Black Scholar Cornel West Announces He’s Running For U.S. President

 

Cornel West, a historian and philosophy professor, declared his candidacy for president in 2024 on Monday. The 70-year-old professor said in a Twitter video that he is standing for the People’s Party, adding that he has “decided to run for truth and justice.”

 

“I come from a tradition where I care about you,” West said in the video. “I care about the quality of your life, I care about whether you have access to a job with a living wage, decent housing, women having control over their bodies, healthcare for all, de-escalating the destruction of the planet.”

 

Some of the activist’s objectives are stated on his campaign website, including a ban on all foreign military aid, a ban on Nato, the abolition of student debt, and the implementation of Medicare for All. He would also focus on reducing poverty and mass incarceration, halting wars and environmental breakdown, and ensuring housing.

 

West previously taught at Princeton, Yale, and Harvard before becoming a professor of philosophy at Union Theological Seminary. He opposes both Democrats and Republicans, yet in 2016, he backed then-Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders. West, a progressive political activist, has written about race and class in American society.

 

West’s declaration comes only weeks after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis revealed his intention to run for president.Former Vice President Mike Pence launched his campaign on Monday as well. Both Joe Biden and Donald Trump are campaigning for re-election.