W. E. B. Du Bois Books

WEB DuBois:American Prophet is an absolute gem for in the ever expanding field of religious history. Blum's ability to analyze his sources and to use them to discover the spiritual side of DuBois allows the reader to understand the real DuBois. Blum is able to dismiss the idea that DuBois was secular in nature. A must have for all religious historians!!!!

This is a beautiful book, lucid, passionate, rigorous, and engaged. Blum's pathbreaking consideration of DuBois as a key religious figure in America transforms the "black church" model that has needlessly constrained the story of African American spiritual striving, and powerfully dislodges the religious/secular dividing line that has likewise constrained scholarship on DuBois in all of the disciplines that claim him. This is the beginning of a new and needed conversation on prophetic faith in America, one to which historians and scholars who might otherwise have little truck with religion may join their voices without apology.

The spiritual dimensions of W.E.B. Du Bois is the subject of a new book by Edward J. Blum, a history professor at San Diego State University. Blum's compelling work goes against the grain of previous Du Bois biographers, who uniformly claim that Du Bois was either agnostic or atheist.

Blum's volume uncovers Bu Bois's multiple religious selves, and since the biographical details of his life are relatively well known, Blum resists a chronological approach and instead offers an innovative, thematic analysis that investigates The Souls of Black Folk (Enriched Classics Series), Du Bois's sociology of religion, his understanding of Christianity and Communism, the uses of religion in Du Bois's creative work, and the reception of the spiritual Du Bois among students, scholars, and cultural critics. Blum canvasses Du Bois's massive corpus, not only including weighty academic works, but also letters, literary expressions, and even prayers written for students at Atlanta University in 1909-1910, published in 1980 as Prayers for Dark People.

The result of this thematic investigation is a convincing picture of the multiple ways Du Bois engaged religion--and in particular Christianity. One of the book's major contributions is to show when, where, how, and why Du Bois brought spiritual insight to bear on global issues he investigated both historically and sociologically, particularly those related to black Americans. It is interesting to note that Du Bois's commetaries on the issues of his time still resonate deeply with today's concerns--something I suppose prophets are able to do.

Blum's book is clearly an academic work, but unlike many scholarly monographs, it also speaks to students and other curious, interested readers, a notable achievement and something for other writers to emulate. Blum's work is a must read for anyone interested in American history, religious history, or even world history.

There is no doubt _W.E.B. Du Bois, American Prophet_ will stand as one of the most important works for understanding this important historical figure. Be sure to pick up your copy today.

This is without question the definitive study of Du Bois and his relationship to religion, faith, and the church. Not only is the scholarship top notch, but the prose are thoughtful, rich, and compelling. It is so well written, so well-researched, and so engaging for anyone interested in religion in American history, race and religion, and the genius of WEB Du Bois.

Blum delves in to so much with respectable sensitivity, and his analysis and insights go much deeper than all other biographers concerning Du Bois's relationship to religion.

Brilliant. Highly recommended for students, professors, people interested in religious studies, history, identity, etc.

Like many others I had long ago gained enormous respect for W.E.B. Du Bois, one of the outstanding leaders in race relations in the hundred years immediately after the American Civil War. As a writer, lecturer, scholar, and teacher he was a persistent voice for equality of opportunity, integration of society, and the civil rights of African Americans. I had never thought of him, however, as a religious thinker. That is, until now.

In this marvelous new book by Edward J. Blum, an historian at San Diego State University, Du Bois emerges as a major thinker in Christianity and the social gospel. As Blum demonstrates, Du Bois was in no small measure motivated by the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, by the moral teachings of scripture, and by the thinking of theologians throughout the ages. And in this aspect of his life, like all others, Du Bois found ample scriptural and moral teaching advancing equality of all people. It is an eye-opening and unexplored aspect of Du Bois's character and one that all future investigators of his life and career will have to bring into the discussion of his other activities. As Blum shows, Du Bois's work cannot be understood absent his spiritual life.

This work is a fine analysis that progresses through a series of Du Bois's writings to probe the depths of his moral and spiritual beliefs. A major chapter on "The Souls of Black Folk," as only one example, demonstrates the significance of his seeking universal truth in religion. Part sociological analysis, literary criticism, and theological exploration, Blum's work on Du Bois offers a new avenue for understanding one of the towering figures in American race relations. It is a brilliant, authoritative, and seminal study that all scholars of U.S. religion, race relations, and the early twentieth century will find invaluable.

This book is incredibly well-researched, strongly argued, and exceptionally well-written. DuBois is someone whom I have always greatly respected, and it was a pleasure to read another of his incredible texts.

Given the way race relations have unfolded since the book was written, WEB DuBois' tome is THE essential work on the most pivotal and one of the most grossly underrated periods of American history.

Since it is told from the vantage point of a Black American, it stands as one of the essential missing voices in an otherwise neatly politicized and racially sanitized periods of American history and areas of American historical scholarship.

DuBois, writing with an impressive flair, is not bashful about giving credit where it is due, whether to noble and humane slave owners or to the vastly underrated and seldom reported contributions of Negroes during this period. This emphasis alone is a display of courage unlikely to be found except in very rare instances in other books on this subject.

Despite its flair, the book is still dense with details that only a first rate historian could uncover and organize so well. And although the book has been criticized for being too much of a Marxist economic analysis, it is nevertheless accurate, has the full ring of truth and remains relatively non-polemical. And for one partial to non-Marxist economic analyses, I find rather strangely that DuBois' Marxist analysis seems the appropriate tool uniquely suited for analyzing the circumstances of this particular era of American history.

In short, the book is not just another oblique harangue against the American system of racism as it was practiced during the reconstruction era--or as it has been practiced during any era for that matter.

Along side Eric Froner's book, "Reconstruction," this is another tour de force. For essential reading on one of the most important periods in American history, one is unlikely to find in print a better book on this subject. Amen.

DuBois goes state by ruthless state describing the atrocities committed upon black folks by white folks. In one story he tells of a black man riding a mule and a white man wants the mule so he walks up to the black man and shoots him off.
In another story he describes a husband and wife who have traveled miles on foot after the wife (who is pregnant)was beaten unmercifully by her ex-master. Her skin has been ripped to the bone by the cat-o-nine tails

This book is written like a text book on history. It is not for the faint of hear. I guess that would make sense. This is a serious read and makes you think. I learn a lot about reconstruction from the black prospective.

Du Bois took a revolutionary new look at Reconstruction in the 1930's, providing a fresh view that went largely ignored until recent books by Foner and Litwack resuscitated this overlooked period in American history. Du Bois summons up his great intellectual bearing to illustrate that from being the unmitigated failure that Reconstruction has long been portrayed as, it was the crucible of civil rights legislation, a time when there was very definitely hope that America would redefine itself along more egalitarian lines. While the book deals predominately with the black man's point of view, Du Bois offers a principled Marxist view of labor relations at the time, and how the leading Radical Republicans tried to come to terms with the new industrial society that was emerging in America.

Du Bois was a very compelling writer, he cuts through the layers of history to reveal the soul of the persons most greatly affected by Reconstruction. He charts the troubled waters of the Civil War, and the Presidential attempts at Reconstruction which followed the Union victories in the South. He provides a candid view of Lincoln, who struggled with his own prejudices, but eventually came to accept the black man because of the pivotal role he played in the war. Ironically, Du Bois noted a black did not become a man until he showed he could hold a gun in battle.

Du Bois felt Lincoln really did alter his views during the course of the war, no longer favoring the colonist view held by many that blacks should be repatriated to Africa. However, Du Bois felt that Lincoln lacked the convictions to really push forward Reconstruction, that his principal concern remained in reclaiming the Southern states in the Union.

The mighty task of Reconstruction was left up to the Radical Republicans in Congress and the "Black" legislatures that emerges in the South during this time. Du Bois refutes the Dunning-Bowers view that blacks were incapable of forming governments, by providing a chapter on "The Black Proletariat in South Carolina." Here, he shows that blacks fully recognized the enormity of this most propitious moment, but that they ran up against a set of state and federal courts, which refused to hold up their decisions. While blacks were now members of state legislatures and of the US Congress, they did not take over the South, as is often described. Even in South Carolina, where blacks outnumbered whites, blacks were only temporarily able to seize control of the legislature, and force a new state constitution.

This is the book that forms the basis for Foner's excellent book, Reconstruction. Du Bois was the first to realize that Reconstruction was more than just an epilog to the Civil War, but the beginning of the long road to freedom, which took nearly 100 years in the making for blacks in America.

Achebe's work was informative, thought provocing, and at times amusing. His work is another example of how important it is for all people to tell their own story/history, especially people who were once disposessed. This little book inspired me to write a few ideas to prevent my experiences from being misinterpreted.

Long live the proud son of Africa and our respected statesman.
Achebe the honest and truthful dispenser of both sides of the story. Colonial griots (to borrow Achebe's words) such as Elspeth Huxley and other apologists have for too long been left alone to justify the dispossession of precious lands and cultures. Until the proud son of Africa made them eat their own words and exposed them for what they are. Dishonest griots deftly laying the groundwork for self-enrichment at the expense of peace loving and decent Human Beings.
Chinua Achebe as exemplified by his few but precious books writes not to make money but only when he must say something useful. Unlike modern day "authors" who are more about money than substance. I have no doubt Achebe can write profound and moving accounts of African and world issues at the rate of one book a day but he chose only to spend his time teaching.
It is obvious why the Nobel Prize went to Wole Soyinka instead of Chinua Achebe. Achebe refuses to write for a "foreign" audience and does not take his marching orders from anybody. He is his own man. Africans and honest people all over the world have in their own ways given Achebe the best prize in the world.
Continuous interest in his worthwhile classics such as Things Fall Apart,The Man of the People,No longer at Ease,Anthills of the Savannah, Morning Yet on Creation Day,Hopes and Impediments and many others.

Home and Exile may be a small book but has enough three pence (from Achebes "somebody knock me down and have three pence!") to liberate nations and individuals from the grip and stench of colonial and racist apologia masquerading as literature.

Long live Achebe, proud son of Africa and citizen of the world.
To know Achebe (by reading his books) is to know how to be an unassuming and proud Human Being who quitely and calmly states his truth for the benefit of us all.

Excellent! Achebe has done it again. This is a must read!

Since the book is already well-summarized above, I'll just give my own reaction.

I've read a number of Achebe's novels and one essay (the excellent critique of Heart of Darkness) and really enjoyed the "backstage" feeling of hearing the author's first person voice - an insightful and kindly voice. For me, the effect of Achebe's strong positions is heightened by the dignified presentation, and of course by the poignant and funny stories from his own life that he uses to illustrate those positions. As compared to one of my other favorite authors, James Baldwin, Achebe's writing includes less calls to action, and more explanation. For instance, even in his sharp critique of Vidiadhar Naipaul's novels, Achebe's first priority is to shine light on the processes that led to Naipul's failures of vision. I think people who have read Achebe's fiction or essays and liked it, or generally care about literature from an indigenous or "Third World" perspective will really enjoy this short text. Definitely worth the cost, and may be available from the library.

The physical brevity of Achebe's "autobiography" truly belies the intrisic wisdom he so effortlessly spews upon his listeners. Mr. Achebe sets out to deconstruct the manifold, post-colonial ills (endemic to the dispossessed of African diasopora) with the assistance of historical literature, creation fables, and his own personal memories. Indeed, a thought provoking manifesto for any fan of the great Achebe; one which will aid the reader to pursue further literature with a new sense of enlightenment.

I love African American photography, and this book is a wonderful example of the images that we don't often see: the African American middle class. This makes an excellent gift for a history and/or photography buff.

I first discovered this little treasure while reading a book review in Ebony magazine. I was immediately drawn to this title because 1. it was by Du Bois, 2. the book featued pictures of African-Americans that were displayed during the World's Fair in Paris-1900. I enjoyed looking at the vintage photographs but the only downfall is that some of the photographs are not labeled and i would have also appreciated a longer description on the photographs. overall this is a great book for the entire family to enjoy for generations to come.

It it the last photo in this book that I believe leaves the most indelible impression on my mind. The photo is of a young woman/girl smiling as if she hasn't a worry in the world. One cannot help but be moved inexpressively by her picture.

The book is composed of photographs of black Americans that were part of the world exhibition showing the "progess" of men in the 1900's. W.E.B. Du Bois put the photographs together for show to contradict the negative stereotypes of blacks of his day. In each of picture you see men and women at work, play, or just in imtimate photographs meant to give to a loved one, friend, or to show their own personal achievement and status to the world and their community.
There are black Americans of every beautiful hue in the book from dark to very light, each a protrait of personel dignity and integrity who did not make Faustian deals for fame and forturne like all to many blacks in the popular culture of Hollywood and the media today, especially if they are exceptioanlly light. The men and women in this book challeged the prejudices against them instead of catering to it, a lesson for anyone regardless of race, religion, or sexuality.

This is a book that should not be purchased by only blacks, but whites as well and others seeking just to understand the history and diversity of black America beyond what popular culture wants you to think or sell you.

The story of the pictures that W.E.B. Du Bois collected for the Paris World's Fair in 1900 is really inspiring and fascinating. He had only four months to make an entire exhibit -- when the vast majority of exhibitors participating had far longer. Years in some cases! And yet Du Bois triumphed. Plus the pictures are beautiful and surprising. Don't miss this book if you or your family is interested in American History.

W. E. B. DuBois says in the opening page, A SMALL NATION OF PEOPLE
is "an honest, straightforward exhibit of a small nation of people,
picturing their life and development without apology or gloss, and
above all made by themselves..." This book displays
portraits of African-Americans in a way that shows the progress made
in the 20th century, and they dispel the negative connotations we've
grown accustomed to seeing in the media, in the newspapers and even
in the history books of today.

Once part of the Paris Exhibition, these pictures speak volumes
individually and collectively and show a special type of pride, a
certain strength that isn't displayed in commercial venues such as
movies. It was wonderful seeing all types of buildings, landscapes
ranging from Georgia to Washington D.C. and also seeing businessmen,
such as Warren C. Coleman, the owner of the only Negro-owned cotton
mill in the United States at the time the picture was taken.

With essays by David Levering Lewis & Deborah Willis, centered
around the beautiful portraits of a culture, A SMALL NATION OF
PEOPLE, is a must-have for every African-American or those interested
in the diversity of our race. From the hairstyles, to the clothing,
to the actual hue of the skin, this book talks to you and shares the
pride of a people determined to make it despite having recently come
out of slavery.

Reviewed by Tee C. Royal
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

Ella Baker must be the most underrated figure in U.S. history. There are plenty of Presidents who have done less to shape their own times than Ella Baker. She decisively shaped two of the most important national civil rights organizations--the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference--and was the single most decisive figure in a third--the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. Only Martin Luther King Jr. can be considered a rival in importance to the African American freedom movement, and yet most Americans have never even heard of Ella Baker. This exhaustively researched and well written biography should go a long way toward filling that gap.

This is a thoughful, analytical, and well-told story about a uniquely important American political life. It is a work of central importance in United States history and especially the history of the African American freedom movement. It is a cutting edge work of black women's history, too. I plan to buy a stack of them for Christmas presents, and to assign this book to my students for many years to come.

This was a great book. Ella Baker was ahead of het time.This is a great read if you like the history of the civil right movement.Ms. Baker I hope to meet you in heaven.

Dr. Ransby provides a well-structured and insightful biography of one of the most important, yet least well-known, leaders of the civil rights movement in the United States. This book is strongly recommended for any student of modern U.S. history.

Reader's Comment: DuBois Speaks, by W.E.B. DuBois

Encyclopedia of Struggle
These articles and speeches constitute an encyclopedia of the U.S. Black liberation struggle, and to a lesser degree, the freedom struggle in Africa, especially when combined with his first volume covering 1890 - 1919.
Dubois was a leader of the Black struggle from the late 1800s through much of the 1900s. A founder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and editor of its magazine from 1910 until 1934, he also organized the Pan African Conference in the 1920s. He was a fighter against U.S. government imperialist wars and during the cold war he was outspoken against McCarthyite witch-hunts.
Born in 1868, he witnessed and experienced the results of the defeat of Radical Reconstruction following the U.S. Civil War. He witnessed the rise of the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 60s and, having renounced his U.S. Citizenship, he died in Ghana in 1963.

What struck me with these articles and speeches--after mainly knowing Dubois from his larger works--is the rigorousness of his mind, and his great literary gifts. Some of the writing is thrilling just as writing. Also quite interesting are his analyses of Garvey and his attempt to look back at his debates with Booker T. Washington particularly on industrial versus academic education.

Dubois was never a Marxist. In 1916 he shocked general Black opinion by supporting the racist segregationist Woodrow Wilson for president and for his support to US participation in World War beliving that Black participation would further progress for Black people and give supporters of African liberation like himself influence in the peace settlement, a cruel illusion. Likewise, during the 1930s, Dubois tended to be taken in by Japanese imperialism's claims to defend all of the "colored races" against US and American imperialism. During the Second World War, Dubois supported Washington's imperialist war, although he criticized the segregation of the US war machine.

In the late mid 1940s W.E. B. Dubois confused his own progressivist liberal politics with the similarly proliberal policies of the American Communist party and Maoist China. He even became a member of the CPUSA, and left the country for exile first in China and then in Ghana.

However, it is very clear that long before this confusion, Dubois understood that American racism was rooted in the world-wide pattern of imperialist domination of Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Dubois' ideas and speeches are needed to complete understanding of racism and imperialism.

While this book is sometimes not directly available from Amazon, it is always available from BooksfromPathfinder, which you can reach by clicking on New and Used further up this page.

While this book is not always available on Amazon, it is always available from BooksfromPathfinder, an Amazon Z store that you can get to by clicking on New and Used further up this page!

Definitely read these speeches and writings by W.E.B. DuBois! They're exciting, eye-opening and inspiring, a call to struggle for the best we can make of humanity.

For much of the 20th century, W.E.B. DuBois was a leading figure in the fight against segregation, lynchings, race prejudice and oppression in the United States. He campaigned against the pervasive stereotypes of Afro-Americans, publicizing their accomplishments, abilities and stature as human beings. He challenged AFL unions and the Socialist party to reject the racist practices of the day and to united Black and white workers in a common struggle. He was outspoken opponent of colonial oppression and imperialist war and of the McCarthy witch hunt in the United States in the 1950s.

There 36 articles and speeches cover a fascinating range of topics: from the Marcus Garvey movement in the 1920s to the debates on education and the role of Afro-Americans in the post-Civil War period, from the fight against lynching to the anti-colonial freedom struggles of the 1950s and 1960s.

One of my favorites is his 1929 speech at the Chicago Forum where he debated a prominent racist, and white-supremecist, Lothrop Stoddard. DuBois fiercely attacks the myths of race supremacy, arguing that whether "Nordic, Mediterranean, Indian, Chinese or Negro... the proofs of essential human equality of gift are overwhelming." He exposes the economic interests behind race oppression and champions "the black and brown and yellow men [who] demand the right to be men." Don't miss this one!

The Crisis magazine debuted in 1910 as the official voice of the NAACP. As editor for 24 years, W.E.B. Du Bois not only used words to address important issues facing African Americans, he used art to create a "visual vocabulary" to define a new collective memory and historical identity for African Americans. This book explores not only how this evolved within the pages of The Crisis, but also how Du Bois' own complex theories about art as a tool for empowerment evolved from 1910 to 1934.

For example, the prevailing notion at the time was that civilization emanated from Greece. Images of Africa (particularly Egypt) provided insight into the African origins of Western civilization, in no small part sparked by the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb in 1922.

But the flip side to that was primitivism, manifested in the sensual covers (with titles like "A Moorish Maid" and "A Jungle Nymph") reflecting the romantic notion that Africa was more sexually free and, as the author puts it, that "modern sex appeal, under the guise of the primitive, was permissible."

Du Bois believed he was "training the audience" to understand and appreciate creative work in literature and art, and used The Crisis to showcase black talent. As such, he also became a gatekeeper to the artistic world of the African American community. As the author says, "Du Bois wanted only the best and the brightest to represent the race, and he felt confident that he could judge who was `the best'..." Unfortunately, one wonders if he suffered a gender bias because some women artists - such as the renowned Augusta Savage - were found wanting.

The book also explores the history of black political cartoons, and an entire chapter is devoted to lynching imagery. Amply illustrated with 104 images, this is a timely book, since the centenary of The Crisis is rapidly approaching. I'd recommend it to anyone interested in African American Studies or graphic arts.

The critical eye of an artist coupled with keen historical interpretation produces a valuable and progressive work. Dr. Kirschke writes with a crisp, energetic and passionate style reflective of, and consistant with, her high energy and passion for all her work. As a teacher of American history at a visual and performing arts school, I find that Dr. Kirschke's work provides a wonderful coupling of the historic struggle for rights in America with the artistic expression of such in a manner that helps in the understanding of both.

This book is the only collection of Du Bois's major thoughts and insights on the role of higher education for African Americans. Oddly enough no publisher would print these essays during Du Bois's lifetime. However, Herbert Aptheker was able to have them published after Du Bois's death. This book is the most comprehensive thinking of Du Bois on higher education. The essays primarily cover the role of Black colleges as well as the importance of financial and intellectual independence of Black education institutions. He makes it exceedingly clear that education for full social equality and Black uplift must be the hallmark of Black educators and education institutions. His essay on "The Field and Function of the Negro College" makes an excellent institutional blueprint to accompany his TWO essays on the talented tenth (1903 AND 1948)which outlined his views on individual responsibilities of educated Blacks. As African American higher ed institutions and op! portunities are on unstable ground (in light of anti-affirmative action policies and the financial distress of HBCU's) the current generation of Black educators, policy makers, and scholars would do well to harken to the sage advice offered by the greatest African American scholar-activist that ever lived. There is much to be found in these essays that has relevance to the challenges we face in the coming century. As an African American doctoral candidate in higher education I find comfort in knowing that I have Dr. Du Bois's words, insights, and legacy at my fingertips. As this book is out of print, I would suggest that others who do not own this volume petition the publisher to renew it. It's a treasure to be cherished.

Thankfully this book has been reprinted, along with a new 2001 introduction by Herbert Aptheker (who puts in a gentle "slam" of David Levering Lewis's two Pulitzer Prize winning biographies for good measure). The picture of Du Bois on the new cover is another one of those "I am God and You are not worthy" type of pictures. I've gone and made it one of my screen savers.

Du Bois's prescient and practical advice is, as usual, pretty much on target. It is also interesting to observe the evolution in his thinking in the fifty-four years covered in this slim (you can read this book in a couple of sittings) volume. He answers some eternally debated questions: To whom should college presidents and administrations be ultimately accountable? (Alumni) What is the point of a liberal education? (character) etc.

This book goes far beyond the "Booker T vs. W.E.B." educational debates that dominated 100 years ago (and that most people remember). It provides specific pedagogical advice and is written in the typical Du Boisian style; lucid, straightforward, inspirational. The man lived longer than most, and did a whole lot while he was alive. In its own way this little book is just as important, if not more so, than the other little book for which he is justifably famous, "The Souls of Black Folk."

This book was nothing like I expected. It is a collection of prayers DuBois had been writing his entire life. The astonishing fact about the collection is that he kept these works a secret until his final days in the United States. This is a mind motivating book and highly underrated. It can move the "souls of black folk." This thoughts have nothing to do with the fact he and I both graduated from Fisk University.

This book was nothing like I expected. It is a collection of prayers DuBois had been writing his entire life. The astonishing fact about the collection is that he kept these works a secret until his final days in the United States. This is a mind motivating book and highly underrated. It can move the "souls of black folks." This thoughts have nothing to do with the fact he and I both graduated from Fisk University.

This book further highlights the brilliance of W.E.B. DuBois. He masterfully articulates the contributions of Africa to the world, contributions that most people are not aware of. This is not the type of book that some people might classify as just another attempt to put a black face on history. To think that is not to know Dr. Dubois. This book is scholarship.

DuBois was the first African-American to receive a PhD. from Harvard University. His other education came from some of the best schools in the United States and Europe. His methods of research were more of a scientist than a historian or surveyor. It was through his meticulous methodolory that we have much of what we now call sociology. (His dissertation was entitled "The Suppression of the African Slave Trade", also in print.)Being of mixed heritage, DuBois experienced privilege and discrimination, all making him very critical of oppression and racism.

This book takes the reader back to some of the first encounters between Africa and Europe, highlighting many consequences of those encounters. He looked at the beginnings of civilization (in Ethiopia and the along the Nile Valley) and the inner workings of the slave trade. Kusha and Nubia are given a place in world history, as well as the kingdoms of Ghana, Mali and Songhai.

As a sociologist, DuBois laid out the results of free labor and the products that gave wealth to Europe and America. One chapter is entitled "The Rape of Africa", where he looked at the resources that were taken from Africa like labor and diamonds among other things. You even get a look at the Pan-African Movement, the need to bring Africans in the Diaspora together for a common cause. You actually begin to see how DuBois and Booker T. Washington clashed on isssues and how DuBois starts to pick up some of the ideas of nationalist Marcus Garvey. There is a statement he makes on p. 310 ending an address to the people of Ghana on the future of Africa in 1958 at age 90 where he says, " You have nothing to lose but your chains! You have a continent to regain! You have freedom and human dignity to attain!" Quite different from the integrationist that history so vividly spotlights.

I personally found the end of the book most interesting. DuBois wrote of the effects of capitalism on the world. His analysis brought forth the idea that the desire for personal gain justified the treatment of others that were differents. There are copies of speeches that he gave while in his 90's, still showing his intellectual prowess and his disdain for the conditions that effected African-Americans and the African continent (this is during the 1960s). He spoke to the importance of having an independent African continent and relationships with China and the Soviet Union.

I'm glad that these parts are at the end because DuBois' communist reputation would taint the brilliance of the book. The end is were it becomes evident that he has socialist views. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to make some real connections between some of the world's current situations and the past. Dr. DuBois gives us insight on World Wars I and II, the beginnings of the Pan-African Movement (and if you read between the lines, he plants some seeds of the Niagra Movement and the NAACP) and African Independence Movement of the 1960's (led by Kwame Nkrumah).

The closest we have seen to this type of critial thinking and reflection on European dominance of the world is Dr. Cornel West. WEB DuBois is one of greatest minds the United States has produced, in the catagory of Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin. Yet he will never get his just due because he was a registered Communist and America has no sympathy for Communists.

DuBois' work is a seminal accomplishment. This is a wonderful survey of the important, nay, vital role that Afrika and Afrikan people have played in world history. DuBois gives the reader an intricate and thoroughgoing glimpse at how Afrika and all of her resources - mineral, human, land - have shaped the destiny and laid the foundation for the modern world. A must read for the novice or specialist in Afrikan history and geopolitics. Further, the author shows how European economies have been bolstered at the expense of Afrikan people. In one chapter, "The Rape of Africa," the reader is given a chance to see how the colonial powers partitioned the continent to satisfy their own hegemonic and dastardly needs. This is an important work that should, no doubt, be a cornerstone of any Black Studies, Political Science, or World History class.