Who is W. E. B. du Bois

Unveiling the Legacy of W. E. B. Du Bois: A Visionary Scholar and Activist in the Fight for Racial Equality and Social Justice

W. E. B Du Bois was a prominent American Civil Rights leader and civil rights activist in the late 19th century and early 20th centuries, born on February 23rd 1868 in Great Barrington Massachusetts to Alfred Dubois (a French-Haitian) father and Mary Silvina Burghardt mother of African descent but with Dutch ancestry as well.

Du Bois studied at Fisk University located near Nashville Tennessee before transferring to Harvard for his Master's Degree where he became one of the first ever African Americans to gain such academic achievement. This would later be followed by another educational milestone when he gained a Doctorate from Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany, making him only the second black person studying there while also being awarded an honorary doctorate from Atlanta University. Du Bois’ legacy and achievements within higher education was very unique as it took place during a time period in which race relations were still quite severely strained between white and Black folks throughout America (especially in southern regions like Georgia) and the world at large. Du Bois paved the way into furthering research projects related to sociology, economics, government, politics, history, literature, and cultural anthropology.

Du Bois’ work helped people better understand how discrimination had changed over past decades specifically affecting immigrant/African American populations living in urban areas, mostly concentrated in the Northeast United States – primarily in cities like Boston, New York City, Newark, Philadelphia,  Hartford, Chicago, St Louis, Detroit, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Kansas, and Omaha. Black and immigrant populations in these cities experienced various levels of difficulties due to racism, prejudice, segregation laws, poverty, unemployment, housing, language barriers, police brutality, and lack of access to healthcare – things that weren't going away anytime soon unless drastic measures were taken to push back against those oppressive conditions.

Which is exactly what Du Bois did in the form of public speaking, organizing parades, boycotts, sit-ins, marches, protests, writing articles, books, pamphlets, and speeches, as well as giving lectures to teach people about injustices facing minorities in their everyday lives. His work and activism  ultimately inspired leaders like Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, Malcolm X, Cesar Chavez and many others who believed in the same ideals, and tried to speak the truth and give a voice to the voiceless. This work ultimately contributed to long lasting change in society thanks to these individuals taking a stand in their times.

W. E. B. Du Bois authored several books that are still read today, including The Souls of Black Folk (1903) and Darkwater: Voices from Within the Veil (1920).

The Souls of Black Folk is a collection of essays examining race relations during the Reconstruction Era through which he proposed his "double-consciousness" theory. This theory outlines how people with African heritage saw themselves both as Black Americans but also as part of something larger than themselves – the collective soul or spirit shared by all those who had lived under slavery before emancipation came about after 1865's Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution ended it permanently within U.S borders. This book has become one of much revered texts referenced when discussing social issues related to racism. 

Darkwater: Voices From Within The Veil published in 1920 contained poetry, political philosophy and autobiographical insights into being raised between two cultures – African American culture while living amongst northern whites – and provided readers with thoughts on relationships among races at the turn of the century when Jim Crow segregation laws were beginning take hold across country. These laws would ultimately be overturned by the Civil Rights Movement decades later. In this work Du Bois foreshadowed our eventual reality by predicting future “unity consciousness," calling upon individuals to recognize they could rise above their limited circumstances to achieve greater freedom together, rather than in separate, isolated groups competing against each other along lines perceived superiority created solely due to one’s skin color.