King was every bit as radical as Malcolm X.Īrranged thematically in four parts, The Radical King includes twenty-three selections, curated and introduced by Dr. But after more than forty years, few people appreciate how truly radical he was. Martin Luther King, Jr., is celebrated as one of the greatest orators in US history, an ambassador for nonviolence who became perhaps the most recognizable leader of the civil rights movement. Could it be that we know so little of the radical King because such courage defies our market-driven world?” -Cornel West, from the IntroductionĮvery year, Dr. The response of the radical King to our catastrophic moment can be put in one word: revolution-a revolution in our priorities, a reevaluation of our values, a reinvigoration of our public life, and a fundamental transformation of our way of thinking and living that promotes a transfer of power from oligarchs and plutocrats to everyday people and ordinary citizens. “The radical King was a democratic socialist who sided with poor and working people in the class struggle taking place in capitalist societies. King as being every bit as radical as Malcolm X and Cornel West, The Radical King (2016).Ī revealing collection that restores Dr. Professor Phil Nash reminds us of the importance of King’s work, especially during the forgotten period between his 1963 “I Have a Dream” speech and his assassination in 1968.

Popular history has airbrushed out far too much about his life and work. Martin Luther King did so much more for American society, and wanted so much more from the US government and US elites, than most people realize.

The radical king cornel west