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M.L. King burnout? Not yet
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I know, if you paid attention over the last couple of weeks, you read and saw a great deal of reflection on the life and death of the Rev. Martin Luther King, including some pretty amazing work in this paper.
And here comes one more event: Michael Eric Dyson, a sociology professor at Georgetown University, will discuss and sign his new book on King at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Shrine of the Black Madonna bookstore, 964 Ralph D. Abernathy Blvd.
Dyson’s book is titled “April 4, 1968: Martin Luther King Jr.’s Death and How It Changed America.” Dyson spends some time looking back at how King grappled with issues in his final years, but is more interested in what we’ve all done in the 40 years since.
Dyson excerpted some of his thinking in the book for a great Time magazine essay headlined “The Burdens of Martyrdom.” One snippet: “Many whites want him clawless; many blacks want him flawless. But we must keep him fully human, warts and all.”
He also wrote an op-ed column recently for the Los Angeles Times headlined “The prophetic anger of MLK” about Barack Obama, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, and King that is provocative in an intellectually challenging way, rather than a name-calling way.
Permalink | Comments (11) | Post your comment | Categories: Books
Comments
By Voice of Reason
April 11, 2008 9:34 AM | Link to this
Michael Eric Dyson is a self-aggrandizing, verbose jerk who has totally espoused the very problems that is bringing down Black America. Great vocabulary, but wrong vocation in that he wishes to support hip-hop etc., instead of seeing how it has brought the Black community down. MED has a position that many misguided young people embrace(making excuses for the foolishness of the community) and failing to see the forest for the trees. Mike’s just a more articulate Jesse. Have a good weekend, everyone.
By JUNE_BABY
April 11, 2008 10:04 AM | Link to this
i have only heard mr. dyson on the radio(have never seen him personally),and i enjoy his topics. he seems very knowlegable, and forthright in his discussions. i choose to believe that he walks the walk. he just seems sincere!
on another topic, i was reading the obit. that the a.j.c. ran of dr. king’s death. i counted the words, and there was only 26. not 26 lines, but 26 words counting his name and dates. that shows me the mentality of the ajc at that time, and imo, i think they still have some of that same mentality 40 yrs later. iwas very very disappointed, when i read their obituary of him.
By Kiki
April 11, 2008 10:15 AM | Link to this
I have seen Dyson on television before, and while his verbage sometimes annoys me, I find his ideas to be very intriguing. If I’m not too busy on Saturday, I may just head on down to get a signed copy of the book. Although I may not agree with all of Dyson’s ideas, I think it is important to learn as much as possible about Dr. King from many different sources.
By Hex
April 11, 2008 11:12 AM | Link to this
MLK is our greatest living orator.
By hotlanta
April 11, 2008 11:26 AM | Link to this
I love Dsyon he keeps it real. Society thought Dr.King was a threat even though he preached nonviolence. He was a threat because he was intelligent.
By hotlanta
April 11, 2008 11:26 AM | Link to this
I love Dsyon he keeps it real. Society thought Dr.King was a threat even though he preached nonviolence. He was a threat because he was intelligent.
By SAR
April 11, 2008 12:30 PM | Link to this
Our honoring Dr. King has become greatly out of porportion. We do not honor fallen men who were elected president the way we do King. It’s gotten so over the top that whites can’t identify with it, it’s become a black thing. It’s a new version of Pimp Your Hero.
By Jennifer
April 11, 2008 12:37 PM | Link to this
Hex- Are you sure you mean our greatest living orator? MLK isn’t alive.
I like MED; however I do agree that in the several times I’ve heard him on tv speaking, he’s rationalizing black youth behaviors. It’s almost like making excuses. I am a black woman and like I tell my 7 year old son. Just because someone has wronged you doesn’t mean you’re justified in your actions if they’re negative.
The on going issues blacks in general face doesn’t give a green light to sag your pants, rob, steal, shoot, rape, kill, stay out of school, not work, walk around half dressed, multiple children out of wedlock, stay out of church, fight, speak ignorantly, etc. Then turn around and say look at me I was wronged and now look at what YOU created. It’s your fault I act this way….I don’t think so.
Yes, the sames things are going on in other races. I can only speak on my race as it’s what I was born in to.
By Jason
April 11, 2008 1:35 PM | Link to this
“Society thought Dr. King was a threat even though he preached nonviolence. He was a threat because he was intelligent.”
This is the problem with pseudo-academics like Dyson: They use bombastic language to make glib generalizations, which are then parroted by impressionable students who think everything a professor says must be true.
I’d like to hear someone try to substantiate the claim that society was threatened by King’s intelligence. Perhaps there’s room for such propaganda in the church, but not the classroom.
By hotlanta
April 11, 2008 2:06 PM | Link to this
SAR excuse what hero has been pimped more than “Tricky Dick” Nixon. He was Time magazine man of the year. His book was a best seller for weeks. He even has a presidantial library named after him even though he LIED. Wonder where Hilary got that from.I guess she see that it pays to LIE. Jason excuse me Hoover was threaten by him and that is a fact. He got black folks to say it is got to be a better way where they mobilize and march. He didn’t speak forceful like Farrakhan. He is the standard that white folks turn to when it wants to talk about hate speech. The new man on the block now is Rev. Wright. King spoke out against the Vietnam war so that was really UNAMERICAN how dare he. You know good and well that a bum like James Earl Ray did not have the means or money to follow his ever move and kill him. He had to have some help from somewhere. What you mean King was a black thing. Poor white folks and other races who felt left out of the equation jumped on the civil rights bandwagon. Now they have what they want and trying to act as if they have not had any help at all. Back in King’s day if your last name wasn’t Kennedy or Rockafeller you didn’t stand a chance in this society and we all know it.
By hotlanta
April 11, 2008 2:06 PM | Link to this
SAR excuse what hero has been pimped more than “Tricky Dick” Nixon. He was Time magazine man of the year. His book was a best seller for weeks. He even has a presidantial library named after him even though he LIED. Wonder where Hilary got that from.I guess she see that it pays to LIE. Jason excuse me Hoover was threaten by him and that is a fact. He got black folks to say it is got to be a better way where they mobilize and march. He didn’t speak forceful like Farrakhan. He is the standard that white folks turn to when it wants to talk about hate speech. The new man on the block now is Rev. Wright. King spoke out against the Vietnam war so that was really UNAMERICAN how dare he. You know good and well that a bum like James Earl Ray did not have the means or money to follow his ever move and kill him. He had to have some help from somewhere. What you mean King was a black thing. Poor white folks and other races who felt left out of the equation jumped on the civil rights bandwagon. Now they have what they want and trying to act as if they have not had any help at all. Back in King’s day if your last name wasn’t Kennedy or Rockafeller you didn’t stand a chance in this society and we all know it.