Michael Eric Dyson is not afraid to shake things up, which is why his lecture “From Sit-ins to Hip Hop: A Social Consciousness in a Post-King America” left students both moved intellectually and shaking with laughter.
Named by Ebony as one of the 100 most influential black Americans, Dyson is a university professor at Georgetown and author of 14 books.
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| Michael Eric Dyson answers questions after his Tuesday lecture at Love Auditorium. (Photo by Kali McMillan ’10) |
In his lecture, he addressed the importance of thinking critically about the social contributions of young people, the racial progress made in the past 40 years, and the necessity of “going forth into another world and trying to make a difference.”
Brothers, a campus organization focused on promoting excellence within and awareness about the multicultural male population, brought Dyson to Love Auditorium on Tuesday in accordance with its annual tradition of having a speaker during Black History Month.
“Dr. Dyson is one of the most renowned scholars of religion and African American studies,” said Wil Redmond ’08, second lieutenant of Brothers. “Offering both props and critiques, he has become the ideological bridge between the civil rights generation and what Bakari Kitwana classifies as the ‘hip-hop generation.'”
Using his wealth of knowledge, wit, and well-timed pop culture references, Dyson captivated the audience with his dialogue.
“Dr. Dyson gave his entire speech today without notes or cards,” said Redmond. “He spoke for almost an hour and a half and people didn’t leave. He keeps people engaged and wanting to interact with him.”
Students had a chance to do just that during a question-and-answer session after the lecture.
Members of the Brothers organization and other attendees asked Dyson about the paradoxical portrayal of women in hip-hop, the relationship between coming from a lower class background and going to an institution like Colgate, and also simply, “What is the next step?”
“I think it’s very important for us to engage one another in dialogue,” said Dyson. “As college students, you think more sharply about the issues that are important. You’re able to have the kind of enthusiasm that is contagious because learning is a lifelong process–not just here at Colgate but beyond. When we have an intervention like this, when we engage one another, we extend that trajectory of learning into the broader realms of our life.”