News

In his trademark gripping, combustible and yet reverential way, Dr. Cornel West, well-known political and social activist, Harvard University professor, best-selling author and theologian, called on people to continue in the tradition of the great African Americans who fought for justice and equality by becoming “love warriors.” West was the main attraction at West Fest 2018, a daylong multidisciplinary approach to art and “conch-us-nest” at the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville East St. Louis Center (ESLC) on Thursday, May 17. 

West’s visit to East St. Louis was at the request of Dr. Eugene B. Redmond, SIUE emeritus professor of English and East St. Louis Poet Laureate since 1976. The West Fest, which was also part of the 32-year anniversary celebration of the Eugene B. Redmond Writers Club, addressed economic and social justice, better ways to involve and empower young people, the strategic roles of literature, song and cultural arts in community cohesion, and honored Malcolm X, Miles Davis, Henry Dumas and Katherine Dunham. Redmond noted that East St. Louis School District 189 is the only one in the state, and perhaps in the nation, that created a Malcolm X holiday. 

Other guests on the program included former St. Clair County Judge Laninya A. Cason, ESLC Executive Director Jesse Dixon, Chair of the SIUE Department of Political Science Andrew Theising, Co-Founder of the Last Poets Dahveed Nelson, well-known Fabric Artist Edna Patterson Petty, historian and former Peace Corp Director Reginald Petty, East St. Louis Cultural Arts Instructor Dr. Amber Howlett; and EBR Writers Club members Roscoe Crenshaw, Sherman Fowler, Charlois Lumpkin, Treasure Shields Redmond, Jaye P. Willis and President Darlene Roy. 

Those attending events throughout the day included SIUE Chancellor Randy Pembrook, PhD; Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Denise Cobb, PhD; Lovejoy Library Interim Dean Lydia Jackson, Associate Professor of English Howard Rambsy, PhD; and students from SIUE East St. Louis Center’s Upward Bound programs and the SIUE East St. Louis Charter High School. 

“I’m so blessed to come to East St. Louis,” said West during the press conference. “East St. Louis is such a distinct and singular place in the history of the struggle for freedom. The fundamental question for me is the one raised by a genius on the south side of Chicago, Lorraine Hansberry, in her iconic play ‘A Raisin in the Sun.’ Her character, Mama, asked how to pass on the rich tradition of African Americans to the younger generations.” 

“Eugene B. Redmond is part of the same rich tradition as Lorraine Hansberry, and he has been passing on the tradition for the last 80 years or so. Eugene is an artistic genius and a spiritual giant.” West and Redmond, who met in Sacramento, Calif. in the 1970’s, have been friends for nearly 50 years. 

Throughout the conference, West talked about the problematic political and social climate that African Americans find themselves in. “We are trying to keep alive one of the greatest traditions in the modern world,” said West during the luncheon, “— the quest for black dignity and sanity in a white supremacist civilization. 

“No other people in the history of the world have dealt with the violence and catastrophes that African Americans have,” continued the author of Race Matters, “and still teach the world so much about compassion and creativity.” 

“The political climate that we find ourselves in is not new,” West said during the press conference. “Jim and Jane Crow is American terrorism. Now we have Jim Crow Jr. Neighborhoods, schools and social networks are still segregated.” 

“The saddest feature of the moment, politically speaking, is the lack of strength, depth, scope and breadth to the resistance of Jim Crow Jr.” 

The solution, the former Union Theological Seminary professor reverberated throughout the day, is love. 

“Love has to be at the center of it all, or your efforts are just sounding brass and tinkling cymbals,” West said, referencing I Corinthians 13:1. 

“The historic figures who have been on fire for truth and justice have been love warriors,” West offered. “Love is enacted in a life. It’s embodied in a way of being in the world, like Frederick Douglas, W.E.B. DuBois, Ida Wells, Ella Baker, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X.” 

“Who are the love warriors among you? Who are the ones who will tell the truth? Who will take a risk?” 

If young people do not take their place in the struggle, the result will be heart breaking, according to West. 

“The younger generation has to keep the love tradition alive,” he added. “The older generation can’t be who we are without young people stepping in. We do not want the entire struggle to have been in vain. The price that has been paid is a whole lot of blood, sweat, tears, bodies hanging from trees, and people dishonored and devalued.” 

It is not enough to be smart, West instructed the young people at the conference, wisdom has to be the key. 

“Let the phone be smart. We’ve got to be wise,” West said. “You’ve got to use your body, connected with your mind, your soul and your heart. We have to be courageous. Enslaved Africans understood that very well.” 

In answering many questions from young people, one inquiry came from Deanna Pettigrew, Upward Bound EC student and freshman at Cahokia High School. 

“Do you think African American women participating in the political system is wise?” asked Pettigrew. 

After a smiled spanned his face, West responded with a resounding yes. 

“All of the wisdom that black women have had in the past, in the present and the unborn, it is indeed wise,” said West. “The reason why one participates in the system is because one is fundamentally committed to trying to improve the lives of everyone, which includes the poor and working people across class and color lines, across regions, and so forth. 

“Shirley Chisolm is one of the grand examples,” West chorused, “who used what she had, her talent, imagination, and her love to make the world better, especially for the least of these.” 

Photos:
Dr. Cornel West, well-known political and social activist, Harvard University professor, best-selling author and theologian, spoke at the SIUE East St. Louis Center on Thursday, May 17. 

Dr. Cornel West greets his longtime friend Dr. Eugene B. Redmond, SIUE emeritus professor of English and East St. Louis Poet Laureate. 

Dr. Cornel West (back center) autographed his book, Race Matters, for students in the SIUE East St. Louis Center’s Upward Bound EC and Math and Science ECM programs. Students shown on the front row from left to right:  Ta'Niya Williams, Ideah Bradley, Deanna Pettigrew, (all freshman at Cahokia High School) Kelsey Simmons (junior at Cahokia High School) and Nyla Cohen (a freshman at Cahokia High). Students on the back row include Damien James (junior at Madison High School), Jermaine Watson and Jarryd Hardaway (both juniors at Cahokia High School). 

Eugene B. Redmond Writers Club's Soular Systems Ensemble reading an original poem honoring Miles Davis, Henry Dumas, Katherine Dunham and other East St. Louis greats. L-R: Jaye P. Willis, Charlois Lumpkin, Roscoe Crenshaw and President Darlene Roy. Seated in the foreground is former St. Clair County Judge Laninya A. Cason.