Michael Eric Dyson

"The author wrestles with the biggest themes of Jay-Z's career, including hustling, and recognizes the way that he's always woven politics into his music, making important statements about race, criminal justice, black wealth, and social injustice."-- Publisher's description.

Acclaimed for his writings on Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr., as well as his passionate defense of black youth culture, Michael Eric Dyson has emerged as the leading African American intellectual of his generation. Now Dyson turns his attention to one of the most enigmatic figures of the past decade: the slain hip-hop artist Tupac Shakur. Five years after his murder, Tupac remains a widely celebrated, deeply loved, and profoundly controversial...

"For more than thirty years, Michael Eric Dyson has played a prominent role in the nation as a public intellectual, university professor, cultural critic, social activist and ordained Baptist minister. He has presented a rich and resourceful set of ideas about American history and culture. Now for the first time he brings together the various components of his multihued identity and eclectic pursuits. Entertaining Race is a testament to Dyson's consistent...

Examines the events surrounding the 1963 meeting between Robert F. Kennedy and James Baldwin in New York City, as well as its impact on race relations in the United States from then to now.

A letter to Emmett Till, an excerpt from Dyson's longer work, Long Time Coming, a passionate call to America to finally reckon with race and start the journey to redemption. As Dyson notes: "Rarely has the tragic fact of Black death been as urgently in need of interpretation and engagement as in this moment."

"An exploration of the ongoing fight for democracy in the United States, from the American Revolution to the present day"-- Provided by publisher.

Nothing exposed the class and generational divide in black America more starkly than Bill Cosby's now-infamous assault on the black poor when he received an NAACP award in the spring of 2004. The comedian-cum-social critic lamented the lack of parenting, poor academic performance, sexual promiscuity, and criminal behavior among what he called the "knuckleheads" of the African-American community. Even more surprising than his comments, however, was...

Whether chronicling the class conflict in the African-American community or exposing the failings of the government response in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Michael Eric Dyson has never shied away from controversy. No stranger to intellectual combat, Dyson has always been ready to engage friends and foes alike in open conversation about the issues that matter. Debating Race collects many of Dyson's most memorable encounters and most poignant arguments....

Before I wanted to write the world, I sought to right it, declares Michael Eric Dyson. As one of America's most visible, inspirational, and quotable public intellectuals, Dyson has weighed in on a vast array of issues. In his books and newspaper articles, over television and radio waves, and from podiums to pulpits, Dyson has brought awareness and insight to questions of culture, race, gender, and politics. Now, twenty years into his illustrious career,...