Cornel West

One of the foremost Black American scholars and intellectuals of the late 20th century and new millennium, Cornel West entered the realm of popular music with spoken word recordings that displayed his fiery radicalism and put forth his philosophies on race and religion. West played an active part in Civil Rights struggles, entrenched in the front lines of the Black student movements of the '70s and '80s, both as a student and a professor. Over the course of his academic career, he has obtained degrees and professorships at Yale, Princeton, and Harvard universities and has published several essays and books, including his best-seller Race Matters. During his tenure at Harvard from 1994 to 2002, he was revered by many students for his unconventional pedagogy, teaching some of the university's most popular courses. His unorthodoxy was exemplified by his first spoken word album, Sketches of My Culture (2001).