Dyson to Speak at Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration Event

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Scholar and best-selling author Michael Eric Dyson will be keynote speaker for the 29th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration Event to be held at 8 p.m. April 7 in the Center for the Arts on the University at Buffalo North (Amherst) Campus.

The event is part of UB's Distinguished Speakers Series. The lecture will be sponsored by UB's Minority Faculty and Staff Association.

Dyson is Avalon Foundation Professor in the Humanities and professor of religious studies and Africana studies at the University of Pennsylvania. Named by Essence magazine as one of the nation's "50 most inspiring African Americans," he has been described by the Philadelphia Inquirer as "a major American thinker and cultural critic."

He has written 10 books in 10 years, ranging from works on cultural criticism, race theory and religious thought to philosophical reflection and gender and sexual studies. He also has written four books on "biocriticism" -- works that use biography to probe social themes and cultural politics. These include a book ranked by Black Issues Book Review as one of the outstanding black books of the 20th century and a national bestseller, "I May Not Get There With You: The True Martin Luther King, Jr.," and "Holler If You Hear Me: Searching for Tupac Shakur," his best-selling treatment of the slain rapper and icon.

Dyson also has published "The Michael Eric Dyson Reader" and "Why I Love Black Women," a national bestseller that won the 2004 NAACP Image Award for outstanding nonfiction literary work.

Dyson is an ordained Baptist minister, radio commentator for NPR's "Tavis Smiley Show," contributing writer for Philadelphia Magazine and frequent guest on the nation's leading cultural and political television shows.

Before all of his success, the former church pastor was a teen father on welfare in his native Detroit who worked in several factories before starting college at 21.

Tickets for Michael Eric Dyson are $20 and $16 for the general public and $18 and $14 for UB faculty, staff, students and alumni. Tickets may be purchased at the CFA box office from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, and at all Ticketmaster locations.