May 4, 2017

Michael Eric Dyson’s Resistance Reading

Authors pick books that bring solace and understanding in a time of rancor.

Nancy Kaszerman/ Zuma Wire

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We asked a range of authors, artists, and poets to suggest the books that bring them solace or understanding in this age of political rancor. Two dozen or so responded. Here’s what the author and Georgetown University sociologist Michael Eric Dyson had to offer.

Latest book: Tears We Cannot Stop
Also known for: The Black Presidency
Recommended Reading: There are two books in particular that I look to for analysis and inspiration in these tough times. First, Richard Hofstadter’s The Paranoid Style in American Politics offers bracing commentary and vibrant analysis of the fringe political movements that have defined our nation in times of crisis, paying attention to the paranoia and conspiracy that fuel reactionary outlooks. That clearly helps us to put this Trumpian epoch in illuminating context. 

I also turn time and again to Howard Thurman’s book of sermons, The Growing Edge, to offer solace and sanctuary from the presentist sensibilities that too often deprive us of the long view of history. Thurman reminds us that enslaved blacks insisted, “We cannot be prisoners” of current happenings. “We must not scale down the horizon of our hopes and our dreams and our yearnings to the level of the event of our lives.” That’s good advice for those tempted to surrender to the contemporary moment without looking at the larger, longer picture. 
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The complete series: Daniel Alarcón, Kwame Alexander, Margaret Atwood, W. Kamau Bell, Ana Castillo, Jeff Chang, T Cooper, Michael Eric Dyson, Dave Eggers, Reza Farazmand, William Gibson, Mohsin Hamid, Piper Kerman, Phil Klay, Alex Kotlowitz, Bill McKibben, Rabbi Jack Moline, Siddhartha Mukherjee, Peggy Orenstein, Wendy C. Ortiz, Darryl Pinckney, Joe Romm, Karen Russell, George Saunders, Tracy K. Smith, Ayelet Waldman, Jesmyn Ward, and Gene Luen Yang.

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We can afford to take that time because we don’t report to an oligarch or corporation with a special agenda. We report to you, and for you. That’s why we unabashedly pursue the truth and relentlessly shine a light into the darkness.

In this month’s Summer Membership Drive, we’ve got to raise $200,000 to support more crucial investigations. This is a pivotal moment in our nation, with democracy on the line, and we can only do this work because readers like you step up. Every donation, of any amount, makes a difference here. We cannot do this work without you.

So, we’re asking: Will you support independent journalism that demands those in power answer for their actions?

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