HU Annual Read-In Selects Michael Eric Dyson’s ‘The Black Presidency’
The Hampton University School of Liberal Arts and Education has selected
Dr. Michael Eric Dyson’s “The Black Presidency: Barack Obama and the
Politics of Race in America” as the 2017 Hampton University Read-In book.
The 2017 Hampton University Read-In will take place on Wednesday, March 22
to Thursday, March 23.
The Read-In will begin with the Opening Session at 6:00 p.m. in Ogden Hall
on March 22, during which Dyson will discuss and entertain questions about
the book. This event is free and open to the public. Additional
activities are scheduled for March 23.
“Although a new administration has assumed leadership of the White House
and our country, Dr. Dyson’s work on former President Barack Obama remains
timely as the country begins to take a look back at our first Black
president’s work and accomplishments,“ said Margaret Dismond Martin,
Hampton University Read-In chair, director of the Liberal Studies Program,
and assistant professor of English.
Since 1988, the Hampton University Department of English has hosted the
Hampton University Read-In, an event designed to offer all segments of the
University community and surrounding communities the opportunity to focus
on one particular book for study and discussion. Through the years, the
department and the School of Liberal Arts and Education have selected,
primarily, works of fiction by African-American authors such as Ernest
Gaines’ A Gathering of Old Men, Ishmael Reed’s Flight to Canada, Alice
Walker’s The Color Purple, Toni Morrison’s A Mercy, Mat Johnson’s PYM: A
Novel, Jeff Hobbs’ The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace A Brilliant
Young Man Who Left Newark for the Ivy League, and Tayari Jones’ Leaving
Atlanta. The 2017 selection The Black Presidency: Barack Obama and the
Politics of Race in America by Michael Eric Dyson dives deeply into the
true meaning of Barack Obama’s historic presidency and its effects on the
changing landscape of race and blackness in America.
Michael Eric Dyson
Dyson was granted an exclusive interview with the president for this book,
and Obama’s own voice shines through. Along with interviews with Eric
Holder, Al Sharpton, Maxine Waters, and others, this intimate access
provides a unique depth to this engrossing analysis of the nation’s first
black president, and how race has shaped and will shape our understanding
of his achievements and failures, alike.
Dyson is a best-selling and award-winning author. His speeches and books
both provide some of the most significant commentary on modern social and
intellectual thought today, interwoven with a combination of cultural
criticism, race theory, religion, philosophical reflection, and gender
studies. Works such as “Making Malcolm X;” “I May Not Get There with You;”
“Holler if You Hear Me;” and “Mercy, Mercy Me: The Art, Loves and Demons
of Marvin Gaye” deeply probe social themes and cultural politics.
A popular professor of sociology at Georgetown University, Dyson is a
speaker that will never bore audiences; his presentations are
thought-provoking, unwavering and foster social change. His excitement
about his selected topics — which range from the sociology of hip hop to
Dr. King for the 21st Century, among others — is contagious.
For more information, feel free to contact the Hampton University Read-In
Department at 757.727.5421.