Michael Eric Dyson is Professor of Sociology at Georgetown University. He is an author, a contributing opinion writer at the New York Times, an MSNBC political analyst, a contributing editor at New Republic, the host of the Michael Eric Dyson Podcast Featuring Dr. Dan Ratner, and an ordained Baptist minister for over 30 years. Dr. Dyson received his PhD from Princeton University in 1993.

Dr. Dyson has authored nearly twenty books on subjects such as the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. in April 4, 1968, Malcolm X, Nas’s debut album Illmatic, Tupac, Marvin Gaye, and Hurricane Katrina’s devastating and long-lasting effects. He has won two NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Literary Work in Non-Fiction and the American Book Award in 2007 for Come Hell or High Water: Hurricane Katrina and the Color of Disaster.

Essence has named Michael Eric Dyson one of the 40 most inspiring African Americans and Ebony has listed him among the 100 most influential black Americans. He often speaks at universities and political conventions, but he is also known for his speaking engagements at union halls, prisons, classrooms, and churches. Throughout his career, Dr. Dyson has had a profound effect on American culture and thinking. His latest book, What Truth Sounds Like, continues the conversation started in his 2017 bestseller Tears We Cannot Stop, and was the winner of the 2018 Southern Books Prize for nonfiction. 

Dr. Dyson’s most recent book titled Jay-Z: Made in America will be released on November 26, 2019.