The night began as Cornel West — black activist, philosopher and Princeton professor — entered the University Union Ballroom Thursday to a standing ovation from a full audience of different ages and cultures.

West ?”- an author of many books including “Race Matters” and “Democracy Matters” — touched on many topics at the event hosted by UNIQUE and the Multicultural Center.

Throughout the night, he spoke of topics often avoided in everyday conversation ?”- especially race. West spoke of the struggles of blacks in America before, during and after the Civil Rights movement. He touched on what it takes, and what it means, to face the truth in terms of who a person really is, or what a nation really stands for.

Speaking with different dynamics throughout the night and physical motions both large and small, West described his philosophy, his Socratic way of questioning and critical thinking.

“She did not blink,” West said, explaining the refusal of Rosa Parks to give up her seat in the back of the bus as a testament to her character.

He said she had the courage to say: “I am a human being and your dogma of white supremacy is endangering humanity.”

West spoke about the struggles of blacks. From slavery, Jim Crow laws and the Civil Rights Movement, blacks, he said, had endured a lot.

“To be black in America for 400 years is being hated for who you are,” West said.

It took a lot of courage, he said, for blacks to nonviolently fight for civil rights in the face of injustices and violence against them.

In the face of violence against innocent people including Emmet Till ?”- a 14-year-old boy from Chicago who was murdered in Mississippi ?”- and the death of four girls that resulted from a bombing at the 16th Street Baptist Church in Alabama, blacks continued to protest nonviolently.

“If black people had reacted violently, there would be civil war every generation,” West said.

The Civil Rights movement, he said, was for everyone’s benefit ?”- not just blacks.

As for democracy, West said, people need to start thinking of what is going on everywhere. He said that it’s not just about benefiting individually, a person needs to care about others, their nation and the world. They need to start giving back and pushing each other forward.

“Fight. Fight. Fight,” he told a young woman in the audience, who had asked what she could do as an African-American woman to be free in America.

“Keep fighting. You lose sometimes and you bounce right back,” West said,

Social work graduate student Patricia Roche said West is an incredible, beautiful person. “He’s like a voice of consciousness, not just for black people, but for the nation.”

Sophomore Andre Anderson, a student from CSU Los Angeles, came to the event because he had read some of West’s books and was familiar with his work.

“I think he’s very insightful,” Anderson said. He said West inspires the youth to take a stand and take action in today’s world.

Nika Megino can be reached at [email protected]