Cornel West at the Catholic Worker (Part 1 of 4)

Our friends at the Catholic Worker kindly shared this video with America magazine. On Nov. 8, 2013, the birthday of Dorothy Day, Dr. Cornel West gave a rousing lecture about Dorothy's life and legacy at Maryhouse Catholic Worker in New York City. Dr. West has taught at Princeton, Yale, Harvard, the University of Paris, and Union Theological Seminary, and is the author of 19 books, including Race Matters (1994) and Democracy Matters (2005).

In this talk, titled, "Dorothy Day: Exemplar of Truth and Courage," Dr. West describes his connection with the Catholic Worker movement and what he most admires in Dorothy. He makes several references to The Long Loneliness and refers to Dorothy as one of the most prophetic American voices of the 20th century. "Dorothy Day understood that if you're gonna be a death wrestler, there's a very good chance that you're going to spend a lot of time on the margins, in prisons, and on your way to a cross...you will be a cross-bearer much more than a flag-waver." Dr. West also said that Dorothy was able to connect the spiritual to the social and the personal to the political. "If you are gonna be a long-distance runner against the American imperial forces, you have got to be so well-equipped. You gotta keep your soul intact," he said. Dorothy "never sold out, she held onto her integrity, until the very end. She wrestled with nihilism, she wrestled with melancholy, she wrestled with despair and darkness and bleakness, but she allowed the love, the community, to have the last the words."

Thank you to Ed Briody, the videographer, and the Catholic Worker in New York City for making this video available.