Boston, MA – Jill Stein, presumptive Green Party Presidential nominee, welcomed the support of Dr. Cornel West, American philosopher, academic, social activist, author, public intellectual, and prominent member of the Democratic Socialists of America.
In an article published by The Guardian with the title “Obama has failed victims of racism and police brutality”, West publicly expressed his support for Stein, writing: “This November, we need change. Yet we are tied in a choice between Trump, who would be a neo-fascist catastrophe, and Clinton, a neo-liberal disaster. That’s why I am supporting Jill Stein. I am with her – the only progressive woman in the race – because we’ve got to get beyond this lock-jaw situation.”
“I am incredibly honored to have the support of the legendary Dr. Cornel West, a great American intellectual activist who has tirelessly carried the torch passed by love warriors like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.,” said Dr. Stein. “Dr. West’s truth-telling voice is especially needed now, with Americans across the country rising up against a morally bankrupt political system.”
“As the crisis of state violence against black and brown people intensifies, it’s clear that our nation needs a Truth and Reconciliation commission to help us come to terms with this crisis, a symptom of the living legacy of the criminal institution of slavery. As Dr. West has said, in this tumultuous time we can draw inspiration from the Black Lives Matter movement, a youth-led movement that is leading the charge to the better world we know is possible. Like these courageous activists for racial justice and an end to violence, we all must reject the suicidal logic of accepting lesser evil, and stand up to fight for the greater good like our lives depend on it.”
“In the eloquent words of Dr. Cornel West, ‘It’s not about having hope, but being hope. It’s time to move from being spectators, to being actors,’” said Stein.
Dr. West was a close ally of Bernie Sanders during his historic campaign for the Democratic nomination, and was appointed by Sanders to serve on the DNC Platform Committee. West abstained from the final vote, citing “moral failures” in the Democratic Party platform that now represents the official agenda of nominee Hillary Clinton.
“I have a deep love for my brother Bernie Sanders, but I disagree with him on Hillary Clinton,” wrote West in The Guardian. “Her militarism makes the world a less safe place. Clinton policies of the 1990s generated inequality, mass incarceration, privatization of schools and Wall Street domination. There is also a sense that the Clintons’ policies helped produce the right-wing populism that we’re seeing now in the country. And we think she’s going to come to the rescue? That’s not going to happen.”