Blues, Love and Politics.

MORRISON, Toni, 1931-2019; WEST, Cornel, 1953-; ELLISON, Ralph, 1914-1994; MANDELA, Nelson, 1918-2013; BALDWIN, James, 1924-1987; WRIGHT, Richard

This section presents excerpts from a conversation between Toni Morrison and Cornel West. The Editors: On March 24 at the New York Society for Ethical Culture, The Nation Institute sponsored a conversation between Toni Morrison, recipient of the 1993 Nobel Prize, member of The Nation's editorial advisory board and author of "Love," "Beloved," "Paradise," "Jazz" and "The Bluest Eye," among other books, and Cornel West, professor of religion and African-American studies at Princeton, Nation contributor and author of "Race Matters" and many other books and articles. In his introductory remarks, Institute president Hamilton Fish noted that "tonight, we continue a conversation that began in 1865, the year a group of Northern abolitionists published the first issue of "The Nation" magazine." Following is an abridged and adapted version of that conversation.