Michael Eric Dyson is an academic, author, social activist, Baptist minister, and preacher and radio host. As an academic, Dyson has taught at Chicago Theological Seminary, Brown University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Columbia University, DePaul University, and the University of Pennsylvania. Since 2007, he has been a Professor of Sociology at Georgetown University. He has so far authored and edited 17 books dealing with subjects such as Malcolm X, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Marvin Gaye, Nas’s debut album Illmatic, Bill Cosby, and Hurricane Katrina. Dyson has won numerous prestigious honors, from an American Book Award to NAACP Image awards that he received twice. His 1994 bookMaking Malcolm: The Myth and Meaning of Malcolm X became a New York Times notable book of the year. His 2005 New York Times bestseller Is Bill Cosby Right? Or Has the Black Middle Class Lost Its Mind? helped to jump start a national conversation on the black poor. In his 2010 edited book Born to Use Mics, he focused on how the current US penal system disfavors young black males more than any other segment of the population. Dyson hosted a radio show, which aired on Radio One, from January 2006 to February 2007. He was also a commentator on National Public Radio and CNN, and is a regular guest on Real Time with Bill Maher. Beginning July 2011 Michael Eric Dyson became a political analyst for MSNBC.
