Texas A&M Sociology Professor, Dr. Reuben May shares his remarkable story and the challenges he has overcome in his lifetime. He encourages individuals to find inspiration in their own personal stories.

Dr. Reuben A. Buford May is the Glasscock University Professor in Undergraduate Teaching Excellence and Professor of Sociology at Texas A&M University. He is the author of three books: Urban Nightlife: Entertaining Race, Class, and Culture in Public Space, the award-winning book Living Through the Hoop: High School Basketball, Race, and the American Dream (2008) and Talking at Trena’s: Everyday Conversations at an African American Tavern (2001). He has been a fellow at the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research at Harvard University and a Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. visiting professor at MIT. May received his Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Chicago, and his research focuses on race and culture, urban ethnography, the sociology of sport, and the sociology of the everyday. May has been featured on radio and television and in print media, in particular for his performance as the #rappingprofessor Reginald S. Stuckey.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx