The purpose of this report is to analyze the qualifications of the three final candidates for a speaker to be invited to the gala party celebrating the beginning of the new millennium in the year 2000. These candidates have been examined in terms of their background, life experiences, abilities as speakers, and on the basis of their writings in order to get some idea of their views and how well they would fit with a celebration leading into a new year, a new century, and a new millennium, all suggesting new ideas, new priorities, and a new dedication to solving the problems of the city and improving the lot of humankind.
Cornel West is the Chair of the African American Studies Program at Harvard University. He is regarded as one of America's leading African American intellectuals. West has Socialist leanings and is the honorary co chair of the Democratic Socialists of America.
He is considered one of America's "most eloquent and provocative speakers" and seeks always "to promote a greater appreciation for the kind of perceptions that African Americans bring to their status and condition in this society" (Mocete www.ucc.uconn.edu/~wwwnews/rel96028.htm). According to Ronald Taylor, Director of the Institute for Africa-American Studies, West has a particular intention in his work:
In his writing West addresses a range of social issues and developments with implications for society in general and African Americans in particular. He stresses how essential it is for whites, African Americans and other people of color to work together to address their common problems and to work toward the realization of social justice for all (Mocete www.ucc.uconn.edu/~wwwnews/rel96028.htm).
West was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1953. His family eventually settled in Sacramento, California, and it was in Sacramento where the young West began what would become a lifelong habit of protest by refusing to salute the American flag because of...