Pride: The Seven Deadly Sins

162 Pages·2006·1.93 MB·English

by  Michael Eric Dyson

Pride:
The Seven Deadly Sins
Michael Eric Dyson
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
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Michael Eric Dyson
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Joseph Epstein
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Robert A. F. Thurman
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Wendy Wasserstein
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Phyllis A. Tickle
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Francine Prose
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Simon Blackburn
F
or over a decade, The New York Public Library and Oxford University
Press have annually invited a prominent figure in the arts and letters to
give a series of lectures on a topic of his or her choice. Subsequently these
lectures become the basis of a book jointly published by the Library and
the Press. For 2002 and 2003 the two institutions asked seven noted
writers, scholars, and critics to offer their own “meditation on tempta-
tion” on one of the seven deadly sins. Pride by Michael Eric Dyson is the
seventh and last book from this lecture series.
Previous books from The New York Public Library/Oxford Univer-
sity Press Lectures are:
The Old World’s New World by C. Vann Woodward
Culture of Complaint: The Fraying of America by Robert Hughes
Witches and Jesuits: Shakespeare’s Macbeth by Gary Wills
Visions of the Future: The Distant Past, Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow
by Robert Heilbroner
Doing Documentary Work by Robert Coles
The Sun, the Genome, and the Internet by Freeman J. Dyson
The Look of Architecture by Witold Rybczynski
Visions of Utopia by Edward Rothstein, Herbert Muschamp,
and Martin E. Marty.
(cid:0)(cid:1)(cid:2)(cid:3)(cid:4)(cid:5)(cid:6)(cid:4)(cid:7)(cid:8)(cid:9)(cid:10)(cid:11)(cid:12)(cid:1)(cid:4)(cid:13)(cid:14)(cid:8)(cid:9)(cid:4)(cid:15)(cid:6)(cid:2)(cid:3)(cid:16)
Come Hell or High Water:
Hurricane Katrina and the Color of Disaster
(2006)
Is Bill Cosby Right?
Or Has the Black Middle Class Lost Its Mind?
(2005)
Mercy, Mercy Me:
The Art, Loves and Demons of Marvin Gaye
(2004)
The Michael Eric Dyson Reader
(2004)
Why I Love Black Women
(2003)
Open Mike:
Reflections on Philosophy, Race, Sex, Culture and Religion
(2003)
Holler If You Hear Me:
Searching for Tupac Shakur
(2001)
I May Not Get There With You:
The True Martin Luther King, Jr.
(2000)
Race Rules:
Navigating the Color Line
(1996)
Between God and Gangsta Rap:
Bearing Witness to Black Culture
(1996)
Making Malcolm:
The Myth and Meaning of Malcolm X
(1995)
Reflecting Black:
African-American Cultural Criticism
(1993)
P r i d e
The Seven Deadly Sins
Michael Eric Dyson
The New York Public Library
2006
Oxford University Press, Inc., publishes works that
further Oxford University’s objective of excellence
in research, scholarship, and education.
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Copyright © 2006 by Michael Eric Dyson
Published by Oxford University Press, Inc.
198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016
www.oup.com
Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without the prior permission of Oxford University Press.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Dyson, Michael Eric.
Pride : the seven deadly sins / Michael Eric Dyson.
p. cm. — (The seven deadly sins)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-19-516092-5
ISBN-10: 0-19-516092-4
1. Pride and vanity.
2. Deadly sins.
I. Title.
II. Seven deadly sins (Oxford University Press)
BV4627.P7D97 2006
241'.3—dc22 2005021049
Interior illustrations by Patrick Arrasmith / www.marlinaagency.com
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
To a Quartet of Dear Friends
Who have taught me and the world so much about pride
The Reverend Jesse Louis Jackson
Great Leader and Oratorical Genius
Who taught me and millions that “I am somebody . . . I am . . . proud.
I must be respected.”
Ms. Aretha Franklin
The Queen of Soul and Spiritual Genius
Who taught me and millions to demand “Respect” and to sing
“I’ve got a strong will to survive / I’ve got a deeper love . . . /
Deeper love inside and I call it / Pride.”
Mr. Stevie Wonder
Protean Wordsmith and Performing Genius
Who taught me and millions that “This world was made for all men . . .
All people / All babies / All children / All colors / All races.”
Attorney Johnnie L. Cochran Jr.
(1937–2005)
Legendary Lawyer and Rhetorical Genius
Who taught me and millions how to reclaim “the pride that was robbed by the
institution of slavery.”
And to
Mr. John H. Johnson
(1918–2005)
Media Titan and Entrepreneurial Genius
Who taught me and millions on the pages of Ebony and Jet
to take “pride in themselves by presenting their past
and present achievements to America and the world.”
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