Anna Julia Cooper, Worth, and Public Intellectuals Carolyn M. Cusick, M.A. Vanderbilt University A radical opening of possibilities for public engagement by academics and otber intellectuals came about in 1898 wben numerous Frencb academics were inspired by Emile Zola to come to tbe aid of wrongfully-convicted Gaptain Alfred Dreyfus and expose tbe problem of anti-Semitism in tbe Frencb military in particular and society in general. At tbe same time in Wasbington, D.G., Anna Julia Gooper, a young woman originally born into slavery and recently appointed teacber at tbe renowned M Street Higb Scbool, was using ber voice to come to tbe aid of scores of disadvantaged African Americans. Altbougb tbe discussion about just wbat and wbo—if anyone—is a public intellectual is long, elaborate, and ongoing, I will argue tbat if we return to tbe undervalued work of Anna Julia Gooper, tbis discus- sion will be ricber and more productive tban ever before. I will argue tbis specifi- cally because ber well-worked-out notion of buman wortb is just wbat is needed to retbink bow we ougbt to live in tbe world and to strive to live better. Wbat else is tbe mission of a public intellectual tban to advance buman knowledge and free- dom, to give back and better tbe world—or at least some piece of it? If I am rigbt about tbe mission, tben tbere must be an operative, even if not consciously formed, notion of wbat tbat better world migbt be like. Glearly, some standard of value or bealtb guides intellectuals and activists in declaring a crisis or illness, as well as guides tbeir ideas about convalescence and tbe process of recovery. In A Voice From the South, Gooper resituates tbe measure of buman wortb, moving it from wbat one bas to wbat one does and produces, tbus cballenging ber audience to retbink bow we live in tbe world and to strive to live better. In tbis paper I intend to argue, first, tbat public intellectuals do aim at public betterment. Tben I will turn to Anna Julia Gooper's notion of wortb and argue for it as a viable and valu- able standard for public intellectual endeavors. Philosophia Africana, VOL. 12, NO. I , MARCH 2009 . 21