I just finished reading Micheal Eric Dyson's new book, April 4, 1968: Martin Luther King Jr's Death and how It Changed America. Dyson is a sociology professor at Georgetown University and an ordained Baptist minister. He is considered one of the most influential African-American thinkers and cultural critics. His writing is engaging, poetic and a joy to read. I highly recommend the book to anyone who is struggling to understand race, poverty and how MLK's death changed us. Here is one of my favorite quotes from the book:The poor are… in effect socially dead persons. They suffer social alienation: They lack standing, status, and protection. They are mercilessly flogged in the press, demonized by fellow citizens, made a football by politicians, viciously criticized by public policy makers, and assaulted by scholars and intellectuals. The stigma the poor carry bans them from the presumption of political innocence, of being good citizens; they carry the weigh of social pariah. They walk in the door with a capital ‘P’ on their foreheads. The irony is that King spent his last few years rescuing the poor, helping them help themselves through political agency, and forging connections among the poor of different races and ethnicities. If we are to resurrect King’s spirit and work for what he worked for, we must love and concentrate on the poor for whom Martin Luther King died. - p. 73
