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Michael Eric Dyson

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The Reverend
Michael Eric Dyson
Born (1958-10-23) October 23, 1958 (age 65)
Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Spouses
  • Theresa Taylor
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1977; div. 1979)​
    [1]
  • Brenda Joyce
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1982; div. 1992)​
  • Marcia Louise
    ​
    (m. 1992)​
Ecclesiastical career
Ordainedc. 1977
Academic background
Alma mater
ThesisUses of Heroes: Celebration and Criticism in the Interpretation of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. (1993)
InfluencesManning Marable[2]
Academic work
DisciplineSociology
InstitutionsVanderbilt University
Websitemichaelericdyson.com Edit this at Wikidata

Michael Eric Dyson (born October 23, 1958) is an American academic, author, Baptist minister, and radio host. He is a professor in the College of Arts and Science and in the Divinity School at Vanderbilt University.[3] Described by Michael A. Fletcher as "a Princeton Ph.D. and a child of the streets who takes pains never to separate the two",[4] Dyson has authored or edited more than twenty books dealing with subjects such as race, religion and politics as well as biographies on Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr., Marvin Gaye, Barack Obama, Bill Cosby, and Jay-Z.

Early life and education

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Dyson was born on October 23, 1958, in Detroit, Michigan, the son of Addie Mae Leonard, who was from Alabama. He was adopted by his stepfather, Everett Dyson.[citation needed] He attended Cranbrook School in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, on an academic scholarship but left and completed his education at Northwestern High School.[4] He became an ordained Baptist minister at nineteen years of age.[5] Having worked in factories in Detroit to support his family, he entered Knoxville College as a freshman at the age of twenty-one.[6] Dyson received his bachelor's degree, magna cum laude, from Carson–Newman College in 1985.[4] He received a Ph.D. in religion from Princeton University in 1993 after completing a doctoral dissertation titled Uses of Heroes: Celebration and Criticism in the Interpretation of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr.[7]

Career

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Professor

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Dyson has taught at Chicago Theological Seminary, Brown University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Columbia University, DePaul University, and the University of Pennsylvania.[4] From 2007 to 2020, he was a professor of sociology at Georgetown University.[8] In 2021, Dyson moved to Vanderbilt University where he holds the Centennial Chair and serves as University Distinguished Professor of African American and Diaspora Studies in the College of Arts and Science and University Distinguished Professor of Ethics and Society in the Divinity School.[3] Between 2016 and 2018, he was a visiting professor at Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont.

Author

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His 1994 book Making Malcolm: The Myth and Meaning of Malcolm X became a New York Times notable book of the year.[9] In his 2006 book Come Hell or High Water: Hurricane Katrina and the Color of Disaster, Dyson analyzes the political and social events in the wake of the catastrophe against the backdrop of an overall "failure in race and class relations".[10][11][12] In 2010, Dyson edited Born to Use Mics: Reading Nas's Illmatic, with contributions based on the album's tracks by, among others, Kevin Coval, Kyra D. Gaunt ("Professor G"), dream hampton, Marc Lamont Hill, Adam Mansbach, and Mark Anthony Neal.[13] Dyson's own essay in this anthology, "'One Love', Two Brothers, Three Verses", argues that the current US penal system disfavors young black males more than any other segment of the population.[14][15] His last three books appeared repeatedly on the New York Times Bestseller list.

Commentator

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Dyson hosted a radio show, which aired on Radio One, from January 2006 to February 2007. He is also a commentator on National Public Radio, MSNBC and CNN, and is a regular guest on Real Time with Bill Maher. Beginning July 2011 Michael Eric Dyson became a political analyst for MSNBC.[16] In May 2018, he participated in the Munk debate on political correctness, arguing alongside Michelle Goldberg against Stephen Fry and Jordan Peterson.[17] In August 2018, he spoke at the funeral of Aretha Franklin.[18]

The Michael Eric Dyson Show radio program debuted on April 6, 2009, and was broadcast from Morgan State University. The show's first guest was Oprah Winfrey,[19] to whom Dyson dedicated his book Can You Hear Me Now? The Inspiration, Wisdom, and Insight of Michael Eric Dyson. The show appears to have been discontinued with its last episode being in December 2011.

Dyson served on the board of directors of the Common Ground Foundation, a project dedicated to empowering urban youth in the United States.[20] Dyson and his third wife, Marcia L. Dyson,[4] were regular guests and speakers at the Aspen Institute Conferences and Ideas Festival.[citation needed] Dyson most recently hosted a television show, The Raw Word.

In an August 2024 appearance on CNN, Dyson accused Congresswoman Nancy Mace of 'misjudging' Vice President Kamala Harris by the way in which Mace pronounced Harris' first name.[21] In September 2024, Representative Nancy Mace accused Dyson of sending her flirty texts after they both sparred on a panel discussion at CNN. He reportedly asked for a photo with her and texted her telling her "not to tell anyone but they looked good together" and complimented her on her "gorgeousness".[22] In a House Oversight Committee hearing, Mace entered the texts he sent her into the record saying adding that "he begged her for photos" with her.[23]

Allegations of sexual harassment

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During his time at Georgetown University, Dyson faced allegations of sexual harassment from a number of students and was investigated by the Title IX office.[24][25] Georgetown University's student newspaper The Georgetown Voice reported in June 2021 that the University had launched an investigation into Dyson in February 2020 in relation to allegations that Dyson harassed and tried to initiate a romantic relationship with one of his students at the University. Subsequently, Professor and author Crystal Fleming also accused Dyson of harassing her as a graduate student.[26] Students at Vanderbilt, where Dyson accepted a position in 2021, have accused the school of "fail[ing] Black women" by hiring the alleged predator.[27]

Beliefs

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Dyson's general philosophy is that American black people are continuing to suffer from generations of ongoing oppression. On Fox News with Tucker Carlson, Dyson suggested that white Americans looking for ways to counter white privilege could make individual efforts to contribute time and money to support local black communities.[28]

Personal life

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Dyson has a son, Michael Eric Dyson II, born on May 22, 1978, in Detroit with his first wife, Theresa Taylor.

Bibliography

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Title Year ISBN Publisher
Reflecting Black: African-American Cultural Criticism 1993 ISBN 9780816621439 University of Minnesota Press
Making Malcolm: The Myth and Meaning of Malcolm X 1995 ISBN 9780195102857 Oxford University Press
Race Rules: Navigating the Color Line 1996 ISBN 9780201911862 Addison Wesley
Between God and Gangsta Rap: Bearing Witness to Black Culture 1997 ISBN 9780195115697 Oxford University Press
I May Not Get There with You: The True Martin Luther King, Jr. 2000 ISBN 9780684867762 Free Press
Holler if You Hear Me: Searching for Tupac Shakur 2002 ISBN 9780465017560 Basic Civitas Books
Open Mike: Reflections on Philosophy 2002 ISBN 9780465017652 Basic Civitas Books
Why I Love Black Women 2002 ISBN 9780465017638 Perseus Book Group
The Michael Eric Dyson Reader 2004 ISBN 9780465017713 Basic Civitas Books
Mercy, Mercy Me: The Art, Loves and Demons of Marvin Gaye 2005 ISBN 9780465017706 Basic Civitas Books
Is Bill Cosby Right? Or Has the Black Middle Class Lost Its Mind? 2005 ISBN 9780465017195 Basic Civitas Books
Pride: The Seven Deadly Sins 2006 ISBN 9780195160925 Oxford University Press
Come Hell or High Water: Hurricane Katrina and the Color of Disaster 2006 ISBN 9780465017614 Perseus Book Group
Debating Race 2007 ISBN 9780465002061 Basic Civitas Books
Know What I Mean? Reflections on Hip Hop 2007 ISBN 9780465017164 Basic Civitas Books
April 4, 1968: Martin Luther King's Death and How it Changed America 2008 ISBN 9780465012862 Basic Civitas Books
Can You Hear Me Now? The Inspiration, Wisdom, and Insight of Michael Eric Dyson 2009 ISBN 9780465018833 Basic Civitas Books
The Black Presidency: Barack Obama and the Politics of Race in America 2016 ISBN 9780544387669 Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon to White America 2017 ISBN 9781250135995 St. Martin's Press
What Truth Sounds Like 2017 ISBN 9781250135995 St. Martin's Press
JAY-Z: Made in America 2019 ISBN 9781250230966 St. Martin's Press
Long Time Coming: Reckoning with Race in America 2020 ISBN 9781250276759 St. Martin's Press
Entertaining Race: Performing Blackness in America 2021 ISBN 9781250135971 St. Martin's Press

Editor

Awards and nominations

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Year Association Category Work Result Ref.
2007 American Book Award Come Hell or High Water: Hurricane Katrina and the Color of Disaster Won [29]
2004 NAACP Image Award Outstanding Literary Work – Nonfiction Why I Love Black Women Won [30]
2006 Outstanding Literary Work – Nonfiction Is Bill Cosby Right? Or Has the Black Middle Class Lost Its Mind? Won [31]
2007 Outstanding Literary Work – Nonfiction Come Hell or High Water: Hurricane Katrina and the Color of Disaster Nominated [32]
2008 Outstanding Literary Work – Nonfiction Know What I Mean?: Reflections on Hip-Hop Nominated [33][34]
2021 Outstanding Literary Work – Nonfiction Long Time Coming: Reckoning with Race in America Nominated [35]
2018 Southern Book Prize Non-Fiction Tears We Cannot Stop Won [36]

Interviews

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References

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  1. ^ Armstrong, Elizabeth (March 15, 2001). "The Pure Heart of Gangsta Rap". Chicago Reader.
  2. ^ "Manning Marable's New Malcolm X Biography Investigates Conflicted Reality of the Civil Rights Leader". Democracy Now!.
  3. ^ a b "Dr. Michael Eric Dyson Heads to Vanderbilt - Higher Education". September 29, 2020. Retrieved January 18, 2021.
  4. ^ a b c d e Michael A. Fletcher (Spring 2000). "Michael Eric Dyson: A Scholar and a Hip-Hop Preacher.", The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education.
  5. ^ Marie Arana (August 24, 2003). "Michael Eric Dyson. Telling It Any Way He Can.", The Washington Post.
  6. ^ Michael Eric Dyson (April 2, 2011). "Manning Marable: A Brother, a Mentor, a Great Mind." Archived June 5, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, The Root.
  7. ^ Dyson, Michael Eric (1993). Uses of heroes : celebration and criticism in the interpretation of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr.
  8. ^ Michael E Dyson, Department of Sociology, Georgetown University
  9. ^ Calvin Reid (February 21, 2000). "Interview. Michael Eric Dyson: Of Her s and Hip-hop. The real challenge of King's heroism is to make it a useful heroism", Publishers Weekly.
  10. ^ Austin Considine (February 5, 2006). "Disparities revealed in Katrina's wake / Race, class central to analysis of how nation failed victims", San Francisco Chronicle.
  11. ^ Staff (April 2006). "The center of the storm", Ebony.
  12. ^ Staff (January 16, 2006). "Come Hell or High Water: Hurricane Katrina and the Color of Disaster", Publishers Weekly.
  13. ^ Dyson, Michael Eric; Daulatzai, Sohail (December 28, 2009). Born To Use Mics: Reading Nas's Illmatic. Basic Civitas Books. pp. v–vi. ISBN 978-0-465-00211-5. Retrieved August 21, 2011.
  14. ^ Dyson; Daulatzai (2009). Born To Use Mics. Basic Books. p. 131. ISBN 9780465002115. Retrieved August 21, 2011.
  15. ^ Alessandro Porco (May 2009). "'Time is Illmatic': A Critical Retrospective on Nas's Groundbreaking Debut", Postmodern Culture – Volume 19, Number 3.
  16. ^ Samuels, Allison (August 12, 2011). "Michael Eric Dyson Hire by MSNBC Deepens Black Ire Over Al Sharpton Show". The Daily Beast. Retrieved September 28, 2018.
  17. ^ "Munk Debates – Political Correctness". Archived from the original on December 4, 2018. Retrieved May 21, 2018.
  18. ^ Izadi, Elahe; Butler, Bethonie; Rao, Sonia (August 31, 2018). "'She gave us pride and a regal bar to reach': Everything that happened at Aretha Franklin's 8-hour funeral". Washington Post. Retrieved September 28, 2018.
  19. ^ Richard Prince (April 1, 2009). "Oprah to Inaugurate Michael Eric Dyson Radio Show" Archived November 7, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, Maynard Institute. Richard Prince's Journal-isms™.
  20. ^ Staff (2007). "Biography: Dr. Michael Eric Dyson" Archived November 1, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, Common Ground Foundation, board members.
  21. ^ "Professor gets upset with Nancy Mace after she mispronounces Kamala Harris' name". CNN. Retrieved September 24, 2024.
  22. ^ "Nancy Mace Reveals Flirty DMs from Michael Eric Dyson After Their Explosive CNN Clash: 'We Look Good Together'". Mediate. Retrieved September 24, 2024.
  23. ^ "BREAKING: Nancy Mace Reveals Alleged Shocking Text Message She Says She Got From Michael Eric Dyson". Forbes. Retrieved September 24, 2024.
  24. ^ "Professor Michael Eric Dyson on "Entertaining Race" | the Takeaway".
  25. ^ "Georgetown investigated Professor Michael Eric Dyson for student harassment allegations before his hire by Vanderbilt". June 2021.
  26. ^ "Georgetown investigated Professor Michael Eric Dyson for student harassment allegations before his hire by Vanderbilt". The Georgetown Voice. June 1, 2021. Retrieved November 13, 2021.
  27. ^ "WHY DOES VANDERBILT CONTINUE TO FAIL BLACK WOMEN". Her Campus. June 1, 2021. Retrieved January 8, 2022.
  28. ^ "Dyson: Whites should open individual reparation accounts". February 2, 2017.
  29. ^ American Booksellers Association (2013). "The American Book Awards / Before Columbus Foundation [1980–2012]". BookWeb. Archived from the original on March 13, 2013. Retrieved September 25, 2013. 2007 [...] Michael Eric Dyson, Come Hell or High Water: Hurricane Katrina and the Color of Disaster (Basic Books)
  30. ^ "'Temptations' tempt NAACP". Variety. March 7, 2004. Retrieved December 24, 2023.
  31. ^ "Image Awards honor Jamie Foxx, Bernie Mac". The Augusta Chronicle. February 27, 2006. Retrieved December 24, 2023.
  32. ^ Williams, Kam (2007). "38th NAACP Image Awards (2007)". AALBC. Retrieved December 24, 2023.
  33. ^ "The 39th NAACP Image Award Nominations". Variety. January 8, 2008. Retrieved December 24, 2023.
  34. ^ McCarthy, Libby; Peters, Derek (February 14, 2008). "'Debaters' dominates Image Awards". Variety. Retrieved December 24, 2023.
  35. ^ Bosselman, Haley (March 27, 2021). "NAACP Image Awards 2021: The Complete Televised Winners List". Variety. Retrieved December 24, 2023.
  36. ^ "Awards: SIBA's Southern Book; Branford Boase". Shelf Awareness. July 6, 2018. Retrieved December 24, 2023.
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