Du Bois. Reiland Rabaka

Du Bois - Reiland Rabaka


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| United States--Race relations. | African Americans--Politics and government.

      Classification: LCC E185.97.D73 R3225 2021 (print) | LCC E185.97.D73 (ebook) | DDC 323.092--dc23

      LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020041247

      LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020041248

      by Fakenham Prepress Solutions, Fakenham, Norfolk NR21 8NL

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      In this book, I have attempted to guide readers through W. E. B. Du Bois’s life and legacy in a way that is clear, accurate, and critical. Although the focus of the book is on the key issues Du Bois addressed, the historical and cultural context in which he developed his social, political, and economic thought has not been neglected. Du Bois: A Critical Introduction is not an intellectual biography of Du Bois, but instead an introduction to his discourse and its most distinctive features. This book also seeks to demonstrate why Du Bois and his discourse remain relevant in the twenty-first century.

      I am grateful to students, colleagues, and comrades throughout the years who have contributed in important ways to the research, writing, and revision of this book. I would be remiss if I did not offer my sincere gratitude to the editorial team at Polity Press, especially George Owers and Julia Davies, who supported my vision for an accessible but critical introduction to Du Bois’s sprawling oeuvre. Lastly, I thank my friends and family for their support during the many years it took me to research, write, and revise this book. If I were to sincerely say thank you a thousand times (asante sana, na gode sosai, daalụ nke ukwuu, ke leboha haholo, ndokutenda zvikuru, aad ayaad u mahadsantahay, hatur nuhun pisan, enkosi kakhulu, o ṣeun pupọ, ngibona kakhulu, etc.), I would not have thanked each of you enough. Ubuntu – I am because we are.

      In the spirit of W. E. B. Du Bois …

       Reiland Rabaka

       Boulder, Colorado

       July 2020

      W. E. B. Du Bois’s life was bookended by the Civil War and the Civil Rights Movement. In the period between the aftermath of the Civil War known as the Reconstruction era (1865–77) and the Civil Rights Movement years (1954–68), Du Bois altered American history – and, indeed, world history – by aligning himself with many of the most cutting-edge and controversial causes of his epoch.1 Yet the public view of Du Bois is often that of an elitist advocate of “racial uplift” via a “Talented Tenth,” and, of course, the author of the 1903 classic The Souls of Black Folk, a collection of essays that ingeniously captured the complexities of African Americans’ past, present, and future.2 After the publication of The Souls of Black Folk, Du Bois took a hard-activist turn that ultimately culminated in the founding of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1909. The next year, 1910, he inaugurated The Crisis: A Record of the Darker Races, the monthly magazine of the NAACP. Du Bois edited The Crisis for nearly a quarter of a century, from 1910 to 1934. Under his editorship, The Crisis touched on an array of topics dealing with black history, culture, politics, economics, and the arts. Although it began with a monthly circulation of 1,000 copies, by its peak period (circa 1917–27) The Crisis reached more than 100,000 readers monthly.3

      Considering the complex nature of his life, scholarship, and activism, this volume’s primary objective is to provide a brief introduction to Du Bois’s discourse and chart his inimitable development from


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