W. E. B. Du BoisRezensionen

This collection of fourteen essays is written in an ornate style that shouldn’t obscure their enduring relevance, one hundred twenty years after the book appeared. Not that everything has remained the same since then—even Du Bois developed and changed his thinking over time. Perhaps conditions are not precisely as rendered in the two essays based on his sociological fieldwork in Dougherty County, in southwest Georgia. Nevertheless, they brought to mind and helped me understand what my child’s eyes took in uncomprehendingly sixty-five, seventy years ago as we drove the pre-Interstate Georgia roads.
Perhaps the felt relevance indicates that material change can outpace change in attitude and perception.
One of my favorite essays dealt with the history of the Black church. Another, on the death at eighteen months of his firstborn, was a poignant, bitter expression of the divided soul of the Black man.
Reading this book, I was struck again by the thought that accompanied me throughout my visit to the Smithsonian African American History and Culture Museum. No matter which side of what Du Bois calls “the Veil” we find ourselves on, this is our story. This is a book about and for all of us.

second edition

Hakim Adi's selection of writings about Britain (mainly England) by Black people of the late 18th to the early 20th century is carefully chosen to establish their presence in all strata of society at a date earlier than certain commentators would wish it known. There's a thread showing the development of abolitionism into emancipation into supremacism to justify the continued exploitation of Black Labour, and Adi's selections often strongly resonate with current issues, such as the Windrush scandal and the illegal Tory Rwanda deportation policy.

There's also many fascinating glimpses into Georgian and Victorian society and, while varying degrees of racism are noted, many of the impressions of visitors to the island are positive about their reception and of the culture in which they find themselves.

A nuanced and balanced selection of historical testimonies which I thoroughly enjoyed reading, not least the short section on John Ocansey's day trip from Liverpool to my home town of Southport 🏖️½

While interesting to see what has changed (and sadly note what has not), I found that these essays didn't impact me the way [a:Zora Neale Hurston|15151|Zora Neale Hurston|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1194472605p2/15151.jpg]'s [b:Their Eyes Were Watching God|37415|Their Eyes Were Watching God|Zora Neale Hurston|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1368072803s/37415.jpg|1643555] or [a:Alice Walker|7380|Alice Walker|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1406752585p2/7380.jpg]'s [b:The Color Purple|11486|The Color Purple|Alice Walker|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1386925078s/11486.jpg|3300573] did. I guess I relate to the more intimate personal lives shown in novels than the same situation shown in aggregate form in nonfiction. The parts I liked best were the ones that dealt with individuals, such as 'Of the Coming of John'.

See the Kindle edition for my review of the content. For this audiobook edition, I might give 2½ stars.

Mirron Willis's narration may have played a role in my feelings for the book, as his deep slow voice was soporific. I had to speed up the narration to 2x to get what felt like normal speed to me. Even at that speed, I had difficulty focusing on the narration and frequently ended up reading along to force my attention to the text.

In my last year of college I was part of an capstone class for my concentration in archival studies. It was a great class, mostly for the passion of my peers, and it was here that I was introduced more fully to W.E.B. Du Bois. A girl was interested in making a digital project around Mr. Du Bois' letters and the music in this book, and it was just kind of amazing to watch. My college was pretty stereotypically "left" in all the cringey, performative ways white upper-middle class young women tend to be, and becoming acquainted with this book through a random band nerd's love of it was just... amazing. There was no ulterior motive. She just loved Du Bois and his writing.

It took me over a read to get to but I'm really glad I did. The Souls of Black Folk is a collection of essays on the current state of Black America. It struck me as a sort of "State of the Union", recounting both the accomplishments of Black Americans but also the great challenges that lay ahead. I have a thing for hundred-year-old books that are eerily prescient, and this book was (unfortunately, in this case) that. Du Bois charts the history and failure of Reconstruction, takes some jabs at Booker T. Washington, reminisces of his days teaching Black youth in the South and the later loss of his son--and my personal favorite--an ethnography-of-sorts of the Black Belt. DuBois tells the reader:

If you wish to ride with me you must come into the “Jim Crow Car.” There will be no objection,—already four other white men, and a little white girl with her nurse, are in there. Usually the races are mixed in there; but the white coach is all white. Of course this car is not so good as the other, but it is fairly clean and comfortable. The discomfort lies chiefly in the hearts of those four black men yonder—and in mine.

It's been nearly three weeks since I finished this, and yeah. I just can't stop thinking about that paragraph. There are a lot of parts that fill that uncomfortable prophetic space, none more so than

Daily the Negro is coming more and more to look upon law and justice, not as protecting safeguards, but as sources of humiliation and oppression. The laws are made by men who have little interest in him; they are executed by men who have absolutely no motive for treating the black people with courtesy or consideration; and, finally, the accused law-breaker is tried, not by his peers, but too often by men who would rather punish ten innocent Negroes than let one guilty one escape. [...] Thus grew up a double system of justice, which erred on the white side by undue leniency and the practical immunity of red-handed criminals, and erred on the black side by undue severity, injustice, and lack of discrimination.

One last point: Du Bois' prose is particularly impressive. His grasp of Classical culture and literature are apparent, and his vocabulary, figures of speech, and general artistry of writing are really bar none. It made reading it definitely a bit more laborious (I just wanted a beach read!), but it will stick with me, if not for the craft for the meta-irony of it all. We are slowly coming to realize (I hope) the fabrication of the classical canon as a sort of test of intelligence, and it's... so apparent in how DuBois comports himself in his work. I think he is very aware of the contrived quality of his writing as a sort of advertisement for educated whites to his Talented Tenth theory.

Here's her project by the way. I miss that class a lot.

W.E.B Du Bois Souls of Black Folk: A Graphic Interpretation, art and adaptation by Paul Peart-Smith, is a wonderful presentation of the original with contextual intros for each section.

One of the concerns whenever I see a graphic version of important books is how "true" to the original it will be. Admittedly I have been pleasantly surprised more often than not, and such is the case here. While selective, this is not, or at least doesn't appear to be, paraphrasing. So we have Du Bois' words with graphic images to illustrate the points being made.

I think the introductions to each section help those coming to either the work or Du Bois for the first time understand the context within which he wrote and, perhaps more important, how it still speaks to us today.

I highly recommend this whether for yourself or for a young reader as an introduction. I am a firm believer that the more senses we engage in any experience, the better, so a graphic interpretation can be enjoyed by everyone from young readers to scholars revisiting a text they may not have read in many years.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.

An Inquiry into the Part which Africa Has Played in World History. A new edition of this classic work with essays, written after 1955, on the new African nations.

Sometimes a book just blows my mind. This is one of them!

To think that this book, with the most cogent explanation of the race situation in the US, was written over one hundred years ago is just astounding. That a black man was so well educated in the US at the start of the twentieth century was a surprise. That any person, surrounded by such prejudice, could produce such an honest book leaves me almost speechless.

Du Bois is honest about the failings of his fellows, both black and white. He manages to write without the venom that I know that would fill my prose, were I to live under such injustice.

And yet, and yet... I have still to pronounce its greatest achievement. When one reads a book and thinks, "I should have known that": it indicates that the facts are self evidently true.

How can this book be so little known? Were it a set book - not just in America, but in England and probably every other country too, then racism would become a thing of the past in no time.

In this founding work in the literature of black protest, first published in 1903, W.E.B. Du Bois (1868–1963) eloquently affirms that it is beneath the dignity of a human being to beg for those rights that belong inherently to all mankind. He also charges that the strategy of accommodation to white supremacy would only serve to perpetuate black oppression. Essential reading for everyone interested in African-American history and the struggle for civil rights in America. (Publisher)

Kind of hard to read. Some parts are quite good, but others are a real slog to get through.

This sounds like something linked with every book on this site, but this book is a must read, especially with Americans. Du Bois is a great writer and this book helped start the civil rights movement. The book is non-fiction and a collection of essays, but at times he writes them as short stories. His prose are well crafted.

One section I liked the best was Du Bois talking about religion, he's not a fan. He brings up how people have stereotype backs into religious folks. Not all blacks are Christian or believe in the supernatural. There are a number of them who, like Du Bois, are atheist or they are another faith. I'm glad he brings up this stereotype.

I like the fact too Du Bois was a philosopher. When we hear the world "philosophy" we don't usually think of Du Bois. While he's not as popular as some of the others, he's important. As I mentioned before, the philosophy in the book helped spark the much needed civil rights movement. In my opinion, he's an import figure to know.

I should note I had some mixed feelings going into this book because I've read about Zora Neale Hurston's views on Du Bois. However, as much as I like Zora, I can ignore her feud and still enjoy this book.

I was unaware that W.E.B Du Bois had written a couple of novels, and scooped this one up when I chanced upon it at City Lights Bookstore. It was published in 1911, eight years after his landmark ‘The Souls of Black Folks’ and after he had helped found the NAACP. Not surprisingly, part of its power comes from how it examines life for African-Americans in the Jim Crow south, and the various forms of racism there and in the north.

To his credit, Du Bois is candid and yet restrained about the prejudice and violence of the period, and he accurately portrays the key objectives of the (pre-FDR/JFK/LBJ) Democratic party at this time: white supremacy and labor control. The latter meant keeping black people uneducated and in unfair tenant relationships, where all power and discretion relative to costs and loans were in the power of landowners. This was a period when public education, a great progressive reform, was criticized as “socialism,” and to see all this in fictional form after reading about it in history texts (e.g. Foner’s Reconstruction) amplified the power of the story. I also found Du Bois’ insights into how political and economic power was wielded to be quite perceptive. We see backroom deals, lobbyists in Washington, and business interests seeking to monopolize the cotton industry, all of which resonated, particularly given our own times.

Where the book falls down a bit is in the story constructed around the black experience and the mechanics of power. The first half or so is solid enough, centering on a couple of young blacks trying to go to school and raise cotton in the swamp (Bles and Zora), surrounded by an altruistic teacher (Miss Smith) and powerful landowners (the Cresswell family) who are approached by northerners (led by John Taylor) to try to control all aspects of the production of cotton. There are two marriages to cement the relationship, one between Taylor and the Cresswell’s daughter, and the other between Taylor’s sister (also a teacher) and the Cresswell’s son. Bles and Zora eventually go north to Washington D.C. separately, where each encounters the forces of progressivism and conservatism, driven by political maneuvering.

To really hit a home run Du Bois would have had to tighten things up relative to the plot, which gets melodramatic and more involved than it needed to be. It’s not that he doesn’t make interesting insights along the way, because he does, such as how Southern gentility and politeness towards women sometimes masks misogyny. There is also a fantastic bit of feminism running through this book in the strength of its female characters, even if there is the regrettable moment when Bles rejects Zora because she’s not a virgin (she’s been raped by one of the Cresswell’s). I just thought that the separate journeys north, the intrigues there, and then back south, where we can clearly see where it’s going, was too much.

Where it delivers, however, is in showing just how monumental the task for achieving the goal of equality was (and still is), when prevailing white opinion was not interested in that, and powerful political and economic forces resisted it. It all seems nearly hopeless, and yet the importance of simply acknowledging the reality of America can’t be underestimated. Du Bois’ book also has elements of hope in showing a path forward, through getting an education, being involved socially and politically, and sticking to one another. It’s not perfect, but certainly worth reading.½

Du Bois weaves words together to create a pictorial masterpiece of literature. The sentences are so gorgeous that you want to read them out loud just to experience the pleasure of the sound and the speaking of them. I was absolutely blind-sided by their beauty because, in our internet age, that talent is often overlooked in favor of sharp, short sentences.

His words are often prophetic ("I insist that the question of the future is how best to keep these millions from brooding over the wrongs of the past and the difficulties of the present, so that all their energies may be bent toward a cheerful striving and cooperation with their white neighbors toward a larger, juster, and fuller future"*), heartrending (his chapters on the death of his son and the racism he observed and lived with), and thought-provoking (his chapters on education... have we forgotten its purpose?).

I highly recommend this book. It also gives you a good starting point into historical issues that may or may not be overlooked in our simplified history classes.

Also, fun fact, he is featured several times in [b:Invisible: The Forgotten Story of the Black Woman Lawyer Who Took Down America's Most Powerful Mobster|33898873|Invisible The Forgotten Story of the Black Woman Lawyer Who Took Down America's Most Powerful Mobster|Stephen L. Carter|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1532468031l/33898873._SX50_.jpg|54863805] which also is a book worth your time.

*Pg. 94

From the first sentence to the final paragraph, this book is a forceful, authoritative and masterful history of Black Reconstruction. It is the author's masterpiece. Every undergrad in history should read it; every grad student should read it and write about it. It is indispensable to an understanding of U.S. history.

Reading up on impeachment, I found W.E.B. Du Bois' analysis of Andrew Johnson, a demagogue who railed against the elite, yet as president became a tool of privilege. Sounds familiar. Du Bois shares the 1619 Project view of blacks as the central American story, and presents a detailed and stirring account of the great unresolved issues of the Civil War. Poor whites identified with oligarchs and industry aligned with cheap labor. The U.S., he writes, "fought slavery to save democracy and then lost democracy in a new and vaster slavery."

This is a monumental work of research, meant to counter the white narratives of reconstruction as being a failure due to the ignorance and laziness of recently emancipated blacks. Additionally, DuBois shows how slaves fled their masters' plantations to join the Union army and, by doing so, created the incentive for Abraham Lincoln to issue the Emancipation Proclamation, winning the Civil War for the north. Interestingly, DuBois labels this as a "general strike," an anarcho-syndicalist term that you'd think he would avoid due to being a classical Marxist.

Some of the ideas about the white proletariat, in both the northern and southern context, is super helpful in thinking about the roots of racist reaction in the united states. That topic is the main reason I read this, and I'm glad I did. That being said, the book is tedious. There is so much detail, I honestly can say I don't know the rough timeline of reconstruction because he spent so little time giving overall descriptions. Obviously he's not to blame for this, his task at the time was to counter the narratives about Reconstruction, and he obviously succeeded at that. But I find myself wanting to read another book on reconstruction that is shorter, and gives me a better guideline and timeline of what happened and when.

Another issue, which the authors of [b:Dixie Be Damned: 300 Years of Insurrection in the American South|23282211|Dixie Be Damned 300 Years of Insurrection in the American South|Neal Shirley|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1428630790s/23282211.jpg|42820046] describe superbly, is that DuBois is trying to prove that recently free blacks wanted to become wage laborers. This way of thinking is based on Marx's analysis of history, which actually compliments capitalism for bringing workers together, before taking over the society and making it communist. I'm sure some of the folks back then wanted that, but many probably just wanted to live without the forced labor of the capitalist market, a sin that seems unthinkable in the 1930s when USSR-inspired Communism (big-C) dominated anti-capitalist thought in the US. I'm very interested in the Quilombos, maroon societies, and examples of ex-slaves trying to make their way outside of the capitalist market. Unfortunately those societies are probably difficult to document and thus for us to read about now.

This was a good read, I'm glad I read it, but it's a commitment.

Wow. These fourteen essays on race and race relations by writer, civil rights activist and scholar William Edward Burghardt (W.E.B) Du Bois (1868-1963), originally published in 1903; should be required reading in Donald Trump's USA, where ignorance is king--in a recent You Tube video, an unschooled man in a park berates a woman proudly wearing a Puerto Rico shirt, as a foreigner, even though that island has been a U.S. territory for over a century, and its citizens are United States citizens--and division and hatred queen. In these essays Du Bois, the first black man to earn a Ph.D. from Harvard University, offers a history of the racial prejudice and hatred of the white man against the black, all because of his skin color (news flash! we can no more control the color of our skin than we can milk a bull, people), as well as solutions. A powerful book for which I thank La Tonya (who runs a GR forum for reading diversity) for recommending.

I picked up this book since Dubois is being extensively covered by Peter Adamson’s and Chike Jeffers’ Africana Philosophy podcast. He is undoubtedly an important US thinker, and it is well worth being acquainted with both him and his ideas.

I debated whether to give the book a 3 or 4 star. The description of the difficulties of African American life under “Jim Crow” is vivid and gives important insights into this period. It’s at its best when telling the stories of individuals. Unfortunately, those stories sometimes veer into over sentimentality. Dubois is no Toni Morrison (although apparently he was an influence on her and many other Black American writers).

Dubois has many interesting ideas, which he doesn’t spend enough time elaborating on in this book. He also is a man of his times, and he is influenced by contemporaneous ideas on “race character”, which often makes his thoughts sound quaint, or worse, even racist.

As for his bone to pick with Washington, which he spends a lot of time on in this book, listen to the podcast to get some alternative views and insights on these two men and their ideas (and a whole lot more besides).

Despite my giving it 3 stars, I still would recommend reading it

This book looks at everything, things I've never thought about when it comes to around the time of the end of slavery of blacks in the US. It talks about all the issues. Just because it was illegal, didn't mean everything fell into a good place for anyone involved. It talks about black/white problems and problems between blacks and other blacks. It's worth reading for sure.

Du Bois densely eloquent, compelling, and evocative essays deliver an education into the history of the most terrifying and hideous centuries
in the United States of America. It will inspire action to change our professed Democracy! Even more after the horror of January 6, 2021.

The collection would have rated 5 stars if Du Bois had not revealed his own racial prejudice by repeatedly singling out "Russian Jews"
and their behavior from the rest of "Whites."½

This book shows how far backward we have moved as a society in the past 120 years. In addition to stunningly beautiful prose, Du Bois analyzed the history of black (and white) people (in America overall, but particularly in the South), the problems of slavery and the then-current reconstruction and post-reconstruction south, and paths to equality for everyone. Unfortunately, I don't think anyone could write something so honest today without being attacked by at least half of society, and many of the issues identified are still problems today.

It was useful that Du Bois had the perspective of a highly educated northerner (first black man to earn a PhD from Harvard, back when a PhD from Harvard meant something...) visiting the South (Atlanta, specifically). When this book was written, the "great migration" to the North had still not happened, so black issues were largely separate North and South. The most interesting part for me was how a large group, mostly oppressed/uneducated/powerless at the time, had to come to terms with a small subset becoming highly educated -- and whether that subset would then work for their own interests or try to uplift everyone else.

Very articulate, wonderful writer. Challenging subject matter. So clear and heart wrenching. I listened and read this with Kindle/Audible's whispersync. A terrific experience.

As February is Black History Month, I wanted to read something about this subject. I looked through my TBR shelves, and I found a couple of books that fit. I picked The Souls of Black Folk because I had it since 2007, and I thought it was about time to read.
I believe it is a book that you need to listen to through the audio format; I found two narrators. The truth is my book includes music and songs.
I am not big on non-fiction books, especially books that written in essay format. It reminds me of school and college.
This book expanded my knowledge of African-American history and sociology. Yes, I studied American history a long time ago, and I know about the Civil War between the north and the south of the United States. I watched movies like Roots, 12 Years a Slave, and The Butler. This book makes you think about how people used and still treat one of the most important democracies in the world.
In this piece of literature, you also learn Du Bois' biography. I am happy that I picked up this book.

DNF @ 25%; I had to return the library book after reading the first three essays. I will come back to finish the rest at some point. This is a series of important essays, and I want to understand the history Du Bois explores in them better.