Michael Eric Dyson on why 2020 was a game-changer for racial awakening | Ideas We Should Steal Fest

In Michael Eric Dyson’s new book, “Long Time Coming,” he passionately addresses the victims of police violence, tracing America’s violent relationship with Black people-and providing a roadmap for redemption.
As he told Dr. James Peterson at The Philadelphia Citizen’s third annual Ideas We Should Steal Festival™ presented by Comcast NBCUniversal, 2020 was a game-changer.
“George Floyd’s death became a filter on the Snapchat of racial reconciliation and racial trauma. Many white people fell in love with Black people, for the first time, with [his] death,” he said, noting that this year’s racial equity activists were the most diverse in history.
It’s not enough, of course, to protest. But it’s also not over. “It’s only been six months since George Floyd,” he said. “So let’s not write it off like oh the reckoning never happened. It ain’t had no chance to start yet!”
And with that as an encouraging note, Dyson closed his discussion on a note of, if not optimism, at least hope. “Hope exists, even when there is no evidence that it is true,” he said. “For me, hope is imagining a different future.”
Read more about Dyson’s book here: thephiladelphi...
The Philadelphia Citizen’s Ideas We Should Steal Festival™ is an annual convening that brings the most innovative urban thinkers and global thought leaders together in Philadelphia to share and discuss bold ideas that can move the city forward.