Michael Eric Dyson

Mrs. James, my fifth-grade teacher, introduced us to some of the great literature of African American culture. I won my first blue…

— Michael Eric Dyson

We should not be post-racial: seeking to get beyond the uplifting meanings and edifying registers of blackness. Rather, we should be post-racist:…

— Michael Eric Dyson

Ralph Ellison is a classic work of erudition, grace, and elegance. Rampersad offers us an Ellison whose gifts and warts orbit the…

— Michael Eric Dyson

The emphasis on personal responsibility is something we've had in black America from the get-go. Every major leader and intellectual worth her…

— Michael Eric Dyson

I have written 13 books, full of my ideas about a variety of issues - from black women, to hip-hop culture, to…

— Michael Eric Dyson

You cannot hear the name Martin Luther King, Jr., and not think of death. You might hear the words 'I have a…

— Michael Eric Dyson

Black women must challenge black men to live up to their best in every arena of the culture - at job, at…

— Michael Eric Dyson

Hip-hop is about the brilliance of pavement poetry.

— Michael Eric Dyson

Originality doesn't consist of saying it first, originality consists of saying it in a way that is specifically tailored to the moment…

— Michael Eric Dyson

Charity is no substitute for justice. If we never challenge a social order that allows some to accumulate wealth--even if they decide…

— Michael Eric Dyson

“I am subject to constant criticism all day long,” the president told me in our Oval Office discussion. “And some of it…

— Michael Eric Dyson

“Their sermons help black folk resist the evil seductions of white supremacy. Very few members go away from such homilies without hope…

— Michael Eric Dyson

“In 1968 King said the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence were penned by men who owned slaves, thus, a “nation that…

— Michael Eric Dyson

In the minds of many Americans, if you are a radical Democrat or a Socialist, you are automatically a Communist. And if…

— Michael Eric Dyson

“You’ve been handed a history where you got most of the land, made most of the money, got most of the presumptions…

— Michael Eric Dyson

“So what are you supposed to do? My friends, what I need you to do—just for starters—is not act. Not yet. Not…

— Michael Eric Dyson

Oprah Winfrey represents the most ingenious and creative expression of black spiritual genius in the public mainstream that we've had in quite…

— Michael Eric Dyson

“To this day my grandson is worried every time he sees a cop. He fears the cops will try to arrest him…

— Michael Eric Dyson

I think that the over-incarceration of black and brown folk is one of the great crimes of American society.

— Michael Eric Dyson

Barack Obama has come closer than any figure in recent history to obeying a direct call of the people to the brutal…

— Michael Eric Dyson

I was trying to write a straightforward book of sociological analysis, or at least cultural criticism, and I failed.

— Michael Eric Dyson

I think that Michael Jackson, just as an entertainer, as a figure who embodies the contradictions of black identity and the possibilities…

— Michael Eric Dyson

I want young people to look at me and go, 'Damn, I want to be like that brother. He sharp, he be…

— Michael Eric Dyson

All Americans deserve an equal crack at what it means to be a - having - having resources in your own home…

— Michael Eric Dyson

What he [Michael Jackson] did was he allowed us, through his voice and his instrument, to see a glimpse of the heaven…

— Michael Eric Dyson