Professors Cornel West and William Julius Wilson spoke in favor of progressive political movements last night at the Hasty Pudding Theater. They were greeted with nods and comments of approval from the audience.

"Now is the time," said Wilson, the Malcolm Wiener Professor of Social Policy. "We must build a multi-racial reform coalition to bring groups together."

Wilson spoke of growing economic disparity and racial tensions in recent years, pointing to Rodney King and other incidents of racial conflict.

He urged political cooperation across class lines to combat these trends, drawing on the themes of his new book The Bridge Over the Racial Divide: Rising Inequality and Coalition Politics.

West, like Wilson, urged his listeners to face the problems plaguing America.

"America is a democratic experiment often unwilling to acknowledge its dark side," said West, who is Alphonse Fletcher Jr.University Professor of African-American Studies. "The future depends on our ability to candidly confront social problems of poverty and low quality of life."

A newly published collection of West's works from the last 17 years, The Cornel West Reader, delves into this issue of "what it takes to live courageously in the face of death, disease, and despair," he said.

At times, West's plans for equality and interdependence coincided perfectly with Wilson's.