An Evening with Dr. Michael Eric Dyson
36th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration
Join us for the 36th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration featuring Dr. Michael Eric Dyson, one of the nation’s greatest thinkers, distinguished writers, renowned orators, celebrated cultural critics and most penetrating media commentators.
This event is presented by the N.C. Cultural Center Consortium consisting of Appalachian State University, East Carolina University, University of North Carolina Wilmington and Western Carolina University. App State’s event sponsors are the university’s Office of the Chancellor, Chief Diversity Officer and Office of Intercultural Student Affairs.
For information on a student reading group of Dr. Dyson’s work, sponsored by the Office of Intercultural Student Affairs, click here.
Appalachian State University’s 36th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration featured Dr. Michael Eric Dyson, one of the nation’s greatest thinkers, distinguished writers, renowned orators, celebrated cultural critics and most penetrating media commentators.
His talk Jan. 26, 2021, was presented by the N.C. Cultural Center Consortium consisting of Appalachian State University, East Carolina University, University of North Carolina Wilmington and Western Carolina University. App State’s event sponsors are the university’s Office of the Chancellor, Chief Diversity Officer and Office of Intercultural Student Affairs.
About Dr. Michael Eric Dyson
Michael Eric Dyson is one of the nation’s greatest thinkers, one of its most distinguished writers, one of its most renowned orators, one of its most celebrated cultural critics and one of its most penetrating media commentators. The Georgetown University sociology professor — who has also taught at Brown University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Columbia University, DePaul University and the University of Pennsylvania — has twice won the prestigious NAACP Image Award, has won the American Book Award and has been cited as one of the most influential and powerful Black Americans.
Dyson has written 19 books, many of them bestsellers, including his latest, the New York Times bestselling “Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon to White America,” which the Times called “one of the most frank and searing discussions of race ... a deeply serious, urgent book, which should take its place in the tradition of Baldwin’s ‘The Fire Next Time' and King’s 'Why We Can’t Wait.’”
Dyson has routinely appeared on nearly every major media outlet and show, from “Meet The Press” to “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert”; from “All Things Considered” to “Fresh Air”; from “PBS NewsHour” to “Real Time With Bill Maher”; and from “Tavis Smiley” to “Charlie Rose.” Dyson’s influence on pop culture has led to him being cited in several rap lyrics, in being a clue in the New York Times Sunday puzzle and in being requested by Beyoncé to pen the foreword to her monumental collector’s edition “How To Make Lemonade” box set.
The ordained Baptist minister, former church pastor, former gang member, former factory worker and longtime social activist is perhaps summed up best by writer Nathan McCall, who calls Dyson “a street fighter in suit and tie.”
About Appalachian State University
As a premier public institution, Appalachian State University prepares students to lead purposeful lives. App State is one of 17 campuses in the University of North Carolina System, with a national reputation for innovative teaching and opening access to a high-quality, affordable education for all. The university enrolls more than 21,000 students, has a low student-to-faculty ratio and offers more than 150 undergraduate and 80 graduate majors at its Boone and Hickory campuses and through App State Online. Learn more at https://www.appstate.edu.
