Michael Eric Dyson, Ph.D.
Michael Eric Dyson, 2012
Born	(1958-10-23) 23 October 1958 (age 54) Detroit, Michigan, USA
Nationality	United States
Education	Knoxville College Carson-Newman College (BA, 1985) Princeton University (MA, 1991) Princeton University (PhD, 1993)
Occupation	Author, professor
Employer	Georgetown University
Religion	Baptist
Spouse(s)	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. Described by Michael A. Fletcher as "a Princeton Ph.D. and a child of the streets who takes pains never to separate the two",^[1] Dyson has so far authored and edited 18 books dealing with subjects such as Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr., Marvin Gaye, Nas’s debut album Illmatic, Bill Cosby, Tupac Shakur and Hurricane Katrina.

Life [edit]

Dyson was born to African-American parents, Everett and Addie Dyson. He attended Cranbrook School in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan on an academic scholarship but left and completed his education at Northwestern High School.^[1] He became an ordained Baptist minister at 19 years of age.^[2] Having worked in factories in Detroit to support his family, he entered Knoxville College as a freshman at age 21.^[3] Dyson received his Bachelor's from Carson–Newman College (magna cum laude) in 1985,^[1] and his Master's and Doctorate in religion, from Princeton University. Dyson serves on the board of directors of the Common Ground Foundation, a project dedicated to empowering urban youth in the United States.^[4] Dyson and his wife, writer and ordained minister Marcia L. Dyson,^[1] are regular guests and speakers at the Aspen Institute Conferences and Ideas Festival.^[5][6] Together, they lecture on many American college campuses.

Career [edit]

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.^[1] Since 2007, he has been a Professor of Sociology at Georgetown University. His 1994 book Making Malcolm: The Myth and Meaning of Malcolm X became a New York Times notable book of the year.^[7] 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".^[8][9][10] 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.^[11] Dyson's own essay in this anthology, "One Love," Two Brothers, Three Verses, explains how the current US penal system disfavors young black males more than any other segment of the population.^[12][13] Dyson hosted a radio show, which aired on Radio One, from January 2006 to February 2007. He was also a commentator on National Public Radio 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.

The Michael Eric Dyson Show [edit]

The Michael Eric Dyson Show debuted on April 6, 2009, and is broadcast from Morgan State University. The show's first guest was Oprah Winfrey,^[14] to whom Dyson dedicated his book Can You Hear Me Now?: The Inspiration, Wisdom, and Insight of Michael Eric Dyson. The most recent episode of the show was in December 2011.

Awards and nominations [edit]

Bibliography [edit]

• Reflecting Black: African-American Cultural Criticism, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1993. | ISBN 0-8166-2143-8
• 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 0-19-511569-4
• 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 Mind?, 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: Basic Civitas Books, 2007. ISBN 978-0-465-01716-4.
• 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
• Born to Use Mics: Reading Nas's Illmatic, New York: Basic Civitas Books, 2010 (editor, with Sohail Daulatzai). | ISBN 978-0-465-00211-5

References [edit]

External links [edit]

• The Michael Eric Dyson Show
• Dyson on Obama - Faith Complex
• Michael Eric Dyson at the Internet Movie Database
• Booknotes interview with Dyson on Holler If You Hear Me: Searching for Tupac Shakur, November 4, 2001.
• In Depth interview with Dyson, April 6, 2008

Book reviews [edit]

• Lartigue, Casey, Jr. (2005-12-25). "Black youth must think bigger". Black America Today.