NEW YORK — Against the backdrop of federal assaults on diversity programs, the erasure of public history, and mounting threats to historically Black colleges and universities, some of the nation's most prominent scholars gathered Friday to deliver a blunt diagnosis of American democracy, and an even blunter prescription for what comes next.
Dr. Jamal Watson looks on as Dr. Michael Eric Dyson delivers remarks during a panel of scholars gathered at this year's National Action Network convention in New York City.
The session unfolded as one of the most intellectually charged of the four-day convention, which marks 35 years of NAN's fight for civil rights, justice, and equality.
Dyson opened with characteristic force, arguing that Black scholars carry a unique and uncomfortable obligation in this political moment, to tell communities truths they may not want to hear.
"Scholars are tense members of a community," he said from the dais. "Sometimes when we unearth stuff that the masses don't want to hear, we've got to still say it." He called on public intellectuals to serve as evangelists for the life of the mind, urging the audience to read widely and engage deeply beyond social media.
"Get off Facebook and read," he said to applause and laughter.
Theoharis grounded the conversation in history, pushing back against what she called the mythology of civil rights icons — figures reduced to comfortable symbols rather than strategic organizers. Rosa Parks, she argued, was not a tired seamstress but a trained activist who deliberately exploited a legal opportunity. That distinction, she said, matters enormously as movements today confront attempts to sanitize and selectively erase the historical record.
