Michael Eric Dyson has written 19 books, including 4
best-sellers and we own several of his titles (Making Malcolm, The
Black Presidency, Tears We Cannot Stop) so I was curious to see his
latest: WHAT TRUTH SOUNDS LIKE which is subtitled “RFK, James
Baldwin, and our unfinished conversation about race in America.” Here, Dyson reviews a private breakfast
meeting held in 1963 between then attorney general Robert Kennedy and a group
of black intellectuals and entertainers (Lorraine Hansberry, freedom rider
Jerome Smith, Lena Horne and Harry Belafonte) organized by James Baldwin. Dyson
summarizes the meeting as a “watershed moment in American politics, revealing
the limits of liberal good will and the explosive power of truth through
testimony.”
He argues, “if hope led people to that room more than 50
years ago ... that hope will still be our guide in continuing conversation today.”
Dyson, a Georgetown University Professor, then compares and contrasts with current
actions and discussions involving activists, artists, intellectuals, and politicians,
referring to Colin Kaepernick, Jay-Z, Kamala Harris, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Cornel
West, and many others. Throughout, there
is much focus on anger, but students will likely be intrigued by the historical ties to
present day events as well as the section where Dyson comments on The Black
Panther and fictional Wakanda. WHAT
TRUTH SOUNDS LIKE received a starred review from Booklist.
