Read Online The Michael Eric Dyson Reader by Michael Eric Dyson - Free Book Online Page A

to engage at the highest level of oral expression. So, I’m experienced enough to know when I’m hitting my target and when I’m missing it. There are times when I can feel the electricity of getting things right, because I’ve known when I failed [laughs]. I know what that feels like. And even when other people think I’ve done well, I often feel a great need for improvement. There havebeen very few times when I feel like I absolutely nailed it. There are some moments when I know I’m “representin’” because I know I’m a vehicle. I’m a vessel. My religion teaches me that the gift is not in the vehicle, but in the giver of the gift. I honestly hope to be an instrument of the Lord. I hope that I’m an instrument of God. And I hope, therefore, that I work hard to stimulate the gift God gave me. I’m constantly striving to get better, to get clearer, sharper, and more eloquent. I think one of the ways that occurs is through testing ourselves in situations where people are unpersuaded by our beliefs and we have to make a case for them with as much passion and precision as possible. Crossing swords rhetorically is a great joy to me, and often a great learning experience.
    At the same time, I’m attempting to excel at the height of my profession and at the top of my game, like Michael Jordan. I have no bones about that. I want to represent on that level where people go, “DAMN, did you hear what that brother said?” ’Cause I want young people to say it ain’t just got to be about sport, it doesn’t just have to be about some athletic achievement—as great as that may be—or about Oprah or Bill Cosby, as great and ingenious as they are at what they do. I want young people to say the same thing about intellectual engagement. I want them to have a desire to deploy a variety of jargons, grammars, rhetorics, languages, and vocabularies to articulate views in defense of African American or marginalized identities, as I attempt to do. I want young people to say, as the folk in the ’60s and ’70s used to say, “Got to be mo’ careful,” in admiration of such linguistic and intellectual skill. Not for show, but for war, against ignorance, misery, and oppression. I want young folk to say, “I wish I could do that, I wish I could be like Mike!” I have no qualms in hoping for that, because I want to seduce young people unto excellence, since they’ve often been sabotaged by mediocrity. I have no reservations in seeking to inspire young people to do what I do, only better. So I constantly strive to deepen my vision, broaden my intellectual reach, and expand my repertoire of verbal skills. And at times, you feel the pleasures of the palpable responses you evoke in those who hear or read you.
    On the other hand, you’re always surprised by people who claim you have influenced them, because you can never accurately or adequately measure such a thing. We are prevented by circumstance and environment and context from knowing the true nature of our own influence, which is why we should really remain structurally humble. Not falsely modest, but structurally humble. For me that means if I am wielding influence, it is because I have tried to be faithful to the gifts God has given to me. Structural humility means that as a matter of principle, we remain cognizant of the need to check our arrogance and bridle our vanity. This recognition must be the very foundation, the very structure, of our public activity, to keep us from taking credit for what only God can give. To be sure, we never know the full extent of our influence, which is why we should also attempt to be vigilant in exercising our gifts. As the rapper Guru says, we never know when someone is watching or listening. I’ve had people around the country, folk who read my books, articles, and essays, or hear my sermons, lectures, or commentaryon radio or television, tell me that something I’ve said or done has changed their lives. That’s a huge