Cornel West Lends Support to Occupy the Rose Parade

By Brian Charles, Pasadena Star-News

22 December 11

he Occupy the Rose Parade movement received its most notable endorsement Sunday, as social activist and noted academic Cornel West offered his support for the demonstration during a speech at All Saints Church.

"Any time you get a chance to bear witness for justice, I support that," West said. "If I was around Jan. 2, I would be part of it."

West's endorsement came as a surprise to Occupy the Rose Parade organizer Aaron Murphy, who was at All Saints for West's speech.

"I was really surprised by his vision that to really be a Christian, one must support movements like Occupy," Murphy said.

Occupy the Rose Parade plans to march in the Rose Parade on Jan. 2, carrying a 250-foot banner of the Constitution, as well as forming a human float shaped on a octopus to represent the stranglehold corporations have on American life, Murphy said.

Occupy the Rose Parade hopes to bring attention the transformation of the annual parade from civic gathering to branding opportunity for corporations, Murphy said.

West was met by a standing ovation when he was introduced to a packed audience in Rector's Forum at All Saints Church on Sunday. His own progressive Christian thought matches the church, which often finds itself at the center of politically charged social issues such as opposing the war in Iraq, supporting the Occupy movement and marriage equality for gay and lesbian couples.

West's rousing words electrified the audience.

In the spirit of Occupy, a man from the audience called for a "mic check," which gave him the floor.

The man said: "Thank you, Cornel West, for spreading the truth. We love you."

West showed off his signature gap-toothed smile.

West, a Harvard graduate who has taught at his alma mater, as well as Princeton and the University of Paris, has spent much of the last year bringing national attention to poverty, as part of a national "poverty tour" with PBS television host Tavis Smiley.

Like the Occupy movement, West has been critical of the growing wealth gap between the uber-rich 1 percent and the rest of the nation, the 99percent.

"We are in deep trouble, when 1 percent owns 40 percent of the wealth and we have unaccountable oligarchs at the top," West said.

According to West, Occupy has shone a light on wealth disparity that political thinkers on both the left and right cannot ignore.

"I would have never thought my brothers and sisters at Fox News would be talking about corporate greed," he said.

While much of his Sunday commentary criticized the country's entrepreneurial class, politicians were not spared his ire.

West lambasted lawmakers, who he said have reduced politics "to Machiavellian or Hobbesian calculations."

He accused Congress of engaging in "legalized bribery."

In his estimation, politicians are more concerned with winning the day than improving the lives of average Americans, or making decision based on a core set of principles.

West criticisms extended to the White House and President Barack Obama, whose policies he said have often aligned with the same oligarchs that he accuses of undermining the economy and whose actions have led to what he characterized as perverse wealth disparity.

And while West wouldn't go as far as abandoning his support of Obama in 2012, he was critical of the wavering of Democratic leaders.

"I believe in progressive politicians, if we can find more of them," West said.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCi2jAQnaxY