New York Times bestselling author Dr. Michael Eric Dyson will provide the 2019 First Year Student Common Reading Keynote at SUNY Old Westbury on Wednesday, September 25, 2019 at 7 p.m. He will be speaking on his recent book, “What Truth Sounds Like: Robert F. Kennedy, James Baldwin, and Our Unfinished Conversation About Race in America,” in the Clark Athletic Center, which will be immediately followed by a book signing.
This Washington Post “notable work of nonfiction” and New York Times bestseller was the assigned reading for more than 600 first-year students at Old Westbury this summer and fall. The event is free and open to the public.
"Through our common reading program we try to provide students with a positive reading experience that reinforces messages related to service, equity and fairness that are at the core of our College's mission," said Laura Anker, director of the Office of First-Year Experience and a distinguished service professor of American Studies. "In this work, Dr. Dyson touches on themes related to race and class that we hope fosters an improved sense of understanding and community among our students on these important issues."
In addition to authoring 19 books throughout his career, Dr. Dyson is a Georgetown University sociology professor, a New York Times contributing opinion writer, and a contributing editor of “The New Republic” and of ESPN's The Undefeated website. Ebony magazine cited him as one of the 100 most influential African Americans, and as one of the 150 most powerful blacks in the nation. A prominent public intellectual and a noted political analyst, Dr. Dyson has enlivened public debate across the media landscape on major television and radio shows including Good Morning America, The Today Show, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, NPR's All Things Considered, Meet the Press, and Face the Nation.