpeace.