Quotes by Michael Eric Dyson

“He was not hip-hops 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.”

“Gangsta rap often reaches higher than its ugliest, lowest common denominator, 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, gangsta raps in-your-face style may do more to force America to confront crucial social problems than a million sermons or political speeches.”

“My father was not going to let me take over the business just because I was his son.”

“It is very important for me to deliver my message to students and faculty at this great institution of American society because it is the ideas and thoughts of these young people that are going to shape society in the future.”

“Theres been an extraordinary expansion of the black middle class and a shift in the locus of leadership. A more diversified black community doesnt find it necessary to have one voice.”

“Aint no gay filter for the cash.”

“I have to constantly negotiate the tension between past neighborhood and present neighborhood.”

“In black America mother love is second only to the love of God - but just slightly.”

The writers gift can make us see ourselves and our morals differently than our reality suggests.

Jackson’s plight raises difficult questions about leadership and morality. His situation illustrates the need to acknowledge that our leaders will occasionally disappoint themselves and us. If we demand that they be perfect, we risk disillusionment when their shortcomings surface. The underlying flaw of our unwritten compact with leaders is the desperate need to believe that they must be pure to be effective. The best leaders concede their flawed humanity even as they aspire to lofty goals.This does not mean that we should not hold leaders accountable for their actions. To his credit, Jackson acknowledged his failure, sought the forgiveness of his family and followers, and provided for his infant daughter. He is willing to practice the same moral accountability he preaches. Because Jackson has so prominently urged young people to take the high road of personal responsibility, some conclude that his actions reveal hypocrisy. But it is not hypocritical to fail to achieve the moral standards that one believes are correct. Hypocrisy comes when leaders conjure moral standards that they refuse to apply to themselves and when they do not accept the same consequences they imagine for others who offend moral standards.

Justice is what love sounds like when it speaks in public.

You 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 a simple motel balcony, a large man made small, a pool of blood. For as famous as he may have been in life, it is - and was - death that ultimately defined him.

Bill Cosby is a famous black guy who has a bully pulpit the size of the world; its global. He puts his colossal foot on the vulnerable necks of poor people, and as a result of that, we dont have a balanced conversation.

When you have closed the Bible, you have neither closed Gods mind nor shut Gods mouth. God continues to speak, live and exist. I think we should consult the living God for the living word for living people dealing with death, destruction and despair in the midst of our hurt humanity. I believe love will conquer all.

I 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 hes innocent.

The methodologies of examining hip hop are borrowed from sociology, politics, religion, economics, urban studies, journalism, communications theory, American studies, transatlantic studies, black studies, history, musicology, comparative literature, English, linguistics, and other disciplines.

Hip hop music is important precisely because it sheds light on contemporary politics, history, and race. At its best, hip hop gives voice to marginal black youth we are not used to hearing from on such topics.

Im a tweener, man! I couldnt march with Dr. King and them. And Im too old to be a hip-hopper. But Ive been granted honorary status in each generation... I see my tongue as a bridge over which ideas can travel back and forth.

Obviously, Jay-Z is one of the greatest entertainers of the world today. Not only is he a remarkable rhetorical genius, hes also a man of deep sympathy and empathy for those who are lost and vulnerable, but especially under-educated youth of all cultures and stripes.

Hurricane Katrina overwhelmed levees and exploded the conventional wisdom about a shared American prosperity, exposing a group of people so poor they didnt have $50 for a bus ticket out of town. If we want to learn something from this disaster, the lesson ought to be: Americas poor deserve better than this.