23 February 1868 - 27 August 1963

“I believe in pride of race and lineage and self; in pride of self so deep as to scorn injustice to other selves.”

Many regard W.E.B Du Bois as the architect of transformative thinking in American society for exposing the social problems confronting black people following the Civil War. Du Bois was the first African American to earn a doctorate from Harvard University and was instrumental in the establishment of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Du Bois dedicated his life to achieving full equality for all black people and he was a constant advocate for black people to rise up and take pride in their race.

Early Life

W.E.B Du Bois was born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, on February 23, 1868. His mother, Mary Silvina Burghardt, worked as a domestic worker, and his father, Alfred Du Bois, was a barber, but he abandoned the family when Du Bois was a small child. Du Bois' mother died in 1884, forcing him to work at a local mill, but he graduated from Great Barrington High School that year as the school's first African American graduate. Growing up in Great Barrington would have an impact on him for the rest of his life, as the town's 4000 residents contained an estimated fewer than 50 black residents. His lack of exposure to African American culture, combined with his subsequent encounters with racism, would shape his future beliefs and ideologies.

Education

Du Bois attended Fisk University in Tennessee in 1885 on a scholarship provided by several churches. Du Bois first encountered African American culture at Fisk University, but he also experienced the American South and witnessed the struggle for social, economic, and social justice. As a writer and chief editor of the Fisk Herald, he spoke out against racism. He earned his baccalaureate in 1888 and immediately enrolled at Harvard University. He earned his second baccalaureate after two years and then began graduate work under the tutelage of William James, Josiah Royce, George Santayana, and Albert Bushnell Hart. Du Bois initially concentrated on history and philosophy but gradually expanded his interests to include sociology and economics. He earned his master's degree in 1891 and continued his studies at the University of Berlin, where he worked toward completing his doctorate but was unable to do so due to a lack of funding. Du Bois returned to Harvard University, where he would become the university's first African American to earn a Ph.D.

Sociological Work

Du Bois worked as an assistant instructor of sociology at the University of Pennsylvania from 1896 to 1897, and it was here that he conducted the pioneering sociological study of a community, which was published in 1899 as The Philadelphia Negro. He studied the lives of black people in Philadelphia's seventh ward, and this was one of the first instances of statistical work being used in sociological research. Du Bois interviewed thousands of residents door-to-door and concluded that the community's primary challenges were poverty, inadequate health care, a lack of education, and crime, all of which were a result of structural and institutional racism.

Du Bois and his family relocated to Atalanta in 1897, where he taught sociology and worked on Bureau of Labor Statistics studies until 1910. Du Bois produced arguably his best work during this time period with The Souls of Black Folk. The book was a compilation of sociological essays that addressed America's racial issues and the reality of African American life in the United States. One of the concepts introduced in the book was that of "dual consciousness," which challenged African Americans to consider not only their own perspective but also the perspective of the rest of the world, particularly white people. Additionally, Du Bois was critical of African American leader Booker T. Washington and his accommodationist policies.

Niagara Movement and NAACP

Du Bois was an outspoken advocate for equal rights for all black people, urging them to challenge the system in order to obtain them. Du Bois' ideologies and beliefs were in stark contrast to those of Booker T. Washington, who took a more moderate stance and advocated for accommodationist policies. The conflict between the two prompted Du Bois to collaborate with William Monroe Trotter and convene an all-black "national strategy board" charged with charting a new and more radical path toward social and racial justice, thus spawning the Niagara Movement. In July 1905, the Niagara Movement was founded when 29 like-minded activists and intellectuals convened on the Canadian side of Niagara.

The movement "defined itself against both racial oppression and Washingtonian conciliation, demanding immediate freedom of speech and press, full suffrage, the “abolition of all caste distinctions based simply on race and color," a "recognition of the principle of human brotherhood as a practical present creed," and a belief in the dignity of labor." The movement disbanded in 1910 due to infighting and financial difficulties. Du Bois's work did not end there, as he and several of the original members were instrumental in establishing the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in 1909. (the oldest civil rights organization in America).

Du Bois was the only African American on the NAACP's executive board and was the founder and editor of The Crisis, the NAACP's official magazine. The magazine was a success because it had a significant impact on how race relations and black culture were covered.

Ideologies

Du Bois participated in the first Pan-African Conference in London at the turn of the twentieth century, in 1900. This was the first time prominent black leaders from Africa, the West Indies, and America gathered in one place. In his concluding address to the conference, Du Bois famously stated, "The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line." Marcus Garvey, a Jamaican-born black nationalist, did criticize Du Bois for not being a true black and for being "an unfortunate mulatto who bewails every drop of Negro blood in his veins." Despite Garvey's comments, Du Bois remained proud of his African ancestry and visited Africa for the first time in 1923, to a region in Liberia where he believed his ancestors originated. The first Pan-African Congress was held in 1919, following the conclusion of World War I, and Du Bois was instrumental in its organization. The congress's objective was to unite all African people and secure their place in the emerging world. Despite some of the Pan-African Congress's shortcomings, such as a lack of numbers due to government restrictions, three more were held in the 1920s and one in 1945, with prominent figures such as Kwame Nkrumah and Jomo Kenyatta participating.

Du Bois' Encyclopaedia Africana was one of his unfinished projects during his lifetime. The rationale for creating this was to create an encyclopedia containing the history and accomplishments of people of African descent that would foster and sustain a sense of unity among black people. Unfortunately, Du Bois was unable to complete the encyclopedia due to a lack of funding and other commitments; however, he did publish several entries from it.

Communism and Ghana 

Du Bois visited the Soviet Union for the first time in 1926, which left an impression on him and turned him into a Marxist admirer. While Du Bois was a member of the Socialist Party in 1912, he was skeptical of socialism due to widespread racism in many labor unions. Du Bois would eventually become an outspoken supporter of progressive and left-wing groups, believing they could benefit black people more than capitalism. In 1936, he embarked on a journey that would take him to Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, China, and Japan. Du Bois stated upon his return that black people could not thrive under capitalism and pushed for a stronger connection to Africa, which resulted in him developing a strong relationship with Kwame Nkrumah.

William Edward Burghardt Du Bois was one of the twentieth century's greatest minds and a pioneer in the fight for African Americans' civil rights. His seminal sociological work revealed how little had changed in black people's lives following the Civil War and how they continued to face injustice in all walks of life. He was a proud African American who inspired others to be similarly proud and pushed them to reject the bare minimum that society offered. Du Bois' legacy continues to this day through the NAACP, which continues to fight for equality for all people. His work inspired Martin Luther King Jr. and others to join the Civil Rights Movement and march on Washington, an idea Du Bois proposed in the early 1900s and which became a reality.

As Du Bois once said,

As you live, believe in life! Always human beings will live and progress to greater, broader and fuller life. The only possible death is to lose belief in this truth simply because the Great End comes slowly, because time is long.

References

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