Michael Eric DysonI went to a segregated school; I was born a Negro, not a black man.371Life
Michael Eric DysonTony Morrison said, 'Can't I love what I criticize, criticize what I love.'373Love
Michael Eric DysonI have no interest in romanticizing poor black people, having been one of them myself in our beloved hometown of Detroit. ✨ Michael Eric Dyson and 'Is Bill Cosby Right?… ▶363HumanityLove
Michael Eric DysonThere's a dark underside to philanthropy. People who give a bunch of money are deferred to, even when they are wrong. The emperor cannot be shown to have no clothes.321Humanity
Michael Eric DysonI think we have to face right in the center of the hurricane, if you will, Martin Luther King, Jr.'s foibles and faults. I think that we do no good to ourselves and do no honor to… ▶367ThoughtTime
Michael Eric DysonI knew Snoop Dog didn't start misogyny. I knew that Tupac Shakur didn't start sexism, and God knows that Dr. Dre didn't start patriarchy. Yet they extended it in vicious form with… ▶291Humanity
Michael Eric DysonMy ambition didn't grow out of nowhere. It was planted in me by a community that nurtured me.313Time
Michael Eric DysonHip-hop has globalized a conception of blackness that has had a political impact, whether or not it had a political intent.346Politics
Michael Eric DysonJustice is what love sounds like when it speaks in public. ✨ Michael Eric Dyson (2009). Can You Hear Me Now?: The Inspiration, Wisdom, and Insight of Michael Eric Dyson, p.1… ▶313LovePhilosophyReading
Michael Eric DysonI think there's no question that Michael Jackson was the foremost entertainer of his generation; perhaps of all time, arguably, taking the skills of a Sammy Davis, Jr., bringing t… ▶3710PoliticsThoughtTime
Michael Eric DysonHurricane Katrina overwhelmed levees and exploded the conventional wisdom about a shared American prosperity, exposing a group of people so poor they didn't have $50 for a bus tic… ▶3610HumanityPhilosophyReading
Michael Eric DysonWe can't exempt ourselves from the same moral calculus that we are willing to apply to others.293Thought
Michael Eric DysonGangsta rap often reaches higher than its ugliest, lowest common denominator, misogyny, violence, materialism and sexual transgression are not its exclusive domain. At its best, t… ▶306LifePolitics
Michael Eric DysonI think that Michael Jackson, just as an entertainer, as a figure who embodies the contradictions of Black identity, and the possibilities of R&B music in the '70s and '80s will c… ▶273DeathHumanityThought
Michael Eric DysonClass certainly loomed large in Katrina's aftermath. Blacks of means escaped the tragedy; blacks without them suffered and died. In reality, it is how race and class interact that… ▶263DeathReadingTruth
Michael Eric DysonRecord labels collude with some of the radio stations, and the radio stations have their play lists, dependent upon what they call the, quote, 'hits.' What's commercially viable g… ▶242Thought
Michael Eric DysonObviously, Jay-Z is one of the greatest entertainers of the world today. Not only is he a remarkable rhetorical genius, he's also a man of deep sympathy and empathy for those who … ▶308Time
Michael Eric DysonI suppose that I inherited the same vocabulary and world view as most black Christians do, most Christians in general, to be sure. It was heterosexist in the sense that it took th… ▶253Love
Michael Eric DysonBody piercing and baggy clothes express identity among black youth, and not just beginning with hip-hop culture. Moreover, young black entrepreneurs like Sean 'P. Diddy' Combs and… ▶242Reading
Michael Eric DysonMy church is the world! I want to bring the gospel to as broad and as interesting an audience as possible.242Death
Michael Eric Dyson..And the same rapper who revels in a woman's finely proportioned behind may also speak against racism and on behalf of the poor, even as he encourages them not to look at hip-hop… ▶264ReadingThought
Michael Eric DysonHe was not hip-hop's most gifted emcee. Still, Shakur may be the most influential and compelling rapper of them all, he was more than the sum of his artistic parts.3010Sadness
Michael Eric DysonI used to tell people when I preached at a church, 'If you want a great sermon, be a great audience.'222DeathHumanity
Michael Eric DysonComedy is to force us to observe ourselves in ways that are humorous and yet, at the end of the day, that cause us enough discomfort with the status quo to make a change. ✨ … ▶223Humor
Michael Eric DysonWhite-on-white crime is a devastation in America like so-called black-on-black crime. It's not black or white-on-white crime. It's proximity murder.234Death
Michael Eric DysonYou cannot hear the name Martin Luther King, Jr., and not think of death. You might hear the words 'I have a dream,' but they will doubtlessly only serve to underscore an image of… ▶267DeathLifeReading
Michael Eric DysonIf you take a guy like a Barack Obama, who's raised millions of dollars from the most donors in the history of this nation, it suggests that there's a deep and profound hunger for… ▶2710Politics
Michael Eric DysonNew Orleans invented the brown paper bag party - usually at a gathering in a home - where anyone darker than the bag attached to the door was denied entrance. The brown bag criter… ▶183LifeReading
Michael Eric DysonI grew up in Detroit. I was a teen father. I lived on welfare for three years. I have a brother serving life in prison, though I believe he's innocent.238Life
Michael Eric DysonI don't think you can bury words. I think the more you try to dismiss them, the more power you give to them, the more circulation they have.172PoliticsThought
