Mixing fire and brimstone preaching with a touch of modern rap, Michael Eric Dyson projected his vision of Martin Luther King's legacy before a captivated audience in Louis Armstrong Theatre January 19.
The popular national radio show host and commentator highlighted Grand Valley’s MLK Week with a presentation, "What's Next? Martin Luther King Jr. in the 21st Century."
Dyson said many people today romanticize King but forget that his ideas were unpopular even within the African American community.
"We want to talk about the King who said, 'I have a dream,' but we don’t give voice to that dream," he said.
Dyson touched on the current debate of changing historical language in Mark Twain's "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn." He said advocates for removing the n-word "don't want teachers to deal with history."
"Keep the word in and let us tell teachers to talk about race," Dyson said.
He said moving beyond racism, sexism and classism today needs to include a discussion of the past. "We can't get to the truth about the malady we have unless we tell the truth about the disease we have," Dyson said.
