Du Bois, W. E. B. 1868–1963, American civil-rights leader and author, b. Great Barrington, Mass., grad. Harvard (B.A., 1890; M.A., 1891; Ph.D., 1895). Du Bois was an early exponent of full equality for African Americans and a cofounder (1905) of the Niagara Movement, which became (1909) the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Unlike Booker T. Washington, who believed that unskilled blacks should focus on economic self-betterment, and Marcus Garvey, who advocated a “back to Africa” movement, Du Bois demanded that African Americans should achieve not only economic parity with whites in the United States but full and immediate civil and political equality as well. Also, he introduced the concept of the “talented tenth,” a black elite whose duty it was to better the lives of less fortunate African Americans. From 1897 to 1910, Du Bois taught economics and history at Atlanta Univ. In 1910 he became editor of the influential NAACP magazine, Crisis, a position he held until 1934. That year he resigned over the question of voluntary segregation, which he had come to favor over integration, and returned to Atlanta Univ. (1934–44). His concern for the liberation of blacks throughout the world led him to organize the first (Paris, 1919) of several Pan-African Congresses. In 1945, at the Fifth Congress in Manchester, England, he met with the African leaders Kwame Nkrumah and Jomo Kenyatta. In 1961 he became a member of the American Communist party, and shortly thereafter he renounced his American citizenship. In the last two years of his life Du Bois lived in Ghana. His books include The Souls of Black Folks (1903), The Negro (1915), Black Reconstruction in America (1935), Color and Democracy (1945), The World and Africa (1947), and In Battle for Peace: The Story of My 83rd Birthday (1952).
Mr. Du Bois, W. E. B. said this famous quote: It is a peculiar sensation, this double-consciousness, this sense of always looking at one's self through the eyes of others. . . . One ever feels his twoness,—an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warnings ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Du Bois, W. E. B. an influential African American History contributor
Du Bois, W. E. B. 1868–1963, American civil-rights leader and author, b. Great Barrington, Mass., grad. Harvard (B.A., 1890; M.A., 1891; Ph.D., 1895). Du Bois was an early exponent of full equality for African Americans and a cofounder (1905) of the Niagara Movement, which became (1909) the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Unlike Booker T. Washington, who believed that unskilled blacks should focus on economic self-betterment, and Marcus Garvey, who advocated a “back to Africa” movement, Du Bois demanded that African Americans should achieve not only economic parity with whites in the United States but full and immediate civil and political equality as well. Also, he introduced the concept of the “talented tenth,” a black elite whose duty it was to better the lives of less fortunate African Americans. From 1897 to 1910, Du Bois taught economics and history at Atlanta Univ. In 1910 he became editor of the influential NAACP magazine, Crisis, a position he held until 1934. That year he resigned over the question of voluntary segregation, which he had come to favor over integration, and returned to Atlanta Univ. (1934–44). His concern for the liberation of blacks throughout the world led him to organize the first (Paris, 1919) of several Pan-African Congresses. In 1945, at the Fifth Congress in Manchester, England, he met with the African leaders Kwame Nkrumah and Jomo Kenyatta. In 1961 he became a member of the American Communist party, and shortly thereafter he renounced his American citizenship. In the last two years of his life Du Bois lived in Ghana. His books include The Souls of Black Folks (1903), The Negro (1915), Black Reconstruction in America (1935), Color and Democracy (1945), The World and Africa (1947), and In Battle for Peace: The Story of My 83rd Birthday (1952).
Mr. Du Bois, W. E. B. said this famous quote: It is a peculiar sensation, this double-consciousness, this sense of always looking at one's self through the eyes of others. . . . One ever feels his twoness,—an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warnings ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder.
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DuBois was one of the most visionary/prophetic leaders of his era. Me and a friend of mine actually converse about some of the stuff that he talked about in his works. He stood by what he believed in
It's good to see that someone is talking about someone else besides MLK Jr., Rosa Parks, etc. at this time. Du Bois is by far the GREATEST intellectual not only produced in the African-American community, but in the U.S. period. The man was for more change than anyone around at his time or ever since he joined the ancestors over 40 years ago.
What I love about him is that you can see the progression in his analysis over time. You see how in The Souls of Black Folk, he's optimistic about ending the racial tension, however he realizes that white folks don't want to end that. Blacks were being hung in their uniforms after coming home from war. I suggest you check out his book Darkwater, particularly the chapter "The Souls of White Folk". This guy was venomous!
The guy advocated all this change, and because he didn't want to be a "chocolate-covered white person" like his other contemporaries at the time (which is why he got kicked out of his own organization TWICE), and now of course everyone pays more attention to people who talk a good game and have nothing to actually make that change, i.e. King. We're more willing to endorse charismatic leaders over serious intellectuals, which is why we're having the same problems as we were 10,20,30, and in some instances, 40 years ago.
http://www.onthewritersblock.blogspot.com/
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