--- title: "2 Black Life Quotes By Michael Eric Dyson" description: "2 Black Life quotes by Michael Eric Dyson. Plus more from Michael Eric Dyson and more Black Life sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/277/michael-eric-dyson-1424_black-lives-matter_beloved-to-be-white-is-to-know-that-you_293593.jpg" --- > [“Beloved, to be white is to know that you have at your own hand, or by extension, through institutionalized means, the power to take black life with impunity. It’s the power of life and death that gives whiteness its force,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-eric-dyson/beloved-to-be-white-is-to-know-that-you-have-at-your-own-hand-or-by/) [Michael Eric Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-eric-dyson/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/277/michael-eric-dyson-1424_black-lives-matter_beloved-to-be-white-is-to-know-that-you_293593.jpg) > [“So what are you supposed to do? My friends, what I need you to do—just for starters—is not act. Not yet. Not first. First I need you to see. I need you to see the pains and possibilities of black…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-eric-dyson/so-what-are-you-supposed-to-do-my-friends-what-i-need-you-to-do-just/) [Michael Eric Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-eric-dyson/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fdd/michael-eric-dyson-1424_life_so-what-are-you-supposed-to-do-my-friend_1517111.jpg) ## More by Michael Eric Dyson > [Jeremiah Wright is one of the greatest prophetic preachers that black America has produced. What I find striking is that many white brothers and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-eric-dyson/jeremiah-wright-is-one-of-the-greatest-prophetic-preachers-that-black/) [Michael Eric Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-eric-dyson/) > [ What are you for? It may be, to a degree, consoling that white brothers and sisters did not vote for \[Donald\] Trump, and do… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-eric-dyson/what-are-you-for-it-may-be-to-a-degree-consoling-that-white-brothers/) [Michael Eric Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-eric-dyson/) > [I went to school four years later than most people because I was a teen father, hustled on the streets, worked, lived on welfare…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-eric-dyson/i-went-to-school-four-years-later-than-most-people-because-i-was-a/) [Michael Eric Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-eric-dyson/) > [It is true that race is a social fiction, a myth perpetuated by a variety of peoples throughout the modern period, especially, to further…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-eric-dyson/it-is-true-that-race-is-a-social-fiction-a-myth-perpetuated-by-a/) [Michael Eric Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-eric-dyson/) > [ I've written a lot of other books and this book \[Tears we cannot stop\] was different. I couldn't just say what I wanted to… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-eric-dyson/i-ve-written-a-lot-of-other-books-and-this-book-tears-we-cannot-stop/) [Michael Eric Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-eric-dyson/) > [“And there is a paradox that many of you refuse to see: to get to a point where race won’t make a difference, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-eric-dyson/and-there-is-a-paradox-that-many-of-you-refuse-to-see-to-get-to-a/) [Michael Eric Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-eric-dyson/) > [ Elvis \[Presley\] had a stepstool, if you will, to success because he came from the dominant culture. They identified with him. Michael Jackson had… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-eric-dyson/elvis-presley-had-a-stepstool-if-you-will-to-success-because-he-came/) [Michael Eric Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-eric-dyson/) > [I believe in a God of a second chance and a God of love and mercy, because I need so much more of it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-eric-dyson/i-believe-in-a-god-of-a-second-chance-and-a-god-of-love-and-mercy/) [Michael Eric Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-eric-dyson/) > [Hurricane Katrina overwhelmed levees and exploded the conventional wisdom about a shared American prosperity, exposing a group of people so poor they didn't have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-eric-dyson/hurricane-katrina-overwhelmed-levees-and-exploded-the-conventional/) [Michael Eric Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-eric-dyson/) > [I was very struck when Min. Farrakhan said if Jesus and Muhammad were here today, they'd be embracing each other. That's a tremendous message…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-eric-dyson/i-was-very-struck-when-min-farrakhan-said-if-jesus-and-muhammad-were/) [Michael Eric Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-eric-dyson/) > [“O! save us, we pray thee, thou God of Heaven and of earth, from the devouring hands of the white Christians!!! . . .…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-eric-dyson/o-save-us-we-pray-thee-thou-god-of-heaven-and-of-earth-from-the/) [Michael Eric Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-eric-dyson/) > [We can't exempt ourselves from the same moral calculus that we are willing to apply to others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-eric-dyson/we-can-t-exempt-ourselves-from-the-same-moral-calculus-that-we-are/) [Michael Eric Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-eric-dyson/) > [New Orleans invented the brown paper bag party - usually at a gathering in a home - where anyone darker than the bag attached…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-eric-dyson/new-orleans-invented-the-brown-paper-bag-party-usually-at-a-gathering/) [Michael Eric Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-eric-dyson/) > [“Whiteness is an advantage and privilege because you have made it so, not because the universe demands it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-eric-dyson/whiteness-is-an-advantage-and-privilege-because-you-have-made-it-so/) [Michael Eric Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-eric-dyson/) > [I'm just challenging white supremacy at its intellectual heart every day. It's a pedagogy that I deploy against some of the most vicious resistance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-eric-dyson/i-m-just-challenging-white-supremacy-at-its-intellectual-heart-every/) [Michael Eric Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-eric-dyson/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/black-life/michael-eric-dyson/#itemlist", "name": "2 Black Life Quotes By Michael Eric Dyson", "numberOfItems": 2, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Beloved, to be white is to know that you have at your own hand, or by extension, through institutionalized means, the power to take black life with impunity. It’s the power of life and death that gives whiteness its force, its imperative. White life is worth more than black life. 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