--- title: Hear What Cornell West Says Is His First Political Memory description: The activist and commentator talks about Dr. Martin Luther King's vision of justice canonical: https://time.com/3453821/cornel-west-first-political-memory/ author: Salima Koroma article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-10-02T14:00:34.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T10:32:01.741Z article:section: History og:title: Hear What Cornell West Says Is His First Political Memory og:description: The activist and commentator talks about Dr. Martin Luther King's vision of justice og:url: https://time.com/3453821/cornel-west-first-political-memory/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt097a9d48ce781632/6986a671169ab0cabf27b804/136926810.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Tavis Smiley Hosts "Remaking America: From Poverty To Prosperity" - Panel Discussion og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Hear What Cornell West Says Is His First Political Memory twitter:description: The activist and commentator talks about Dr. Martin Luther King's vision of justice twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt097a9d48ce781632/6986a671169ab0cabf27b804/136926810.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Hear Cornel West Recount His First Political Memory by [Salima Koroma](https://time.com/author/salima-koroma/) ## Salima Koroma Oct 2, 2014 2:00 PM UTC  WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 12: Dr. Cornel West and Tavis Smiley hold discussions on politics in America at the "Remaking America: From Poverty to Prosperity" panel discussion at the George Washington University's Lisner Auditorium on January 12, 2012 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Earl Gibson III/Getty Images) WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 12: Dr. Cornel West and Tavis Smiley hold discussions on politics in America at the "Remaking America: From Poverty to Prosperity" panel discussion at the George Washington University's Lisner Auditorium on January 12, 2012 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Earl Gibson III/Getty Images)Earl Gibson III—Getty Images by [Salima Koroma](https://time.com/author/salima-koroma/) ## Salima Koroma Oct 2, 2014 2:00 PM UTC In new book _Black Prophetic Fire_, renowned speaker, activist and social commentator Dr. Cornel West discusses the black prophetic tradition. Working with editor Christa Buschendorf, West discusses six key figures: Frederick Douglass, W. E. B. Du Bois, Ella Baker, Malcolm X, Ida B. Wells and Martin Luther King Jr., the latter of whom makes up his first political memory. In an interview with TIME, West recalled getting to see the Civil Rights icon speak, when West was just 10-years-old. But even though he was so young at the time, West remembers knowing that “this brother was for real when he talked about love. And he knew justice is what love looks like in public.” West went on to discuss some of King’s later writing, in which he heavily criticized the Vietnam War. “He’s always maladjusted to injustice,” West said. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3453821/cornel-west-first-political-memory/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3453821/cornel-west-first-political-memory/"},"headline":"Hear Cornel West Recount His First Political Memory","datePublished":"2014-10-02T14:00:34.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T10:32:01.741Z","description":"The activist and commentator talks about Dr. Martin Luther King's vision of justice","url":"https://time.com/3453821/cornel-west-first-political-memory/","keywords":["Civil Rights","History"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt097a9d48ce781632/6986a671169ab0cabf27b804/136926810.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Salima Koroma","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/salima-koroma/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt097a9d48ce781632/6986a671169ab0cabf27b804/136926810.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Tavis Smiley Hosts \"Remaking America: From Poverty To Prosperity\" - Panel Discussion","caption":"Tavis Smiley Hosts \"Remaking America: From Poverty To Prosperity\" - Panel Discussion","creditText":"Earl Gibson III—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/civil-rights/","name":"Civil Rights"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3453821/cornel-west-first-political-memory/","name":"Hear Cornel West Recount His First Political Memory"}}]}] ```