Michael Eric Dyson
 |
Michael Eric Dyson | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 23, 1958 |
| Nationality | United States |
| Education | Carson-Newman College (A.B.) Princeton University (Ph.D.) |
| Occupation(s) | Author, professor |
| Employer | Georgetown University |
| Spouse |
Marcia Louise (m. 1992) |
Michael Eric Dyson (born October 23, 1958) is an American academic, author, and radio host. He is a professor of sociology at Georgetown University.
Biography
Dyson was born to Everett and Addie Dyson in Detroit, Michigan. He received a Ph.D. in religion from Princeton University, and is an ordained minister of the Baptist denomination.
Dyson taught at DePaul University, Chicago Theological Seminary, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Columbia University and Brown University, before going to the University of Pennsylvania in 2003. There he was the Avalon Professor of Humanities.
Since 2007, Dyson has been University Professor of Sociology at Georgetown University, teaching courses in theology, English, and African American studies. A University Professorship is said to be the highest position that a faculty member can have at Georgetown.
On April 6 2009, Dyson started a radio show, The Michael Eric Dyson Show, created and produced by the African-American Public Radio Consortium in partnership with WEAA-FM, Baltimore, Maryland. It is produced on the campus of historically black university, Morgan State University. His inaugural guest was Oprah Winfrey, to whom he dedicated Can You Hear Me Now?: The Inspiration, Wisdom, and Insight of Michael Eric Dyson.
Commentary
From January 2006 to February 2007 Dyson was the host of a daily syndicated talk radio program, The Michael Eric Dyson Show, which aired on weekdays from 10AM to 1PM (EST) on the Syndication One Radio Network (owned and operated by Radio One).In April 2009, Dyson premiered a new version of The Michael Eric Dyson Show. The new, one-hour weekday program is broadcast out of 88.9 WEAA-FM, the radio station of Morgan State University, and is syndicated. He is also a regular commentator on National Public Radio, CNN, and the HBO TV program Real Time with Bill Maher. Dyson is best known for his commentary on American culture, particularly as it pertains to African Americans. Dyson uses the terms "Afristocracy" and "Ghettocracy" to describe a bifurcation in American black society. He is also a leading scholar on hip-hop music and the culture that surrounds it, as well as its roots in African and African-American cultures and influence on American popular culture. As for his political and social views, Dyson writes and speaks from a strongly liberal viewpoint. During 2004, he made headlines for opposing comedian Bill Cosby's biting social commentary. Some critics stated that Cosby's incendiary statements were harsh and even cruel, and some accused Cosby of being a "race traitor." In an interview with CNN's Paula Zahn, Dyson said he did not feel Cosby was a race traitor but felt that Cosby was not taking into account all the economic and social factors that he says compel lower-income black Americans to have such high rates of crime, teen pregnancy, divorce, etc.
Bibliography
- Reflecting Black: African-American Cultural Criticism, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1993. | ISBN 0-816-62143-8
- Making Malcolm: The Myth and Meaning of Malcolm X, New York: Oxford University Press, 1995. | ISBN 0-19-510285-1
- Race Rules: Navigating the Color Line, Reading, Massachusetts: Addison Wesley, 1996. | ISBN 0-201-91186-8
- Between God and Gangsta Rap: Bearing Witness to Black Culture, Oxford University Press, USA , 1997. | ISBN 0-195-11569-4
- I May Not Get There with You: The True Martin Luther King, Jr., New York: Free Press, 2000. | ISBN 0-684-86776-1
- Holler if You Hear Me: Searching for Tupac Shakur, New York: Basic Civitas Books, 2002 | ISBN 0-465-01756-8
- Open Mike: Reflections on Philosophy, Race, Sex, Culture and Religion, New York: Basic Civitas Books, 2002. | ISBN 0-465-01765-7
- Why I Love Black Women, New York: Perseus Books Group, 2002. | ISBN 0-465-01763-0
- The Michael Eric Dyson Reader, New York: Basic Civitas Books, 2004. | ISBN 0-465-01771-1
- Mercy, Mercy Me: The Art, Loves and Demons of Marvin Gaye, New York: Basic Civitas Books, 2005. | ISBN 0-465-01770-3
- Is Bill Cosby Right?: Or Has the Black Middle Class Lost Its Minds?, New York: Basic Civitas Books, 2005. | ISBN 0-465-01719-3
- Pride: The Seven Deadly Sins, New York: Oxford University Press, 2006. | ISBN 0-19-516092-4
- Come Hell or High Water: Hurricane Katrina and the Color of Disaster, New York: Perseus Books Group, 2006. | ISBN 0-465-01761-4
- Debating Race, New York: Basic Civitas Books, 2007. | ISBN 0-465-00206-4
- Know What I Mean?: Reflections on Hip Hop, New York: Perseus Books Group, 2007. 407-410
- April 4, 1968: Martin Luther King's Death and How it Changed America, New York: Basic Civitas Books, 2008. | ISBN 0-465-00212-9
- Can You Hear Me Now?: The Inspiration, Wisdom, and Insight of Michael Eric Dyson, New York: Basic Civitas Books, 2009. | ISBN 0-465-01883-1
- Full of the Hope That the Present Has Brought Us: Obama and America (The W. E. B. Du Bois Lectures), Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2009. | ISBN 0-674-03502-X
References
 | This article includes a list of references, related reading, or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. (July 2009) |
- Nishikawa, Kinohi. "Michael Eric Dyson." The Greenwood Encyclopedia of African American Literature. Ed. Hans Ostrom and J. David Macey, Jr. 5 vols. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2005.