West tells Chicora students to focus on love

Originally posted on Charleston City Paper

MORNING HEADLINES | American philosopher, theologian and Black rights activist Cornel West told a full gymnasium of students and teachers at Chicora Elementary School that they need more love in their lives.

“This is crucial,” he told the Charleston City Paper before taking the stage on a chilly and wet Thursday morning. “I had so much love, courage and integrity poured into me as a child. And I want to pour whatever depths of love, courage and integrity I have now into them because these kids are our future.”

West compared Black history icons to modern music stars.

“You can’t talk about Martin Luther King Jr., you can’t talk about Malcolm X, you can’t talk about Whitney Houston, you can’t talk about Kendrick Lamar … without deep love,” he told about 100 Chicora Elementary students from a stage. “And this is important because we Black people have been hated for so long, and we teach the world about love.”

The event, organized by Reading Partners and school administrators, also gave students the chance to hear the nationally-known West speak about his activist work and ask questions. Students asked about books and stories that changed his life, times he was fearful to speak up but did so anyway and moments in his career that were especially challenging or impactful.

He told students the story that turned his life “upside down” was the story of Jesus. His faith, he said, kept him out of official membership of the Black Panther Party (but didn’t stop him from allying with them on local efforts), introduced him to the late Tupac (who allegedly had very pretty eyes) and guided him from “knocking folk out” when he was younger.

North Charleston Mayor Reggie Burgess, who attended the event, said he has been listening to West speak for years — since he was in college.

“Dr. Cornel West coming here was powerful because normally, we don’t get to see our national leaders in the school, in the community,” Burgess said. “We have to go to the coliseum, a convention center or other program.

“But he came here, and he shared this information with our children. And most importantly, for me, he allowed them to ask him what he did when he faced a crisis, how he worked through hard times. And he said, ‘Love.’” —Skyler Baldwin