Michael Eric Dyson, an academic, author and public intellectual, will give a talk commemorating the legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. – “Dr. King's Dream: How Do We Get There?” – on Tuesday, Jan. 17, at 6 p.m. in the Nott Memorial.

The talk is free and open to the public.

From humble roots in Detroit, Dyson rose to his present perch as a world class intellectual, noted author of 21 books, prominent leader and national media fixture.

His latest book, “Entertaining Race: Performing Blackness in America,” celebrates the outsized impact of African American culture and politics on this country. Among his 20 other books, he has covered subjects including King, Malcolm X and Jay Z.

Dyson is the Centennial Chair at Vanderbilt University, where he also serves as University Distinguished Professor of African American and Diaspora Studies in the College of Arts and Science, and as University Distinguished Professor of Ethics and Society in the Divinity School. He has also taught at Georgetown University, Brown University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Columbia University and the University of Pennsylvania.

A regular in the national media, he is a commentator on National Public Radio, MSNBC and CNN, and is a regular guest on “Real Time with Bill Maher.”

Dyson has won many prestigious honors, including an American Book Award and two NAACP Image Awards. Ebony magazine cited him as one of the 100 most influential African Americans, and as one of the 150 most powerful blacks in the nation.

His talk is sponsored by the Office of Intercultural Affairs and the Chief Diversity Officers.