Host Committee to Promote Cornel West-Bob Avakian
Dialogue on Revolution and Religion
Updated November 6, 2014
A prestigious group of people from a variety of fields have signed a statement to be part of a Host Committee to promote Revolution and Religion: The Fight for Emancipation and the Role of Religion; A Dialogue Between Cornel West and Bob Avakian. Scholars, theologians, scientists, musicians, actors, filmmakers, parents of children murdered by the police who have become fighters for justice, as well as revolutionaries—all people of accomplishment and stature have joined together in a statement that says:
Members of the Host Committee have diverse political and philosophical viewpoints, yet agree that Cornel West and Bob Avakian dialoguing on this topic at this moment will matter and that people throughout society need to know about it.
The Host Committee signatory statement goes on to say: “We recognize that the Cornel West/Bob Avakian dialogue and the speakers could come under different types of attack and slander from the media, social media, as well as from agencies of the state. These would be attempts to keep public discourse confined within terms acceptable to and reinforcing the status quo. Host Committee signatories can play an important public role in countering slander, social and political pressure, as well as more overt attacks through utilizing our public voice.”
In various and creative ways, the Host Committee is a tremendous positive factor contributing to raising the profile and maximizing the impact of this unique and urgent dialogue—to getting the message out that nobody with an interest in human emancipation can afford to miss this dialogue.
HOST COMMITTEE,
CURRENT SIGNATORIES
Kwame Anthony Appiah—Professor of Philosophy and Law, New York University author of The Honor Code: How Moral Revolutions Happen
Ed Asner—Actor, Emmy Award winner
William Ayers—Distinguished Professor of Education and Senior University Scholar at the University of Illinois, Chicago (retired)
S. Scott Bartchy—Professor Emeritus History of Religion, Dept. of History, UCLA; Director Emeritus, Center for the Study of Religion at UCLA
Richard Brown—Former Black Panther and San Francisco 8 Defendant
Rev. Dr. Meri Ka Ra (Richard Byrd)—Krst Unity Center of Afrakan Spiritual Science, Los Angeles
Dr. James H. Cone—Union Theological Seminary, Professor of Systematic Theology; author of The Cross and the Lynching Tree
Peter Coyote—Actor, writer
Annie Day—The Bob Avakian Institute
Carl Dix—Revolutionary Communist Party, USA and Stop Mass Incarceration Network
Emory Douglas—Artist and former Minister of Culture, Black Panther Party
Carol Downer—Author, lawyer, co-founder Federation of Feminist Women’s Health Centers
Farah Griffin—Professor, English and African American Studies, Columbia University
Fredrick Harris—Professor of Political Science, Columbia University
Carl Hart—Professor of Psychology, Columbia University, author of High Price
Robert Hass—Professor of Poetry and Poetics, University of California, Berkeley, Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winner, former U.S. poet laureate
Obery M. Hendricks, Jr.—Ph.D, Visiting Scholar, Dept. of Religion & Institute for Research in African American Studies, Columbia University
Nicholas Heyward—Father of Nicholas Heyward, Jr.—murdered by New York Police Dept. in 1994; October 22 Coalition to Stop Police Brutality, Repression and the Criminalization of a Generation
Ted Jennings—Professor, Chicago Theological Seminary
Philip Kitcher—John Dewey Chair of Philosophy, Columbia University
Raymond Lotta—Writer Revolution/revcom.us, political economist
Rev. Cecil L. "Chip" Murray—Professor, Center for Religion and Civic Culture, University of Southern California; Co-Founder, the Cecil Murray Center for Community Engagement, USC
PZ Myers—Associate Professor of Biology, University of Minnesota, Morris; founder and author Pharyngula science blog
Arturo O'Farrill—Pianist, composer, educator, founder Afro Latin Jazz Alliance, Grammy award winner
Rev. Stephen H. Phelps—Member, Presbytery of NYC
Anthony B. Pinn—Agnes Cullen Arnold Professor of Humanities, Rice University; Director of Research, The Institute for Humanist Studies (Washington, DC)
Katherine Ragsdale—President, Episcopal Divinity School, Cambridge, MA
Saskia Sassen—Robert S. Lynd Professor of Sociology, co-chair Committee on Global Thought, Columbia University
Matthew Shipp—Musician and composer
Dr. Donald Shriver—President Emeritus of Faculty, Union Theological Seminary, NYC
Mark Lewis Taylor—Educator, author, activist; Professor of Theology and Culture, Religion and Society, Princeton Theological Seminary
Juanita Young—Mother of Malcolm Ferguson—murdered by New York Police Dept. in 2000; October 22 Coalition to Stop Police Brutality, Repression and the Criminalization of a Generation
Robert Young—Filmmaker
Andy Zee—Spokesperson, Revolution Books, NYC
David Zeiger—Filmmaker
Institutional affiliations for identification purposes only.
STATEMENTS FROM MEMBERS OF THE HOST COMMITTEE
We need it desperately
I have been a fan of Cornel West for many years. I have been deeply impressed by his intelligence and his purity and to find him in dialogue with Bob Avakian, a fearless leader of the left is a consummation to be wished for. Work prevents me from being at the dialogue, but know this, I envy all of you who are. If hope and clarity can only come from this dialogue to lighten the dark times we live in, then I would wish this same dialogue will be played throughout the land. We need it desperately.
Ed Asner—Actor, Emmy Award winner
~~~~~
I strongly support the Dialogue
When you consider that religion influences the majority of humanity in one way or another, the Dialogue between Cornel West and Bob Avakian can be extremely important—particularly if it encourages religious leaders and their followers to develop a strategy that plays a major role in the struggle for emancipation. With this in mind, I strongly support the Dialogue.
Richard Brown—Former Black Panther; San Francisco 8 Defendant
~~~~~
Two people with differences about how to resolve our quest for a moral way of being… having a principled discussion
Both Cornel West and Bob Avakian say we are moral people with responsibility to look at what is really happening in this world and to decide what is right and wrong and to act accordingly. This is very different than the view of people whose religious faith is shaken that without a belief in God, no one can prove anything, and there are no moral standards to stop one from from raping and murdering and stealing. They then often go on autopilot, acting on whatever forces impinge on them or whatever feels good at the time. Ironically, since they believe there are no objective standards, they are unable to identify the larger forces that are oppressing them, and they do not join with others to fight back against injustice. They end up either blaming themselves for their difficulties, or they blame the nearest individuals or groups in their environment for their suffering and spend their days attacking them either physically or on cyberspace, fighting fruitless “twitter wars.” This “horizontal hostility” serves the purpose of those forces in society that are oppressing them. This Dialogue between West and Avakian is an important discussion because it is very different than that. Two people with differences about how to resolve our quest for a moral way of being and how to create a more just, humane world having a principled discussion. People can learn from this.
Carol Downer—Author, lawyer,
co-founder Federation of
Feminist
Women’s Health Centers
~~~~~
Anyone with deep concern about the future of this world needs to be there.
I admire and respect both Cornel West and Bob Avakian. Both are fearless fighters for the poor and oppressed throughout the world. One, Bob Avakian, is a revolutionary fighter; the other, Cornel West, is a Christian. Anyone with deep concern about the future of this world needs to be there, and needs to hear this very important dialogue between two champion crusaders.
Nicholas Heyward—Father of Nicholas Heyward, Jr.—murdered by New York Police Dept. in 1994; October 22 Coalition to Stop Police Brutality, Repression and the Criminalization of a Generation
~~~~~
A great occasion to explore how revolutionary Marxism and radical Christianity may find common ground in articulating the hope for transformation
(10/3/14)
If humanity is to survive and thrive we all know that there must be radical and fundamental change. The rule of avarice and violence is destroying the lives of myriads and indeed the very planetary basis for life. Two forces for this fundamental transformation are revolutionary Marxism and radical Christianity. The dialogue between Bob Avakian and Cornel West is a great occasion to explore how these movements may find common ground in articulating the hope for transformation and organizing to bring it about.
Ted Jennings—Professor,
Chicago Theological Seminary
~~~~~
I do look forward to the results of this Dialogue on questions of such vital importance to humanity.
The Dialogue between Cornel West and Bob Avakian of the Revolutionary Communist Party will hold anyone of care in fascination and examination. My initial probing is to ask BA, a man of sensitivity, courage, and caring, what he explicitly means by "revolution." I agree that we must "rise up and fight back" but feel strongly in the road of Ghandi, Nelson Mandela, and Martin Luther King. I also share both Cornel West's and Bob Avakian's thoughts on the need to have a face off on questions such as prison or police brutality, such as women's struggle for equality, but the question remains: while Avakian has masterfully given description, I part ways with him on the prescription. I do look forward to the results of this Dialogue on questions of such vital importance to humanity.
Rev. Cecil L. "Chip" Murray—Professor,
Center for Religion and Civic Culture,
University of Southern California;
Co-Founder of the Cecil Murray Center
for Community Engagement, USC
Let the conversation begin!
If knowledge is power, we need sustained and robust exchange of ideas in order to harness and productively utilize this power for change. This discussion between West and Avakian points in the right direction, and holds great promise as a model of how we can work beyond our disagreements to find common ground framed and defined by the sufferings of those most in need of life transformation. Without this type of dialogue and the knowledge and understanding it promises to provide, we stand little chance of moving beyond our differences and toward healthy life options for all. Let the conversation begin!
Anthony B. Pinn—Agnes Cullen Arnold Professor of Humanities; Director of Research, The Institute for Humanist Studies, Rice University
~~~~~
A more radical way of looking at where we're at…that draws me
(11/2/14)
What I like really about this dialogue is that it is not the typical dialogue. It is not the typical people. And it is not this very domesticated, careful mode of talking about where we're at and what we need. I think what both Cornel West and Bob Avakian are about is opening up new ground. We're in a disastrous situation. Our state, our liberal state, is in severe decay—not just ours, by the way, all around. So I think we really need to focus in a way on the extreme conditions that are often left out. We are always focusing on the middle, the medium, the mean. We really need to focus on the edges, the horrors that are happening. So I think a more radical way of looking at where we're at, where there are no easy remedies—that draws me. And each of them has a very strong category that organizes their thinking and their passions, and that is also very good. That's good theater even: religion and revolution. Can you ask for more?
Saskia Sassen—Robert S. Lynd Professor of Sociology, co-chair Committee on Global Thought, Columbia University
~~~~~
This is a Needed, Needed Dialogue
(11/6/2014)
This is a needed, needed dialogue—the religious impulse has been responsible for a lot of altruistic acts through the ages that have fostered compassion and hence an attempt to live a life of real social justice and meantime organized religion has also been used as a tool to brainwash and control the minds of the masses and quite frankly has been one of the most evil forces in the modern world fostering violence and intolerance to people who don't think like them. Should be interesting to see what these two great thinkers come up with as to religion's role in restructuring society.
Matthew Shipp—Musician and composer
~~~~~
Can religion in our 21st century be a servant of justice rather than an enemy? It remains a vital question, one that religious people in America dare not neglect.
(11/5/2014
My predecessor president of Union Theological Seminary, in the 1960s, was John C. Bennett, also a professor of Christian Social Ethics. That era of the 'sixties was rife with political talk among Americans hostile to Soviet communism. Bennett believed that, even if one defines communists as enemies of democracy and religion, dialogue between communists and American Christians was necessary for human pursuit of peace and justice globally. Bennett was a leading critic of America's involvement in the Vietnam war. He never flagged in his conviction that we Christians must listen to the criticisms of religion by Marxists. He was sure that Christianity and Marxism had a proper common concern for how capitalism often harms the world's poor. He was sure, with the Hebrew prophets, that religion without justice is bad religion.
Can religion in our 21st century be a servant of justice rather than an enemy? The dialogue of Cornel West and Bob Avakian is sure to focus on this question. It remains a vital question, one that religious people in America dare not neglect.
Donald W. Shriver, Jr.—President Emeritus, Union Theological Seminary
~~~~~
If we really want fundamental change…look at fundamental questions—“Revolution and Religion” is as fundamental as it gets.
What kind of world do we live in? A world where Michael Brown’s murderer still walks free while we’re told to have a “conversation” about race, where oil companies rush to grab up the new oil fields exposed by the melting polar ice cap while “world leaders” make meaningless, hypocritical pledges to stop global warming, where entire families incinerated in an instant by unmanned drones is not considered barbaric, where a so-called “progressive” president has out war-mongered the war-mongers. In this insane world, why isn’t revolution on everyone’s lips? Why aren’t millions of people striving for a whole new future instead of debating the pros and cons of Hilary Clinton for president? C’mon, people. If we really want fundamental change, we have to look at fundamental questions–and “Revolution and Religion: The Fight for Emancipation and the Role of Religion” is as fundamental as it gets. I welcome it, and you should too.
David Zeiger—Filmmaker