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Quote by Michael Eric Dyson

“Body piercing and baggy clothes express identity among black youth, and not just beginning with hip-hop culture. Moreover, young black entrepreneurs like Sean 'P. Diddy' Combs and Russell Simmons have made millions from their clothing lines.”

Quote by Michael Eric Dyson

Author

Michael Eric Dyson

Michael Eric Dyson is an American author, academic, and public intellectual, born on October 23, 1958. He is recognized for his work in African American studies, sociology, and cultural criticism. Dyson has authored numerous books on race, politics, and culture, and has held faculty positions at various universities. more

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“Class certainly loomed large in Katrina's aftermath. Blacks of means escaped the tragedy; blacks without them suffered and died. In reality, it is how race and class interact that made the situation for the poor so horrible on the Gulf Coast. The rigid caste system that punishes poor blacks and other minorities also targets poor whites.”

Mean Made Reality Poor Race Situation Class Tragedy Died Horrible Minorities Target Coast Aftermath Castes Katrina Caste System

Author:Michael Eric Dyson

“Comedy is to force us to observe ourselves in ways that are humorous and yet, at the end of the day, that cause us enough discomfort with the status quo to make a change.”

Way Ends Enough Force Causes Comedy Humorous The End Of The Day Status Quo Making Changes Discomfort Challenging Status Quo Challenging The Status Quo

Author:Michael Eric Dyson

“Hip hop music is important precisely because it sheds light on contemporary politics, history, and race. At its best, hip hop gives voice to marginal black youth we are not used to hearing from on such topics.”

Giving Important Light Used Black Voice Race Youth Music Is Hip Hop Hearing Contemporary Hips Hops Shed Topics Hip Hop Music Black Youth

Book:Know What I Mean?: Reflections on Hip Hop

Source: Know What I Mean?: Reflections on Hip Hop

“Hip hop scholarship must strive to reflect the form it interrogates, offering the same features as the best hip hop: seductive rhythms, throbbing beats, intelligent lyrics, soulful samples, and a sense of joy that is never exhausted in one sitting.”

Form Joy Beats Sitting Intelligent Strive Hip Hop Rhythm Hips Features Hops Offering Exhausted Scholarship Seductive Sample Soulful

Book:Know What I Mean?: Reflections on Hip Hop

Source: Know What I Mean?: Reflections on Hip Hop

“Hurricane Katrina overwhelmed levees and exploded the conventional wisdom about a shared American prosperity, exposing a group of people so poor they didn't have $50 for a bus ticket out of town. If we want to learn something from this disaster, the lesson ought to be: America's poor deserve better than this.”

“I didn't get to college until my 20s, because I was a young father on welfare and had to take all kind of jobs to support my young son. There's what frames my view on the topics I discuss on my shows, and the average person relates to that. No matter how many degrees I have now, I lived that life, and that comes through to the people watching.”

People Kind Persons Matter Shows Jobs Young Father Views Support College Son Degrees Average All Kinds Relate Welfare Topics Average Person Young Sons

Author:Michael Eric Dyson

“I don't believe in that kind of American John Wayne individualism where people pull themselves up by their bootstraps. Someone changed your diapers. And if that's the case, you ain't self-made.”

People Ifs Believe Kind Made Self Cases Changed Don't Believe Individualism Wayne Self Made Diapers Bootstraps

Author:Michael Eric Dyson

“I grew up in Detroit. I was a teen father. I lived on welfare for three years. I have a brother serving life in prison, though I believe he's innocent.”

Years Believe Three Father I Believe Brother Grew Grew Up Prison Innocent Welfare Serving Three Years Detroit

Author:Michael Eric Dyson

“I knew Snoop Dog didn't start misogyny. I knew that Tupac Shakur didn't start sexism, and God knows that Dr. Dre didn't start patriarchy. Yet they extended it in vicious form within their own communities. They made vulnerable people more vulnerable.”

People Knows Made Form Community Dog Vulnerable Sexism Misogyny Drs Patriarchy Vicious God Knows Dr Dre Snoop Dog

Author:Michael Eric Dyson

“I suppose that I inherited the same vocabulary and world view as most black Christians do, most Christians in general, to be sure. It was heterosexist in the sense that it took the heterosexual orientation as the norm from which to start as the given. And everything that fell outside of that was not acceptable.”

World Christian Given Black Views Acceptable Vocabulary Norm Orientation World View

Author:Michael Eric Dyson