Latest news with #W.E.B.DuBois
Forbes
24-05-2025
- General
- Forbes
5 Notable W.E.B. Du Bois Books And Literary Works
W.E.B. Du Bois poses for a portait on May 31, 1919. ( William Edward Burghardt Du Bois was a forward-thinking scholar whose intellect and writings bravely challenged America's racial hierarchy. As Harvard's first African American Ph.D. graduate in 1895, he established himself as an undeniable intellectual force during an era when segregation defined American society. Du Bois began publishing scholarly work in 1896 and soon became renowned for his distinct writing style, which spanned multiple genres, including scholarly monographs, essays, autobiography, fiction and poetry. On February 12, 1909, Du Bois helped establish the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and served as editor of its influential magazine, The Crisis, for over two decades, using this platform to publish important journalism, critique racial injustice and elevate Black literary talent during the Harlem Renaissance. Nearly a century later, Du Bois remains one of the most influential Black intellectuals in history. His scholarly precision and moral urgency continue to shape our understanding of race, power and identity in American society. During his lifetime, Du Bois published 21 books and several journals. His seminal work, The Souls of Black Folk (1903), introduced 'double consciousness,' an idea that articulated the "split" nature of Black American identity in a predominantly white and racially segregated America. This concept, along with his critique of Booker T. Washington's accommodationist approach, helped to establish him as a leading voice on race in America. Below are five of his must-reads, selected for their relevance and sociological impact. In the first chapter, 'Of Our Spiritual Strivings,' Du Bois introduces the idea of 'double consciousness,' which he describes as the 'sense of always looking at one's self through the eyes of others, of measuring one's soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity.' The concept goes beyond academic speculation to offer a credible explanation for how Black Americans reconcile the tension between their self-perception and the distorted images imposed by a white supremacist society. This explanation continues to carry a lot of weight in present-day discussions around how racial identity presents itself within American society. Arthur E. McFarlane II, the great-granson of the African-American hero—civil rights pioneer W.E.B. ... More DuBois reaches for "The Souls of Black Folk" one of the collection of DuBois books in his home. The Souls of Black Folk is generally considered one of the earliest works of sociology and uses both history and memoir to analyze and then expose the contradictions of post-Reconstruction America. The narrative structure of the book is sharpened with scholarly analysis and lyrical meditation, with each chapter containing paired epigraphs: one from canonical Western literature and the other a bar from Negro spirituals (which Du Bois called 'sorrow songs'). In the third chapter titled 'Of Mr. Booker T. Washington and Others,' the scholar presents a measured critique of Washington's accommodationist philosophy while also voicing his concerns about Washington's philosophy. Here, Du Bois firmly asserts that Washington's philosophy would do nothing more than harm Black people in the long run and keep them in a constant state of subservience and deference to white supremacy. Who should read this?: Anyone interested in Black American history, race relations and the convoluted nature of Black experiences and identities in America. Where to buy this book: Simon & Schuster W.E.B. Dubois, with Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune and Lincoln University President Dr. Horace Mann Bond, ... More after receiving the University's Alpha Medallion Awards. In Black Reconstruction in America, W.E.B. Du Bois delivers a magisterial reassessment of the post-Civil War era that essentially disassembles the racist historiography that dominated American academic discourse for generations. Published in 1935 and during the Jim Crow era and resurgent white nationalism, this 768-page opus represents both rigorous historical scholarship and an act of intellectual defiance. Du Bois begins by framing the Civil War as fundamentally about slavery rather than states' rights, a perspective that is now accepted but was initially controversial. Du Bois also discusses how four million freed people became active pioneers of democracy rather than passive recipients of Northern benevolence. His exceptional research here is both thought-provoking and important. Members of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) at the ... More organization's 20th Annual Session in Cleveland, Ohio, June 26, 1929. Pictured sitting are NAACP staff including W.E.B. DuBois, James Weldon Johnson, Walter White, William Pickens, Arthur Spingarn, Daisy Lampkin, and Robert Bagnall. He also discusses the idea of the 'general strike,' which is a reinterpretation of the mass enslaved people's flight to Union lines as a deliberate political action that sabotaged the Confederacy's war effort. One of the most radical concepts in this book is Du Bois's rendering of the postwar period. Where the then-dominant Dunning School historians saw tragic chaos and Negro incapacity, Du Bois demonstrates that this was an exceptional democratic experiment. Thanks to his archival-style research, Du Bois shows readers how Black legislators established the South's first public education systems, expanded voting rights and modernized state constitutions. These achievements, Du Bois demonstrates, were systematically erased from historical memory through what he terms 'propaganda posing as history.' Who should read this?: Historians, scholars and serious readers who are interested in historical revisionism. Where to buy this book: Labyrinth Books The Philadelphia Negro is credited with being the first sociological case study of a Black American community. In this University of Pennsylvania-commissioned study, Du Bois combines rigorous empirical research with compassionate observation to study the lives, struggles and social structures of Philadelphia's Black community, all while establishing urban ethnography as a legitimate academic field. Du Bois conducted this research while teaching at the University of Pennsylvania, where he interviewed thousands of Black Philadelphians in the Seventh Ward. The resulting work provides unprecedented demographic data alongside nuanced analysis of the community's social stratification, economic conditions and the systemic barriers that discrimination creates. His methodology was pioneering as he used door-to-door surveys, statistical analysis and participant observation decades before these research practices became standard. The book denies popular ideas that Black poverty is a consequence of moral failure or inferiority; instead, it outlines the impact of structural racism, limited opportunities and systemic roadblocks that the average Black person experiences as a cause. Who should read this?: Sociologists, urban historians and students of research methodology. Where to buy this book: University of Pennsylvania Press This future-facing collection uses autobiographical essays, poems, short stories and sociological analyses to create a vignette of Black life during World War I and its aftermath. It is one of the most revealing pieces of evidence regarding Du Bois's evolving radicalism and global perspective. Du Bois wrote the book during the violent 'Red Summer' of 1919, and it has since come to represent his most experimental and politically radical body of work. He also wrote a powerful essay called 'Returning Soldiers' in May of that year. A major theme of this work is the emphasis and study of labor, and he examines this by looking at the connections between racism, capitalism and imperialism while expanding his analysis to include gender through essays like 'The Damnation of Women.' In that essay, he validates the roles of women in society, inside the home, at work and in the Black church in a way that reads as feminist for its era. Du Bois acknowledges the double burden faced by Black women who have to endure both racial and gender oppression by arguing that 'the uplift of women is, next to the problem of the color line and the peace movement, our greatest modern cause.' Dr. W.E.B. DuBois speaking at the World Peace Conference. He basically critiques how white supremacy and patriarchy have denied Black women economic independence, educational opportunities and political voice while celebrating their grit and central role in community preservation. Another aspect of this book that was ahead of its time is Du Bois's insistence that sexual autonomy for women is important for their freedom. By asserting this, he challenged Victorian ideas of propriety that constrained discourse around gender. This proto-intersectional analysis anticipated feminist theoretical frameworks by decades while also proving yet again that Du Bois had never-before-seen intellectual foresight for his time and understood social justice through the lens of several overlapping systems of oppression. Who should read this?: Readers interested in Black radicalism, intersectionality and literary innovation. Where to buy this book: Verso Books In this innovative 'autobiography of a concept,' Du Bois uses his personal journey to explain how race operates as a social construct. The book is a combination of memoir, social theory and historical analysis, complete with Du Bois's signature intellectual dexterity. Unlike conventional autobiography, Dusk of Dawn uses Du Bois's life experiences primarily as windows into broader social transformations while following his intellectual journey from Harvard through his NAACP years and growing disillusionment with American liberalism. Du Bois was 72 when he wrote this book, which is one of his most important works due to its reflective, scholarly wisdom. It sees Du Bois speak from the perspective of someone who experienced significant shifts ranging from Reconstruction through the Great Depression. He also critically reassesses his earlier positions, including his conception of the 'Talented Tenth,' while developing more economically radical approaches to racial justice. His chapter 'The Concept of Race' also challenges and deconstructs biological notions of race, while anticipating later theoretical developments by decades. Who should read this: Anyone interested in intellectual history, racial theory and political autobiography. Where to buy this book: Oxford University Press Bottom Line W.E.B. Du Bois was a preeminent Black intellectual and a revolutionary thinker whose work, especially his written works, permanently altered our national zeitgeist. Thanks to his sociological innovation, historical revision and intellect, his 21 books challenged white supremacy while offering a reliable blueprint for understanding race that remains startlingly relevant a century later.
Business Journals
23-04-2025
- Business
- Business Journals
Five things: Cold Brook Preserve restoration, Harvard finances, W.E.B. DuBois
Already have an account? Sign in Welcome! Register now to read your first few articles at no cost. Good morning, Boston. Here are the five things you need to know in local business news to start your busy Wednesday, plus Harvard finances, W.E.B. DuBois and Cold Brook Preserve restoration on Cape Cod. Good morning, Boston. Here are the five things you need to know in local business news to start your busy Wednesday. 1. Here's where Harvard's finances stand as it faces off with Trump As Harvard faces off against the Trump administration with its lawsuit filed Monday, the university's finances beyond its eye-popping $53 billion endowment is worth closer attention. Grant Welker has more details to know about the university's finances. GET TO KNOW YOUR CITY Find Local Events Near You Connect with a community of local professionals. Explore All Events 2. Harvard, MIT, BU sign call against federal overreach Welker also reports that a total of 16 Massachusetts colleges have signed on to an industrywide statement yesterday 'against the unprecedented government overreach and political interference." Start each day with the 5 Things You Need to Know. Sign up for the Morning Edition. 3. Mass. health center conducts layoffs Isabel Hart reports that Brockton Neighborhood Health Center has laid off 65 workers. 4. L.A. fires prompt local homebuilding startup to head west An Andover-based modular-construction startup founded by three former Amazon Robotics employees is building its first homes in Greater Boston — and also entering the Los Angeles market, where the devastating wildfires destroyed thousands of homes in January, Greg Ryan reports. 5. Roche's $50B U.S. investment includes Mass. R&D center Roche's plans to invest $50 billion in the United States over the next five years includes a plan to invest here in Massachusetts — to open the Roche Genentech Innovation Center Boston at Harvard's Enterprise Research Campus in Allston, Hannah Green reports. What else you need to know By the numbers $262 million — oversubscribed second fund amount for a venture capital firm founded in 2023 known as Venture Guides, Eli Chavez reports. oversubscribed second fund amount 2 — companies remaining in the final round of the Inno Madness bracket challenge . Vote for your favorite here. final round of the Inno Madness bracket challenge $65,000 — settlement paid by the giant insurer Mutual of Omaha to Massachusetts regulators in response to allegations of deceptive advertising by one of its affiliates Today in history On this day in 1904, W.E.B. DuBois gave a lecture on "the race question" at Harvard, where nine years before he had been the first black person to receive a Ph.D. (Read more at What's good on WERS-FM Planet Earth, by Duran Duran What I'm reading Erasure, by Percival Everett What I'm watching The Americas, on NBC An engineering marvel, a nice nature walk — why not both? In the town of Harwich on Cape Cod, there's a former cranberry bog that was known locally for years as Bank Street Bogs. For years now, some 66 acres of what once were cranberry bogs has been under construction, but recently those acres have been opened to the public as the Robert F. Smith Cold Brook Preserve at 203 Bank St. I was in Harwich visiting my parents a few weeks ago and walked the paths at the preserve. We walked around three separate ponds and along a newly created water channel, where dozens of saplings and shrubs had been newly planted. Wooden benches and bird boxes aid walkers and birders in navigating the space. It's an amazing achievement, and such groups as the Harwich Conservation Trust, the town of Harwich, the state Division of Ecological Restoration and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service should be proud for having achieved it. And it's not just a matter of beautifying a former bog. Cape Cod faces a serious nitrogen pollution problem from having grown in population faster than its septic systems can handle. And this project's 'nitrogen-attenuating wetlands' achieves goals in wastewater treatment and coastal climate resilience that earned it top honors in this month's American Council of Engineering Companies of Massachusetts (ACEC/MA) 2025 Engineering Excellence Awards. In terms of regional sustainability and engineering innovation, the Cold Brook Preserve is a major feat: It may appear untouched by human intervention, but it is the product of years of advanced engineering, 'potentially saving millions in future wastewater treatment costs,' according to the ACEC/MA. And for those of you who aren't impressed by all that engineering, guess what? It's also a peaceful and beautiful place to take a nice walk in nature in the middle of Cape Cod. PARTING SHOT Lower Cape TV just aired this short piece on the Cold Brook Preserve restoration project. You can learn more here: Subscribe to the Morning Edition or Afternoon Edition for the business news you need to know, all free. Largest Women-Owned Businesses in Massachusetts Total 2024 revenue Rank Prior Rank Firm/Prior ranked (*unranked in 2024)/ 1 1 Continental Resources Inc. 2 3 Atlas Travel & Technology Group 3 2 Granite City Electric Supply Co. Inc. View this list
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Courtney B. Vance to narrate audio edition of prize-winning W.E.B. Du Bois biography
NEW YORK (AP) — Award-winning actor Courtney B. Vance will be narrating the first ever-audio edition of one of the most acclaimed literary biographies of the past 30 years, David Levering Lewis' two-volume work on the scholar, author and civil rights activist W.E.B. Du Bois. The first volume is scheduled for June 17. 'As a lover of history, I was drawn to W.E.B. Du Bois's award-winning biography," Vance said in a statement released Wednesday by Simon & Schuster Audio. "Having the chance to reintroduce his legacy to audiophiles by narrating his life story has been an honor and true passion project for me.' Lewis received Pulitzer Prizes for each of his Du Bois books: 'W.E.B. Du Bois: Biography of a Race, 1868–1919,' published in 1993, and 'W. E. B. Du Bois: The Fight for Equality and the American Century, 1919–1963,' which came out in 2000. The historian said in a statement that he was gratified to have his books available in audio. 'I can hardly believe this has come to pass,' he said. 'Listen to Courtney B. Vance and you shall hear the spoken wisdom of an American colossus, a prophetic man of color in whose 95 years all intellectual, political, economic, and racial choices were profoundly explored.'
The Independent
19-03-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Courtney B. Vance to narrate audio edition of prize-winning W.E.B. Du Bois biography
Award-winning actor Courtney B. Vance will be narrating the first ever-audio edition of one of the most acclaimed literary biographies of the past 30 years, David Levering Lewis' two-volume work on the scholar, author and civil rights activist W.E.B. Du Bois. The first volume is scheduled for June 17. 'As a lover of history, I was drawn to W.E.B. Du Bois's award-winning biography," Vance said in a statement released Wednesday by Simon & Schuster Audio. "Having the chance to reintroduce his legacy to audiophiles by narrating his life story has been an honor and true passion project for me.' Lewis received Pulitzer Prizes for each of his Du Bois books: 'W.E.B. Du Bois: Biography of a Race, 1868–1919,' published in 1993, and 'W. E. B. Du Bois: The Fight for Equality and the American Century, 1919–1963,' which came out in 2000. The historian said in a statement that he was gratified to have his books available in audio. 'I can hardly believe this has come to pass,' he said. 'Listen to Courtney B. Vance and you shall hear the spoken wisdom of an American colossus, a prophetic man of color in whose 95 years all intellectual, political, economic, and racial choices were profoundly explored.'
Associated Press
19-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Associated Press
Courtney B. Vance to narrate audio edition of prize-winning W.E.B. Du Bois biography
NEW YORK (AP) — Award-winning actor Courtney B. Vance will be narrating the first ever-audio edition of one of the most acclaimed literary biographies of the past 30 years, David Levering Lewis' two-volume work on the scholar, author and civil rights activist W.E.B. Du Bois. The first volume is scheduled for June 17. 'As a lover of history, I was drawn to W.E.B. Du Bois's award-winning biography,' Vance said in a statement released Wednesday by Simon & Schuster Audio. 'Having the chance to reintroduce his legacy to audiophiles by narrating his life story has been an honor and true passion project for me.' Lewis received Pulitzer Prizes for each of his Du Bois books: 'W.E.B. Du Bois: Biography of a Race, 1868–1919,' published in 1993, and 'W. E. B. Du Bois: The Fight for Equality and the American Century, 1919–1963,' which came out in 2000. The historian said in a statement that he was gratified to have his books available in audio. 'I can hardly believe this has come to pass,' he said. 'Listen to Courtney B. Vance and you shall hear the spoken wisdom of an American colossus, a prophetic man of color in whose 95 years all intellectual, political, economic, and racial choices were profoundly explored.'
