The Lannan Foundation in Santa Fe, New Mexico, has named Cornel West as the winner of its 2005 Prize for Cultural Freedom. The award, accompanied by $350,000, was established to recognize people whose extraordinary and courageous work celebrates the human right to freedom of imagination, inquiry, and expression.

A professor of philosophy, religion, and African-American studies at Princeton University, West is well-known for his outspoken criticism of social injustice in the United States and around the world. He lectures and writes widely on many subjects, including racial equality, American imperialism, war and peace, street violence, democracy, and spiritual politics, and has taught at Harvard, Union Theological Seminary, and the University of Paris. He is, in addition, the author of seventeen books, including Race Matters, a contemporary classic that analyzes the scars of racism in American democracy, and Democracy Matters: Winning the Fight Against Imperialism.

"Cornel West, a most distinguished scholar and philosopher, is perhaps the most gifted and inspiring American orator of his generation," said foundation president J. Patrick Lannan, Jr. "At a time in modern history where one sees the greatest disparity ever between rich and poor, Dr. West's talks unnerve and unsettle the comfortable classes, while communicating a sense of hope and justice to the politically and economically marginalized."