Hailed as one of America’s “new intellectuals,” scholar Dr. Michael Eric Dyson is not one to shy away from controversy.
And bridging the gap between today’s youth and the baby boom generation of his day, Dyson was at Wayne State Nov. 21 to “Draw a Line in the Sand.”
The longtime professor, lecturer, and author addressed issues of race and culture during the 7th Annual State of the Black Youth in the New Millennium Convention, hosted by The Elite Brothers of the National Black Operations Business Association, during a candid discussion held at the General Lectures building.
Dyson spoke on the election of Barack Obama and other key issues facing the black community.
“Gangster rap often reaches higher than its ugliest, lowest common denominator,” Dyson said. “Misogyny, violence, materialism and sexual transgression are not its exclusive domain. At its best, this music draws attention to complex dimensions of ghetto life ignored by most Americans.
“Indeed, gangster rap’s in-your-face style may do more to force America to confront crucial social problems than a million sermons or political speeches.”
NBOBA founder, and organizer of the event, Mohammed Luwemba announced that they were drawing a line in the sand to separate themselves from those that continue to oppress and kill the black culture. Luwemba was referring to drug dealers, pimps, and dead beat fathers that contribute nothing to uplift a community but instead tear it down.
He told about a local group home, where he worked, that houses delinquent juvenile boys. After talking to most of the teenage boys, they all expressed a deep hurt and pain of not having a father in their life.
“We must draw a line in the sand and say enough is enough,” Luwemba said. “You don’t hear other cultures when attending a party say, ‘let me grab my gun just in case something pops off.’ We have to pick a side — the line is being drawn.”
Dyson also referred to his nemesis Bill Cosby, which he wrote a book about titled “Is Bill Cosby right? (Or has the black middle class lost its mind?)”
“He made ‘Fat Albert,’” Dyson said, “with characters like Mushmouth who couldn’t even talk.”
Dyson has been a guest on numerous television shows, including: NBC’s Nightly News with Brian Williams; NBC’s The Today Show; FOX News’ Bill O’Reilly; HBO’s Bill Maher Show, and this past summer Dyson took part in CNN’s special Black in America.
Dyson said that we shouldn’t be building more prisons to warehouse black children. Instead, we should be building more schools to educate them.
He referred to a story of famous jazz musician Wynton Marsalis who said that he saw boxing legend Mike Tyson knock a man out so cold one night that it made him pick up his horn and practice all night.
“One particular area of pursuit was so cold that it inspired another person in another area; see everybody can’t be rappers,” Dyson said.
His reputation for intense cultural studies is not the only reason that many people in academia are familiar with his work. Many critics and readers also consider him a cutting-edge historian as well, one who has attempted to provide a critical intellectual perspective on historical figures that have attained iconic status within the black community and in society at large.
Dyson rapped lyrics from Jay Z, Nas, Talib Kwali and the late Tupac Shakur that fit into his speech.
“I’m a big fan of his writing and his fascination of positive hip hop music artists such as Common, Jay Z., Nas, and Talib Kwali,” said Marcus Whitmore, a public relations major.
“I thought that Michael E. Dyson was great. I absolutely loved him,” said Gail Davis, a social work and public relations major. “We need to have more speakers like him here at Wayne State.” Dyson also signed copies of his latest book titled “April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King’s Death and How it Changed America.”
The only hang up to the night was that more people didn’t come out to hear Dyson. Wayne States Web site had no information about the event posted anywhere. Dyson is a Detroit native, growing up on the west-side of Detroit. He has a brother serving a life sentence here in a Michigan prison for second degree murder.
Dyson is a professor at Georgetown University. This was the last year for the State of the Black Youth in the New Millennium Convention at WSU.
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