Between God and Gangsta' Rap: Bearing Witness to Black Culture - Hardcover

"Michael Eric Dyson has given us a penetrating, thoughtful book on many of the issues confronting society today: families and raising children, crime and punishment, politics and poverty, racial tensions and the need to keep the lines of communication open. Insightful and challenging, Between God and Gangsta' Rap has an important message for all of us."--Marian Wright Edelman, President, The Children's Defense Fund"These essays represent Dyson at his best, showing us his special affinity for black popular culture, his perspective as a minister, and his clear powers of analysis. He is the best of the new generation, and everyone interested in black culture--especially young people--will want to own this book."--Henry Louis Gates, Jr."Few books have spoken to me as powerfully and embracingly as this one by Michael Eric Dyson. It stirs the emotions, clarifies thought, moves the heart with its intimacies, incites the passions with its love of humanity, and animates the spirit with its breathtaking implicit conception of religion. Reading it was for me an intimate education in values and sensibility. I wish its many revelations of wisdom could reach those who lead our society and who need its compassionate insights and cautious, perceptive judgments."--Thomas Moore, author of Care of the Soul, Soul Mates, and Meditations"Michael Eric Dyson is one of those rare intellectuals who actually manages to keep in touch with the real world. In Between God and Gangsta' Rap, he demonstrates that he has his finger on the cultural pulse of this sick country of ours. In the wake of a conservative movement that is launching yet another assault on our humanity, we need serious black thinkers and warriors to counteract that madness. This brother is one of them--he's a street fighter in suit and tie."--Nathan McCall, author of Makes Me Wanna Holler "Michael Eric Dyson has given us a penetrating, thoughtful book on many of the issues confronting society today: families and raising children, crime and punishment, politics and poverty, racial tensions and the need to keep the lines of communication open. Insightful and challenging, Between God and Gangsta' Rap has an important message for all of us."--Marian Wright Edelman, President, The Children's Defense Fund "These essays represent Dyson at his best, showing us his special affinity for black popular culture, his perspective as a minister, and his clear powers of analysis. He is the best of the new generation, and everyone interested in black culture--especially young people--will want to own this book."--Henry Louis Gates, Jr. "Few books have spoken to me as powerfully and embracingly as this one by Michael Eric Dyson. It stirs the emotions, clarifies thought, moves the heart with its intimacies, incites the passions with its love of humanity, and animates the spirit with its breathtaking implicit conception of religion. Reading it was for me an intimate education in values and sensibility. I wish its many revelations of wisdom could reach those who lead our society and who need its compassionate insights and cautious, perceptive judgments."--Thomas Moore, author of Care of the Soul, Soul Mates, and Meditations "Michael Eric Dyson is one of those rare intellectuals who actually manages to keep in touch with the real world. In Between God and Gangsta' Rap, he demonstrates that he has his finger on the cultural pulse of this sick country of ours. In the wake of a conservative movement that is launching yet another assault on our humanity, we need serious blackthinkers and warriors to counteract that madness. This brother is one of them--he's a street fighter in suit and tie."--Nathan McCall, author of Makes Me Wanna Holler "Michael Eric Dyson has given us a penetrating, thoughtful book on many of the issues confronting society today: families and raising children, crime and punishment, politics and poverty, racial tensions and the need to keep the lines of communication open. Insightful and challenging, Between God and Gangsta' Rap has an important message for all of us."--Marian Wright Edelman, President, The Children's Defense Fund "These essays represent Dyson at his best, showing us his special affinity for black popular culture, his perspective as a minister, and his clear powers of analysis. He is the best of the new generation, and everyone interested in black culture--especially young people--will want to own this book."--Henry Louis Gates, Jr. "Few books have spoken to me as powerfully and embracingly as this one by Michael Eric Dyson. It stirs the emotions, clarifies thought, moves the heart with its intimacies, incites the passions with its love of humanity, and animates the spirit with its breathtaking implicit conception of religion. Reading it was for me an intimate education in values and sensibility. I wish its many revelations of wisdom could reach those who lead our society and who need its compassionate insights and cautious, perceptive judgments."--Thomas Moore, author of Care of the Soul, Soul Mates, and Meditations "Michael Eric Dyson is one of those rare intellectuals who actually manages to keep in touch with the real world. In Between God and Gangsta' Rap, he demonstrates that he has his finger on the cultural pulse of this sick country of ours. In the wake of a conservative movement that is launchingyet another assault on our humanity, we need serious black thinkers and warriors to counteract that madness. This brother is one of them--he's a street fighter in suit and tie."--Nathan McCall, author of Makes Me Wanna Holler "Michael Eric Dyson has given us a penetrating, thoughtful book on many of the issues confronting society today: families and raising children, crime and punishment, politics and poverty, racial tensions and the need to keep the lines of communication open. Insightful and challenging, Between Godand Gangsta' Rap has an important message for all of us."--Marian Wright Edelman, President, The Children's Defense Fund"These essays represent Dyson at his best, showing us his special affinity for black popular culture, his perspective as a minister, and his clear powers of analysis. He is the best of the new generation, and everyone interested in black culture--especially young people--will want to own thisbook."--Henry Louis Gates, Jr."Few books have spoken to me as powerfully and embracingly as this one by Michael Eric Dyson. It stirs the emotions, clarifies thought, moves the heart with its intimacies, incites the passions with its love of humanity, and animates the spirit with its breathtaking implicit conception of religion.Reading it was for me an intimate education in values and sensibility. I wish its many revelations of wisdom could reach those who lead our society and who need its compassionate insights and cautious, perceptive judgments."--Thomas Moore, author of Care of the Soul, Soul Mates, and Meditations"Michael Eric Dyson is one of those rare intellectuals who actually manages to keep in touch with the real world. In Between God and Gangsta' Rap, he demonstrates that he has his finger on the cultural pulse of this sick country of ours. In the wake of a conservative movement that is launching yetanother assault on our humanity, we need seriousblack thinkers and warriors to counteract that madness. This brother is one of them--he's a street fighter in suit and tie."--Nathan McCall, author of Makes Me Wanna Holler

In his essays, lectures, sermons, and books, Eric Dyson has emerged as one of the leading African-American voices of our day. Bringing together his writings on music, religion, politics, and identity, and offering a multi-faceted view of black life, this collection charts the progress of Dyson's own soul alongside the progress and pain of African Americans over the past decade. Opening with a letter to his brother, who is serving life in prison on a murder charge, he goes on to discuss themes and figures ranging from sexuality and the black family, to Michael Jordan, Ice Cube, and O.J. Simpson.