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Dr. Dyson\u2019s demeanor was good-natured and clever, possibly to contrast the heavy topics he
spoke of. He made a point of getting across that this was a safe place to speak of these subjects.
For instance, one of his observations was that Dr. Martin Luther King, in college from ages fifteen to nineteen, received a grade of C in preaching. He jokingly asked, \u201cCan you imagine
those teachers looking back? ‘I Have a Dream’ is a C speech.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/mu-regional-pulse\/files\/2025\/10\/image-4.png\")
Dyson<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
Dr. Dyson described Martin Luther King as an avatar: a symbol of what we are capable of when
standing united. Toward the end of his life, Dr. King was said to have been clinically depressed,
in sharp contrast to the strong, unshakable figure we typically think of when we hear his name.
The constant attempts on Dr. King\u2019s life wore on him, and his true strength is that although he
did feel the burden of his difficult path, he never wavered. Similarly, Rosa Parks, who is often
portrayed as a frail, helpless old lady, was only forty-two years old when she refused to move to
the back of that bus. She was an outspoken activist for civil rights and feminism. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf you stand for Martin Luther King, you stand against all bigotry,\u201d Dr. Dyson said. And racism,
he noted, is a dry-run for fascism. A joke he came back to a couple of times was that the white
prison guards who oversaw the arrested civil rights activists in the 1960s ought to have been
marching alongside them, because they were so poorly paid for their services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When questioned on the subject of Christian Nationalism, as a man of faith, Dr. Dyson declared
this attitude an abomination. Jesus preached love and acceptance, he claimed, and God made gay and trans individuals, just as He made straight individuals. The same goes for the poor, disabled, and
anyone of color. As for the idea of the US being a Christian nation, he cited \u201cfreedom of
religion\u201d in several of our most important documents. Even as a minister, Dr. Dyson urged us to
step back from religion, if that\u2019s what it takes to see what is right. \u201cGod is love,\u201d Dr. Dyson
insisted.<\/p>\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/mu-regional-pulse\/files\/2025\/10\/image-6.png\")
Dr. Dyson ended with an observation: Even though many of our social problems lie within the
system itself, and not any individual person, it is still within the power of individuals to change
the system. It doesn\u2019t take many people; Jesus only had twelve by his side, he reminded the audience.
It takes full, unselfish unity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"