The SouthernUniversity freshman class, in part with the SU Motivational Speakers’ Committeewill present Michael Eric Dyson in the Cotillion Ballroom at the Smith-BrownMemorial Union on March 17 at 11 a.m.
Dyson wasnamed in Essence magazine asone of the 50 most inspiring African-Americans.
He iscelebrated in the pages of Time and U.S.News and World Report and in the rap lyrics of hip-hop legends KRS-One and Nas. He is an ordained Baptist preacher andbest-selling author of 10 books. Dyson’s powerful scholarship has won himlegions of admirers and has made him what The Washington Post terms a”superstar professor.”
His literaryand political efforts have been rewarded with the 1992 magazine award from theNational Association of Black Journalists, the prestigious 2004 NAACP ImageAward for outstanding nonfiction literary work for his national best seller, WhyI love Black Women and the 2005BET/General Motors Black History Makers Award.
He was on the2004 New York Times bestseller’s list for his book Mercy Mercy Me: Thou Art, Loves and Demons of Marvin Gaye, which was recently opted for a motion picture. He has also written bookson the lives and legacies of some of our most important and controversialsocial and cultural figures besides Gaye, including Malcolm X, Martin LutherKing, Jr., and Tupac Shakur.
In May 2005,Dyson will add to his reputation the publication of his 11th book in 12-years, “IsBill Cosby Right? Or Has the Black Middle Class Lost its Mind?”
Dyson ispresently the Avalon Foundation Professor in the Humanities and Professor ofReligious Studies and Africana Studies at the University of Pennsylvania.
