Almanac of Story Tellers, W.E.B. Du Bois

Every day brings a new story.  And each day contributes to the art of story telling -- in prose and poetry, in music, on the stage, on the screen, and, of course, in books. 

Today is a story of  February 23rd.

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     It is the 54th day of the year, leaving 311 days remaining in 2022.

    On this date in 1868, W.E.B. Du Bois, one of the premiere intellectuals in any era, was born in Great Barrington, Mass.

    Du Bois was a polymath -- a historian, sociologist, economist, writer, editor, and activist. He wrote dozens of books and essays outlining his thoughts on Black people, and many of his views were distinct from other Black intellectuals of his day. 

    In the years after the American Civil War, Du Bois argued for full, immediate equality for his race. He rejected the notion that Blacks should compromise on their civil rights in exchange for education and justice, as Booker T. Washington advocated. And in opposition to the idea of integration espoused by Frederick Douglass and others, Du Bois said Black Americans should embrace their African heritage.

    Du Bois had a long history as world traveler, and as an activist for peace, socialism, anti-racism, and voting rights. He also promoted Black culture, writings, and art. He was the first Black person to obtain a doctorate from Harvard University.

    In his classic 1903 book, The Souls of Black Folk, Du Bois spoke of the idea of Black people having a "double consciousness."

    One ever feels his twoness -- an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, who dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder.

    Du Bois's first book in 1898, an  essay on The Study of the Negro Problem, addressed the image of  how white people generally viewed Black people at the time. He discussed what it meant to be a minority, with a different culture and background, among the majority white Europeans who lived in and dominated American society.

    "How does it feel to be a problem?" is the question he posed to his Black readers.

    In addition to his books of essays, Du Bois was a historian, The Gift of Black Folk: The Negroes in the Making of America; a biographer, John Brown: A Biography; and a Pan-African, Africa: Its Geography, People, and Products, and The World and Africa.

    He also wrote six novels, edited The Crisis, the official magazine of the NAACP, and wrote and recorded his autobiography.

    Du Bois died in 1963 in Accra, Ghana.