Dr. William Edward Burghardt (W.E.B) Du Bois was an extraordinary man with countless talents, however he is best known for his contributions as an African American civil rights leader. In addition to this he was also a full time scholar, sociologist, writer, poet, editor and professor of a multitude of subjects. He was born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts on February 23 1886. His parents were an interracial couple living in a well established black community. Du Bois was an excellent student and accelerated through school rapidly having graduated high school early. He later attended Harvard’s graduate school and became the first African American to receive a doctorates degree.
Du Bois laid down significant groundwork in the social sciences regarding the plight of African Americans from the periods of the 17th century and early to mid 20th century. Some of his famous works as a social scientist were “The Suppression of the African Slave Trade to the United States of America” and “Philadelphia Negro”. Dubois also a Pan-Africanist, structured the first annual Pan-African Congress meeting. He then later went on to become one of the founding fathers of another organization, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1910.
Du Bois was a bold intellectual leader and rigorously stood for what he believed…“Du Bois was indicted under the McCarran Act, one in a long series of legislation instituted as a means to curtail personal and intellectual freedoms, in retaliation for calling upon the United Nations to hear the crimes of the U.S. government against its own people.” He is considered by many as one of the greatest minds of twentieth century.
Reference:
Wager, Jennifer. “The W.E.B. Du Bois Virtual University” 1994. Georgetown University. http://members.tripod.com/~DuBois/index.htm
Sundquist. J., Eric. W.E.B. Du Bois: The Oxford Reader. New York Oxford University Press 1996.
Wormser, Richard. “Jim Crow Stories” The rise and fall of Jim Crow. 2002. www.pbs.org http://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/stories_people_dubois.html
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2 comments:
Hi Nabin,
Your post was very interesting. It is enlightening to hear of such success from one person. Unfortunately, in this world, you are punished when trying to expose the truths of the government for the betterment of the people.
Hi,
In recent times, it is very difficult to be a full time scholar, sociologist, writer, poet, editor, and professor of a multitude of subjects. Such a one has to devote all her/his time to be able to be successful. Therefore when we hear men of great virtue such as Dr. William Edward Burkhart (W.E.B) Du Bois, one cannot but to commend their great works and contribution to humanity.
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