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W. E. B. Du Bois
W. E. B. Du Bois, in 1918
Born February 23, 1868
Great Barrington, Massachusetts USA
Died August 27, 1963 (aged 95)
Accra, Ghana
Occupation Academic, Scholar, Activist, Journalist
Spouse(s) Nina Gomer Du Bois, Shirley Graham Du Bois
The Souls of Black Folk is a classic work of American literature by W.E.B. Du Bois. It is a seminal work in the history of sociology, and a cornerstone of African-American literary history.
The book, published in 1903, contains several essays on race, some of which had been previously published in Atlantic Monthly magazine. Du Bois drew from his own experiences to develop this groundbreaking work on being African American in American society. Outside of its notable place in African-American history, The Souls of Black Folk also holds an important place in social science as one of the early works to deal with sociology.
In Living Black History, Du Bois biographer Manning Marable observes:
Few books make history and fewer still become foundational texts for the movements and struggles of an entire people. The Souls of Black Folk occupies this rare position. It helped to create the intellectual argument for the black freedom struggle in the twentieth century. Souls justified the pursuit of higher education for Negroes and thus contributed to the rise of the black middle class. By describing a global color-line, Du Bois anticipated pan-Africanism and colonial revolutions in the Third World. Moreover, this stunning critique of how 'race' is lived through the normal aspects of daily life is central to what would become known as 'whiteness studies' a century later.
Communism and activism
Du Bois was one of a number of African-American leaders investigated by the FBI, which claimed in May 1942 that "his writing indicates him to be a socialist". He was chairman of the Peace Information Center at the start of the Korean War, and among the signers of the Stockholm Peace Pledge, which opposed the use of nuclear weapons.
In 1950, at the age of 82, Du Bois ran for the U.S. Senate on the American Labor Party ticket in New York and received four percent of the vote. Although he lost, Du Bois remained committed to the progressive labor cause. In 1958, he would join with Trotskyists, ex-Communists and independent radicals in proposing the creation of a united left-wing coalition to challenge for seats in elections for the New York State Senate and Assembly.
In the March 16, 1953, upon the death of Joseph Stalin, Du Bois controversially wrote of him in The National Guardian:
Joseph Stalin was a great man; few other men of the 20th century approach his stature. He was simple, calm and courageous. He seldom lost his poise; pondered his problems slowly, made his decisions clearly and firmly; never yielded to ostentation nor coyly refrained from holding his rightful place with dignity. He was the son of a serf but stood calmly before the great without hesitation or nerves. But also - and this was the highest proof of his greatness - he knew the common man, felt his problems, followed his fate.
While Stalin had fallen into disfavor among much of the left of that era, and Communism had been famously characterized as a "god that failed" in the eyes of such African-American luminaries as Ralph Ellison and Richard Wright, Du Bois, apparently not believing reports of Stalin's purges and dismissing them as propaganda, persisted in his admiration for Stalin. He was frequently challenged for his support of Stalin, particularly after Khrushchev's 1956 Cult of Personality speech which seemed to further evidence Stalin's purges. Having once, after a 1920s visit to Russia, observed that "Russia is the victim of a determined propaganda of lies", he remained persistently skeptical of American media reports regarding the USSR; when challenged as to his beliefs on Stalin in 1956, in one instance he conceded that "[Stalin] was probably too cruel; but... he conquered Hitler."
In regards to Soviet intervention in Hungary in 1956, the 88-year old Du Bois defended the USSR, suggesting that the Hungarian Revolutionwas a plot of "landlords and fascists". For this he has been criticized, by some historians, for allegedly succumbing to dogmatism; while he was "one of the great pioneers of anti-colonialist scholarship", he was "a headstrong idealist: he idealized Stalinism... He saw what he wished and needed to see, and thus he replicated the hard, domineering consciousness he condemned."
Du Bois visited Communist China during the Great Leap Forward. He was questioned before the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) about his alleged communist sympathies. He was indicted in the United States under the Foreign Agents Registration Act and acquitted for lack of evidence.[citation needed] In 1959, Du Bois received the Lenin Peace Prize. In 1961, at the age of 93, he joined the Communist Party USA, at a time past its peak of appeal to most people on the Left.
the rest of this particular article is on wikipedia if you are interested in learning more
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