The Souls of Black Folk (Dover Thrift Editions)

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William Edward Burghardt Du Bois (1868-1963) is the greatest of African American intellectuals--a sociologist, historian, novelist, and activist whose astounding career spanned the nation's history from Reconstruction to the civil rights movement. Born in Massachusetts and educated at Fisk, Harvard, and the University of Berlin, Du Bois penned his epochal masterpiece, The Souls of Black Folk, in 1903. It remains his most studied and popular work; its insights into Negro life at the turn of the 20th century still ring true.

With a dash of the Victorian and Enlightenment influences that peppered his impassioned yet formal prose, the book's largely autobiographical chapters take the reader through the momentous and moody maze of Afro-American life after the Emancipation Proclamation: from poverty, the neoslavery of the sharecropper, illiteracy, miseducation, and lynching, to the heights of humanity reached by the spiritual "sorrow songs" that birthed gospel and the blues. The most memorable passages are contained in "On Booker T. Washington and Others," where Du Bois criticizes his famous contemporary's rejection of higher education and accommodationist stance toward white racism: "Mr. Washington's programme practically accepts the alleged inferiority of the Negro races," he writes, further complaining that Washington's thinking "withdraws many of the high demands of Negroes as men and American citizens." The capstone of The Souls of Black Folk, though, is Du Bois' haunting, eloquent description of the concept of the black psyche's "double consciousness," which he described as "a peculiar sensation.... One ever feels this twoness--an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder." Thanks to W.E.B. Du Bois' commitment and foresight--and the intellectual excellence expressed in this timeless literary gem--black Americans can today look in the mirror and rejoice in their beautiful black, brown, and beige reflections. --Eugene Holley Jr.

Book Description

In this founding work in the literature of black protest, Du Bois 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.

Download Description

First published in 1903, this eloquent collection of essays exposed the magnitude of racism in society. The book endures today as a classic document of American and political history.

Customer Reviews:

Great W.E.B .DUBOIS.......2007-09-23

I love this book. It is part of the best of the works of the great W.E.B. DUBOIS. My active reading of this book expanded my knowledge more on what it takes to be a blackman in America. It is a piece of identification that everyblack person in America is looking to verify about their race in the U.S.
It's a great book.

The Soul Of All Folk:.......2007-03-04

"The Soul Of Black Folk" Is a book I think everyone should read regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, color, or creed simply because there's something in it for all. W.E.B. Dubois' engaging book falls more inline with the panorama of all American experiences, not just the Black experiences alone: if that makes any sense?
This fine book was originally published in 1903 and is still a significant piece of literature today. The anecdotes that are shared in this book belong in the lexicon of American history, but what's most striking are Dubois' references to Negro music called the sorrow songs, which of course spanned through hundreds of years of sanguineous slavery. And it was these same songs that set the foundation of Gospel, the Blues, Rock n Roll, and the American dream.
The reason I'm using this terminology is because in-spite of the torture blacks suffered they still managed to sing amazing songs such as "Steal Away," and "Poor Rosy." (Some songs were in reference to allegorical content).
Furthermore, the British rock-band Led Zeppelin is a fine example of individual intellectualism insofar as embracing American Negro culture considering they were influenced by this book because in 1968, Led Zeppelin's first album debuted and not only did they cover blues favorites written by Willie Dixon, but they also covered Negro spirituals, which Du Bois referred to as the "Sorrow Songs."
Led Zeppelin's song "How Many More Times" is an opus of Negro "Sorrow Songs." It's amazing that it took the bluesy cadence of an English rock band to pay homage to the very people whose hardship and strife inspired them to borrow the lyrics and the music from this book. It's a wonderful sight to see when people like Jimmy Page and Robert Plant take the time to learn about Black Americanism and about themselves. It just goes to show that all Americans should embrace their African heritage because without acknowledging the Black experience it's impossible to be a true American.
It's upsetting to note that in today's America racism is so rampant that the subject of Rock n Roll history can't even be encroached upon like it was in the 1960's civil rights movement, due to the fact that the political language has significantly changed.
(In layman's terms we can't be honest with ourselves and discuss the sheer fact that racism still dictates our everyday lives simply because the corporate world creates the phony left/right paradigm and ad-hominems through the media, which leaves America with an erroneous history).
Anyway, music played a major role during the 1960's. It helped people prosper through the horrific struggle for independence. The poetry that the slaves introduced over two-hundred years ago would yet again set the recalcitrant atmosphere that was needed when Blacks won the right to vote in 1965. And it was that moment in history that systemic change began. It was almost like an ancestral eidolon cascading over America with the strength and perseverance of a god in love with his people.

Moreover, Dubois elaborates on many subject matter with a linguistic style coming across as the perfect salubrious prolepsis for today's readers.

Sorry to digress, but another high point in the book was Dubois' rebuttal to Booker T. Washington's bourgeois attitude. Even today many Black scholars quote Booker T, but the inquiry was...is that wise? Well, according to Dubois, promulgating Booker T's message was rather pernicious and would only lead to more draconian virulence. Booker T's stance on waiting for White America to become simpatico to the needs of the Negro, while hoping for acceptance to proliferate from them in due time was not realistic at all.
Dubois strongly felt that Booker T's ideas were a depravity, a mummery, and an insult. Waiting for the bully to stop picking on you never works; for some reason Booker T couldn't contemplate that this scenario he was promulgating was ambiguous. If the powers that be are unwilling to negotiate with you then you have no other recourse but recalcitrancy. Booker T was in favor of slow progression, but just imagine what America would be like if Blacks took on Booker T's mindset? Life would be very different that's for sure.
Dubois hits on many touching moments in his memoirs and the personal lives of his students, which everyone reading this will enjoy. "The Soul Of Black Folk" is required reading for all. Give this book a chance! Dubois' writings are an inspirational experience!

souls of black folk.......2006-02-28

was worthless...was not the correct match for my class book requirement. Never used it...if someone wants it you can have it for free

Post (US) Slavery understanding.......2006-02-05

Important literature that tells of post emancipation United States and the problem of the color line. Perspective amazing.

Vital for Historical Understanding.......2005-12-31

Written originally in 1903 both as a gift to African Americans and a gift from an African American, "The Souls of Black Folk" describes through one man's (W. E. B. Du Bois) eyes the consciousness of turn-of-the-century African Americans. Using his own life as a social and psychological model, Du Bois traces the inner life of post-Emancipation and post-Reconstruction African Americans. Whether one agrees with all, most, little, or none of Du Bois' conclusions, any serious student of African American history and self-understanding can't afford to bypass this work.

One of the most intriguing aspects is his candid comparison of his views with Booker T. Washington. Washington promoted a more modest, slower-paced changing of the status quo. He also emphasized what today would be called vocational education as the surest way for African Americans to advance. Du Bois was not totally critical, at times lavishing praise on Washington for his many valiant achievements. However, he was not timid in his appraisal that Washington had trusted too much in European Americans and too little in African Americans.

Reviewer: Bob Kellemen, Ph.D., is the author of "Beyond the Suffering: Embracing the Legacy of African American Soul Care and Spiritual Direction." He has also authored "Soul Physicians," "Spiritual Friends," and the forthcoming "Sacred Friendships: Listening to the Voices of Women Soul Care-Givers and Spiritual Directors."

The Souls of Black Folk (Norton Critical Editions)

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Understand "double counsciousness"
The Definitive Edition
The Norton edition of Souls is by far the best available
The introduction, interpretation and cover are all superb.

The Souls of Black Folk (Norton Critical Editions)
W. E. B. DuBois
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 039397393X

Book Description

Published in 1903, W E. B. Du Bois's revolutionary collection of essays changed our perception of the African American experience. The text of this Norton Critical Edition is that of the first hook edition, which has been annotated. "Contexts" reprints an intriguing collection of political and biographical documents related to The Souls of Black Folk, sure to stimulate classroom discussion. In addition, the editors have included the eighteen thought-provoking photographs that accompanied Du Bois's 1901 article "The Negro As He Really Is." "Criticism" includes wide-ranging contemporary and recent assessments of The Souls of Black Folk by William James, John Spencer Bassett, John Daniels, Dickson P. Bruce, Jr., Robert Gooding-Williams, David Levering Lewis, Nellie McKay, Susan Mizruchi, Arnold Rampersad, Eric Sundquist, and Shamoon Zamir. A Chronology and Selected Bibliography are also included.

About the Series--Each Norton Critical Edition includes an authoritative text, contextual and source materials, and a wide range of interpretation--from contemporary perspectives to the most current critical theory--as well as a bibliography and a chronology of the author's life and work.

Customer Reviews:

Understand "double counsciousness".......2007-04-27

This was required reading for a graduate course in the Humanities. William Edward Burghardt Du Bois (February 23, 1868 - August 27, 1963) was an American civil rights activist, leader, Pan-Africanist, sociologist, educator, historian, writer, editor, poet, and scholar. He became a naturalized citizen of Ghana in 1963 at the age of 95. David Levering Lewis, a biographer, wrote, "In the course of his long, turbulent career, W.E.B. Du Bois attempted virtually every possible solution to the problem of twentieth-century racism--scholarship, propaganda, integration, cultural and economic separatism, politics, international communism, expatriation, third world solidarity. After graduating from Fisk University in 1888, Du Bois took a bachelor's degree cum laude from Harvard College in 1890 (Harvard having refused to recognize the equivalency of his Fisk degree), and in 1892 received a stipend to attend the University of Berlin. While a student in Berlin, he travelled extensively throughout Europe, and came of age intellectually while studying with some of the most prominent social scientists in the German capital, such as Gustav von Schmoller. In 1896, Du Bois became the first African American to receive a Ph.D. from Harvard University. After teaching at Wilberforce University in Ohio and the University of Pennsylvania, he established the department of sociology at Atlanta University (now Clark Atlanta University).

"The Souls of Black Folk" is the most well-known work of African-American W.E.B. Du Bois, a writer, leader, and civil rights activist. The book, published in 1903, contains several essays on race, some of which had been previously published in Atlantic Monthly magazine. Du Bois drew from his own experiences to develop this groundbreaking work on being African-American in American society. Outside of its notable place in African-American history, The Souls of Black Folk also holds an important place in social science as one of the first works to deal with sociology. In Living Black History, (p. 96) esteemed scholar and Du Bois biographer Manning Marable makes the following observation about the book: "Few books make history and fewer still become foundational texts for the movements and struggles of an entire people. The Souls of Black Folk occupies this rare position. It helped to create the intellectual argument for the black freedom struggle in the twentieth century. Souls justified the pursuit of higher education for Negroes and thus contributed to the rise of the black middle class. By describing a global color-line, Du Bois anticipated pan-Africanism and colonial revolutions in the Third World. Moreover, this stunning critique of how 'race' is lived through the normal aspects of daily life is central to what would become known as 'whiteness studies' a century later."

For Du Bois the problem of 20th century is problem of color line. Concept of double consciousness is looking thru eyes of others. Notion of authenticity what does it mean to be authentic? His idea is very Freudian. Du Bois says authenticity is a longing for Blacks, but impossible because blacks can't be authentic have to live another way. Cornell West says Du Bois is a pragmatist. He is connected to the Harlem Renaissance. Paul Gilroy says Du Bois is more connected with Pan Africanism experience of displaced Africans around the world. What does he mean "souls of Black folk"? It is a metaphor for spirituality. Book is meant to provide progress for black folks. Freedman's bureau had some success like schools. He had issue with B. T. Washington populist message of wanting blacks to concentrate on jobs not the vote, higher education, or civil rights. Du Bois resents Booker T. Washington as spokesperson for blacks. Critiques American materialism. Standard of human culture and lofty ideals of life, the talented tenth. Book is pioneering for 6 reasons: 1. Identification of hyphenated self. 2. Recognition of Black culture like music, the Blues vernacular culture. The soul of the nation itself, West says musically is key to text, it "sings" the "sorrow song" is motif of life. 3. Important to Harlem renaissance period. 4. Pioneering work of sociology and psychology. 5. Higher education is means to self realization. 6. Relations to economics drives development of black life.

Double consciousness. His double consciousness gives us a vivid picture of how tragic the racist discourse is, defined by skin color. Black or white thus it strengthens arguments that each race had unique properties thus polarizing us. His book gives us this understanding of our mind and self identity. If Blacks accept the racial divide they then deny equality. He does see a black identity and celebrates difference made real in Black experience. Celebrates difference made real in peoples experience and beyond our racial fictions. How does he do this, what is the key? It is music the "sorrows song." Those voicings, these songs speak to slow tragedy. He precedes each chapter with sorrow song. The doubleness of consciousness is extended throughout the work. They convey resistance and defiance. Last chapter how prejudice works on people. Whiteness is non race. The great chain of being, your place in society. Rise of Enlightenment human is now sovereign leads to systematic study of man.

Du Bois was investigated by the FBI, who claimed in May of 1942 that "his writing indicates him to be a socialist," and that he "has been called a Communist and at the same time criticized by the Communist Party." Du Bois visited Communist China during the Great Leap Forward. Also, in the 16 March 1953 issue of The National Guardian, Du Bois wrote "Joseph Stalin was a great man; few other men of the 20th century approach his stature." Du Bois was chairman of the Peace Information Center at the start of the Korean War. He was among the signers of the Stockholm Peace Pledge, which opposed the use of nuclear weapons. In 1950, he ran for the U.S. Senate on the American Labor Party ticket in New York and received 4% of the vote. He was indicted in the United States under the Foreign Agents Registration Act and acquitted for lack of evidence. W.E.B. Du Bois became disillusioned with both black capitalism and racism in the United States. In 1959, Du Bois received the Lenin Peace Prize. In 1961, at the age of 93, he joined the Communist Party USA.

Du Bois was invited to Ghana in 1961 by President Kwame Nkrumah to direct the Encyclopedia Africana, a government production, and a long-held dream of his. When, in 1963, he was refused a new U.S. passport, he and his wife, Shirley Graham Du Bois, became citizens of Ghana, making them dual citizens of Ghana and the United States. Du Bois' health had declined in 1962, and on August 27, 1963, he died in Accra, Ghana at the age of ninety-five, one day before Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech.

Recommended reading for anyone interested in history, psychology, or philosophy.

The Definitive Edition.......2002-11-27

If you read only one edition of this work, this is the edition you should choose. The preface is outstanding, and the "Contexts" and "Criticsm" sections (which comprise half of this volume) are extraordinarily helpful to the nonspecialist reader. Please note, however, that there is a serious error in at least one of the footnotes. On the last page of "The Niagara Movement" essay DuBois refers to Robert Gould Shaw, whom the editors describe (in footnote #4) as an African American Union Army Civil War hero. Not so! Shaw was white; there were no African American officers during the Civil War. (I contacted Henry Lewis Gates Jr. about this, and he confirmed that this was an error in editing.)

The Norton edition of Souls is by far the best available.......1999-08-23

The Souls of Black Folk has become a staple of courses in American literature and culture, and it is a must read for anyone generally interested in the world we share. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Terri Oliver have done us all a great service by putting together what is easily the best edition of this twentieth-century classic: their preface alone is a valuable contribution to scholarship, and the contexts and criticism sections are a rich lode of information. I look forward to assigning this edition in a number of the college courses I teach.

The introduction, interpretation and cover are all superb........1999-05-15

The rediscovery and use of the National Portrait Gallery picture provide the crowning touch to this superb edition.

Souls Grown Deep, Vol. 2: African American Vernacular Art

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Sensational - Deeper than Volume 1

Souls Grown Deep, Vol. 2: African American Vernacular Art
William S. Arnett , William Arnett , Lowery Sims , Jane Livingston , and Paul Arnett
Manufacturer: Tinwood Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 096537663X

Book Description

Completing the two-volume set, Souls Grown Deep, Vol. 2 takes the visual and historical presentation of the first volume to a richer level, offering an even broader array of artistic styles and media. Published in 2000, the first volume explored the diverse historical roots of the genre and introduced artists whose work recalled the South of the pre–civil rights era. This sequel brings the movement into the present, delving into the work of the current generation of artists who are creating a complex form of art that blurs the boundaries between folk and contemporary art.

Customer Reviews:

Sensational - Deeper than Volume 1.......2006-12-06

Anyone that has Vol 1 needs to buy this Vol or even if you have an interest in some of the listed artists in this book and don't have Vol 1 buy this one. Vol 1 had a general history of African American Vernacular Art where as this volume has a more in depth look at particular artists and their enviroments. The essays are longer and you get many more examples of each artists work as well as many pictures of the artists in their environments or the art in the original environments or even in a few cases the artists working on pieces.

To see the art in it's original environment gives the proper perspective to understanding the nature of the art.

I think this book is definately the equal or if not better than the first and it is wonderful of the Arnetts to put two books together of such high quality at affordable prices. I dream of a third book.

When these books sell out people will be climbing over the top of each other to get them and the price of secondhand copies will skyrocket.
Don't miss out

Souls Grown Deep, Vol. 1: African American Vernacular Art of the South: The Tree Gave the Dove a Leaf

Average customer rating:

Like Buying Your Own Art Gallery
A set of books that tells an incredible story
Yes to Volume 1, No to Volume 2
Gorgeous-
A modern day revolution

Souls Grown Deep, Vol. 1: African American Vernacular Art of the South: The Tree Gave the Dove a Leaf

Manufacturer: Tinwood Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0965376605

Book Description

The first comprehensive overview of an important genre of American art, Souls Grown Deep explores the visual-arts genius of the black South. This first work in a multivolume study introduces 40 African-American self-taught artists, who, without significant formal training, often employ the most unpretentious and unlikely materials. Like blues and jazz artists, they create powerful statements amplifying the call for freedom and vision.

Customer Reviews:

Like Buying Your Own Art Gallery.......2006-09-01

I had only limited knowledge of this subject in that I had interest in a few of the Artists that I knew were represented in the book before purchasing it. I was amazed at the quality of the reproductions and the text included. There are multiple reproductions for each Artist giving you a great basis to explore the development of their work. I now feel that I can really grasp a personal knowledge of these Artists and it great to have fantastic examples of Art that is now due to market demands and deteriorating mediums impossible to own.
This book is probably the best investment I have ever made. It will go straight to the top shelf. Do yourself a favour and buy it.

A set of books that tells an incredible story.......2002-06-04

This book is a marvel in both production quality and content. If ever a set of books deserved the "tome" designation, this set wins big. They opened my eyes to a world I hoped existed but feared did not. I have long appreciated and understood the contributions of African Americans in the arts, but often wondered why the visual arts traditions hadn't reached the heights that the music (blues, jazz, gospel, hip hop, R&B, Rock n' Roll), literary, athletic, fashion, theater, etc.. reached? I have also always been dismayed that many of the great African Americans have had to leave the south, and often this country, to receive recognition at all. It is an old story that is far to common. These books tell a different story. The art work is of the highest caliber, and often created with the humblest of materials?found wood, roots, house paint, discarded materials?yet the artists find ways to make the most glorious objects. It was certainly a revelation to see work that would rival what I see in the many museums in town, made by men and women who don't seem to have any regard, or perhaps knowledge, of these institutions. Work made for themselves, their families, or their communities enjoyment and education. The true meaning of art. It would be impossible for me to say which book I prefer. Both were so eye opening. Now that I have both, I can't imagine not having either. I hope that these volumes will find their way into the libraries and schools across America, for they tell a story that has long been unkown, which is unfortunate. Or, I fear, ignored, which is tragic. Kudos to both, and I hope that there will be a Volume 3. I must add that if you are interested in the "real" American story, history, art (of any kind), then these books are a must read (and look). And as a lover and collector of Twentieth Century art, I realize I have not been, up until now, told the WHOLE truth.

Yes to Volume 1, No to Volume 2.......2002-04-24

The first volume of Souls Grown Deep is an essential book for any American folk art collector. Many of the great African American folk artists of the 20th century are covered and all have a short write up and some pictures. The only problem is that some artists get short change with a one paragraph write up (really short) and 2 or 3 small images on a single page. Clementine Hunter for example, gets this treatment. And Mose Tolliver gets much more space than Bill Traylor, possibly because most of the artwork shown is from the author's own folk art collection, but apparently the author doesn't have many Bill Traylor artworks compared to Mose T's. But it's such a large book that it will still be required for any folk art library. Beware, the second volume is just as big but seems like an entire book of filler. There are some interesting artists presented, but overall the quality isn't as high as the first volume. Perhaps because the artists in the 1st volume are already "established"' it's easier to see their place in folk art history whereas the artists in volume 2 are still relatively new. Both books have high production values in paper and binding. My recommendation is definitely buy volume 1, but be careful of volume 2.

Gorgeous-.......2001-05-22

Gorgeous photos and very high quality printing and paper. The artwork is very interesting and continues to offer surprises further and further into the book. I enjoyed the stories and recollections of the artists which added a personal and human side to the visual splendor. The editors' own energy and passion for the subject matter shines through. This is a rare gift I will go back to time and time again.

A modern day revolution.......2001-03-28

Combine the literay precision of John Stuart Mill with the passion of W. B. Yeats, pour over the artistic brilliance of Cezanne and Rothko and infuse the philosophical profundity of Kant and Aristotle; the result is the monumental genius of Souls Grown Deep. An epic achievement, William and Paul Arnett's masterpiece transports the reader deep into southern America in which a genre of art is explored that rivals, if not puts to shame, any existing work anywhere in the world. Souls Grown Deep is a necessity for any individual even remotely concerned with understanding the very first thing about art.

The Souls of Black Folk (Enriched Classics Series)

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A seminal work and a recognized milestone

The Souls of Black Folk (Enriched Classics Series)
W.E.B. Dubois
Manufacturer: Pocket
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 1416500413

Book Description

Enduring Liturature Illuminated by Practical Scholarship

A revolutionary collection of essays about the African-American experience at the turn of the twentieth century.

This Enriched Classic Edition includes:

• A concise introduction that gives readers important background information

• A chronology of the author's life and work

• A timeline of significant events that provides the book's historical context

• An outline of key themes and plot points to help readers form their own interpretations

• Detailed explanatory notes

• Critical analysis, including contemporary and modern perspectives on the work

• Discussion questions to promote lively classroom and book group interaction

• A list of recommended related books and films to broaden the reader's experience

Enriched Classics offer readers affordable editions of great works of literature enhanced by helpful notes and insightful commentary. The scholarship provided in Enriched Classics enables readers to appreciate, understand, and enjoy the world's finest books to their full potential.

Series edited by Cynthia Brantley Johnson

Customer Reviews:

A seminal work and a recognized milestone.......2004-12-09

Complete and unabridged, W.E.B. DuBois seminal 1903 publication, The Souls Of Black Folk is now available in an audiobook format (6 cassettes, 9 hours). This little book did more to shape the consciousness of African--Americans than any other and after a century, continues to hold the status of being a major work of both American literature. Superbly narrated by Warren Hazlittl and enhanced with a piano accompaniment by Jim Popoulous, The Souls Of Black Folk remains a seminal work and a recognized milestone with respect to the long and continuing struggle for racial equality and African-American dignity.

The Illustrated Souls of Black Folk (Annotated, Illustrated, Documentary Editions)

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Understand "double counsciousness"

The Illustrated Souls of Black Folk (Annotated, Illustrated, Documentary Editions)
W. E. B. Du Bois
Manufacturer: Paradigm Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 159451030X

Book Description

"The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color-line . . . "
- W. E. B. Du Bois, 1903

This prophetic statement made by W. E. B. Du Bois over a century ago is from The Souls of Black Folk. One hundred years later, Souls remains the most important treatment of African-American life and culture published in the Twentieth century.

Richly illustrated, this special edition of Du Bois's seminal work includes historical woodcuts and engravings, photos, and documents. Most of the photos, engravings, and documents are from the 19th and early 20th century and depict American slavery and its legacy, African-American life, and the prominent figures and events associated with the book's content. Assembled by Eugene F. Provenzo, Jr., this illustrated edition of The Souls of Black Folk also offers extensive annotations, commentary, and related materials from government, the media, advertising, and popular culture.

Documents include: the Act Establishing the Freedman's Bureau; Booker T. Washington's Atlanta Exposition Speech; W. E. B. Du Bois's essay "The Talented Tenth"; Ida B. Wells-Barnett's The Lynch Law in Georgia; W. E. B. Du Bois's report "The Negro in the Black Belt"; Alexander Crummell's sermon, "Common Sense and Schooling"; W. E. B. Du Bois's story, "The Black Man Brings His Gifts"; Thomas W. Higginson's "Negro Spirituals", and more.

Annotated, Illustrated, Documentary Editionsare a new series of books created by Eugene Provenzo and Paradigm Publishers, offering classic works in Literature, the Social Sciences, and the Humanities with extensive commentary, illustrations, and related documentary sources.

Customer Reviews:

Understand "double counsciousness".......2007-04-27

W.E.B. Du Bois and Race: Essays Celebrating the Centennial Publication of the Souls of Black Folk / Edited by Chester J. Fontenot, Jr. and Mary Alice Morgan, ... With Sarah (Voices of the African Diaspora)

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W.E.B. Du Bois and Race: Essays Celebrating the Centennial Publication of the Souls of Black Folk / Edited by Chester J. Fontenot, Jr. and Mary Alice Morgan, ... With Sarah (Voices of the African Diaspora)

Manufacturer: Mercer University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0865547270

Book Description

This collection of essays emerged from a symposium held at Mercer University which examined the ways in which W. E. B. Du Bois's theories of race have shaped racial discussion and public policy in the twentieth-century. The essays also examine the application of Du Bois's theories to the new millenium, as well as his contributions to the study of the humanities.

W. E. B. Du Bois (1868—1963) was the leading black intellectual to address the issue of race in America. The first African-American to receive a Ph.D. from Harvard University, he was a founder of the NAACP and editor of its newspaper Crisis where he argued forcefully for blacks' civil and political rights.

The End of Blackness: Returning the Souls of Black Folk to Their Rightful Owners
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The time has come

Excellent book

Superfluously Thick

To the Point

An interesting if problematic book

The End of Blackness: Returning the Souls of Black Folk to Their Rightful Owners
Debra Dickerson
Manufacturer: Anchor
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Sociology | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
African-American Studies | Special Groups | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0375713190
Release Date: 2005-01-04

Book Description

Debra Dickerson pulls no punches in this electrifying manifesto. Outspoken journalist and author of the critically acclaimed memoir An American Story, she challenges black Americans to stop obsessing about racism and start focusing on problems they can fix. The way out of the ghetto, she asserts, is to take a good, hard look in the mirror. Get angry, Dickerson says, but use that anger to fuel excellence and civic participation rather than crime or drug addiction. Drawing richly on black history and thought, as well as her own hard-won wisdom, she urges blacks to let go of the past and claim their full freedom. It’s only by shaping their own future, she argues, that blacks will finally abolish the myth of white superiority.

Customer Reviews:

The time has come.......2007-07-15

I am a white man, or whitefella as we call ourlselves in pur part of the world. My wife is Aborigingal Australian. Her first language is Warlpiri, her parents first saw whitefellas in their childhood. They are desert people. Their historical experience is vastly dfferent from that of Black Americans and much closer to the experience of Native Americans. However because they too are black and as a result of the international impact of the US Civil Rights Movement many of indigenous descent here identify with the politics and culture of Black America. My wife's people have very little political voice. It is blocked and filtered not only by the politically and economically dominant White Australia but even more so by the old style political activists of indigenous descent in our southern cities who have no knowledge of their culture and experience but presume to speak on their behalf. Ms Dickerson's book is for us brilliantly liberating. It is time for my wife's people to take freedom, which in legal and consititutional terms they already have, and act free. They are caught now in a cycle of self destruction and they will find their own way out with the support of the mainstream when they are given a chance to tell their own story, their own truth in their own way and take responsibilty for that story. Thank you Ms Dickerson, your book should be read by all who truly believe in the essential equality and dignity of our race, the human one that is, the insanity of racism in all its forms and the ability of all in the human family to take control of thier own destiny and win the good fight.

Excellent book .......2007-06-01

This is an interesting and at times uncomfortable discussion of the issues that minorities have to deal with in the United States. Deborah Dickerson is an intelligent, insightful masterful author who tackles these issues with grace and wisdom. A book well worth reading.

Superfluously Thick.......2007-02-17

Having read previous works on notions of blackness in America from historical figures W.E.B. DuBois, Booker T. Washington, Frederick Douglas, sociologist William Julius Wilson, and activist Angela Y. Davis, I started from a perspective that Dickerson's work would be at the level of these noted authors. After getting through the introduction, however, I realized my mistake. The work is not a scholarly compilation of syllogistic conclusions. Rather, it is a work that Ms. Dickerson can confidently claim as her own. Assumptions are based upon false premises that lead readers to conclusive arguments derived from erroneous logic. The thickness in verbage that includes slangy tone is rather demeaning as one sloughs over Ms. Dickerson's opinions that come off first as xenocentric but later are diffused.

To the Point.......2006-02-23

This is one of many voices saying much of what needs to be said. Ms Dickerson makes good valid points about how we as a nation have been hoodwinked to beleive that we cannot get along better, how we seem to hurt when we try and help. The biggest point I think she made and she only touched the surface, is the fact that many in the present generation are not speaking up and telling those malcontents that they need to go home (J.J. and A.S, you can hear me, but then we don't expect you to read too much, sort of hard to read when you are chasing ambulances) how we spend too much time blaming and complaining rather than getting out and doing. How it is equated that being learned, intelligent, polite and outgoing are white traits. They are not the author reminds us, just like all of this athletic nonsense are black traits. There is only one America and one Africa, we need to do well here in order that they will do well there.

An interesting if problematic book.......2005-04-20

Debra Dickerson's book was an interesting and worthwhile read on the subject of race and the concept of "blackness." She is a fairly outspoken iconoclast who devotes much of the book to critiquing the attitudes and ideas of mainstream black leftist leadership, and she ridicules Afrocentrism mercilessly. This aspect of the book is why some black reviewers are so eager to denounce her as an "Uncle Tom." However, "The End of Blackness" is also notable for its strident attacks on what she claims to be the persistent racism of white people and their refusal to accept any more responsibility than they already have for the alleviation of Afro-American suffering.

Dickerson argues that whites are too quick to rationalize their contemptuous attitudes toward contemporary blacks, and that they are simply hanging on to their sense of privilege by claiming that the failures of the modern generation of black-Americans are largely the result of their own behavior. For example, she asserts that "the rich must argue that people are poor by choice rather than by policy." As an insight into human nature, this is undoubtedly true. Unfortunately for Dickerson's argument, it is equally true that the poor, for their part, must argue that their poverty is always due to other people's oppression rather than to their own irresponsibility and defective judgment. The loser of a competition must claim that the winner cheated, because facing the reality that he was out-competed is too humiliating to accept. I am not suggesting that we ought not to feel some compassion for the poor, but the fact remains that the fundamental aspects of human nature, including its narcissism and corruptibility, do not change much as one moves down the socioeconomic ladder, and it does not logically follow that the greatest harm is always caused by those who are wealthier. Having more money may give one greater opportunity to commit evil, but militant self-pity - the perception that victimhood is the central element of one's identity - is what gives a person the fanatical drive to do it.

None of this is to suggest that whites have no responsibility to black people. It is just that the nature of that responsibility may have changed as time has passed and the blacks with whom they come into contact are no longer people who have directly experienced the outrages their grandparents endured. When the things that held blacks down were concrete institutions enshrined in the law - slavery and segregation - then it was clearly the responsibility of whites to end these conditions. But if the things that hold blacks down today are primarily psychological, even if they represent the considerable detritus of past oppression, there may not be much that whites can do to help bring about this particular liberation. Whites who feel guilty about the long-term effects of what their distant ancestors did in the past may give blacks some short-term satisfaction, as well as the power to manipulate those same whites (and often cynically at that) by invoking that guilt in order to pressure them to satisfy some demand; but it will not actually liberate black people from the internal obstacles Dickerson argues are crippling them today.

The single most important responsibility whites have to blacks, if they are serious about treating the latter as equals, is to behave toward them no differently than they would behave toward their fellow whites. In no small measure this means being honest with blacks when we disagree with what they say, and even if we are scathingly contemptuous of what they say. We must abandon the condescension of the politically correct liberal who is paranoid in his concern not to say anything that blacks may not want to hear, for fear of being denounced as "racist." The liberal who is concerned not to be seen as racist is preoccupied primarily with himself rather than with the welfare of blacks. He substitutes the white supremacist's desire to oppress blacks with a similarly damaging desire to avoid them. Politically correct liberal race-talk is often deeply paternalistic and disingenuous. This is because its intent is all too often simply to pacify blacks by automatically agreeing with them whenever they lodge some grievance against society. It is fear of "militant black rage," rather than concern for real black social progress, underlying this liberal condescension. What makes it so destructive and morally bankrupt is that it amounts to little more than a way of saying to black people: "Nice-doggie, have a bone. Now please go away." One does not treat a person he supposedly regards as an equal in this infantilizing manner.

For all that, this does not mean that whites can NEVER agree with black people or be genuine in their acknowledgement that the latter's criticisms have validity, and it should never mean that whites regard their racial attitudes as beyond reproach simply because they do not descend to the level of Ku Klux Klansmen. It does mean that we must not allow ourselves to be bullied by the likes of those black-Americans who use the accusation of racism less as a means to offer helpful criticism of whites than as a means to rationalize their own racist hatreds and contemptible ignorance. Whites must respect the desire of black people to be morally and intellectually independent of us, while at the same time asserting our own intellectual independence from the often self-serving judgmentalism of blacks.

Dickerson expends much energy castigating whites for purportedly refusing to "contextualize" the often dysfunctional, not to say reprehensible, behavior of contemporary black people. With this we are brought back to the theme of "root causes" so familiar to anyone who has ever encountered the writings of almost any black leftist. Indeed, "root causes" may well be the black apologist's favorite two words in the entire English language. Bring up uncomfortable topics like black crime, welfare dependency and educational underachievement, and the black leftist will haul out his "root causes" theory with a metronomic regularity so perfect piano students could practice their Beethoven by it. In this respect, for all the ferocity with which some reviewers have denounced her as a self-hating "Uncle Tom," Dickerson comes across as a fairly typical racial guilt-monger of the Left - simplistic, often unfair, and more belligerent than perceptive.

The problem I have with her insistence on recalling the context of black people's behavior is not that she is wrong. She is, in fact, right, but she refuses to acknowledge the logical implications of her argument, namely, that if it is unfair to judge blacks too harshly, given that their behavior has root causes, then it is equally wrong to judge whites too harshly for exactly the same reason. All human beings are the end products of an historical chain reaction of events. All human behavior therefore has its root causes. For example, when a white person who was cruelly abused as a child joins a racist hate-group as an adult, we can likewise point to the root causes of his behavior. But do we excuse the misdeeds of white thugs simply because they ALSO have root causes? I should hope not. Why then must we look compassionately upon the brutally compassionless behavior of their black counterparts? What is so arrogant about Caucasian-Americans who express disdain for the drug-dealing ghetto thug, the super-absorbent welfare sponge who is cruelly inept in the raising of her children, and the tribalistic nincompoop who derides learning and literacy as forms of "acting white?" Root causes may help explain why some people behave odiously, but it does not exonerate them from their odiousness, whatever their race, for so much as a second. A miscreant is a miscreant. To insinuate, as Dickerson repeatedly does, that black miscreants cannot fairly be condemned as such because of certain "root causes" represents the kind of racial apologetics on an intellectual par with saying that if you call a dead skunk "Chanel No. 5," it won't smell bad anymore.

Nowhere is Dickerson more clueless to the implications of her "contextualism" arguments than in the way she treats the Founding Fathers. We are reminded that Thomas Jefferson was a slave master, as well as a founder of the Republic, and that he exploited Sally Hemings sexually. These are valid criticisms of Jefferson. He articulated powerful arguments against the morality of slavery but lacked the backbone to free his own slaves. He did not show the courage of his own convictions. On the other hand, this too has its context that no honest person can afford to sweep under the rug and still expect to be perceived as honest. That context was the 18th-century itself in which he lived, a time period when the practice of slavery was worldwide and morally uncontroversial to everyone except a handful of Western intellectuals, including - surprise, surprise - Thomas Jefferson. Thus, Jefferson may have lacked the courage of his convictions, but he was one of few people in the world back then who even had such convictions. Jefferson's written legacy gave powerful ammunition to Lincoln and others to build the kind of moral case against slavery that would eventually help bring that institution down. That is a truly great achievement for which Jefferson deserves honor. He does not deserve the malicious cheap shots of historically illiterate emotional retards who simply want a pretext to whack a famous Dead White Male like a pinata in order to get at the candied delusions that they are better people than he was. That sort of garbage may qualify as quintessential Afrocentric scholarship, but it ought not to arouse our respectful attention, given that the very term "Afrocentric scholarship," like "civilized barbarian" is a kind of sick joke.

In the end, though, and to be fair to Dickerson, I have to admit I still found this a worthwhile book. In spite of her criticisms of whites, she does not come across to me as the sort of bigoted, honky-bashing demagogue typical of Afro-American liberal leftists. She is by contrast a thoughtful and intelligent person, and whites should give her views a fair hearing, for although she sometimes seems too simplistic and unfair, her critique of whites is by no means entirely wrong. It is not too much, in my view, to ask whites to listen respectfully to our more civilized critics on the other side of the racial divide, and Dickerson is certainly a civilized critic. Furthermore, given the relentlessly vituperative nature of much Afro-American rhetoric on the subject of white people, Dickerson's ability to criticize whites without feeling the need to demonize them as inferior beings is rather refreshing.

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Understand "double counsciousness"

The Souls of Black Folk
W. E. B. Du Bois
Manufacturer: Waking Lion Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Social Psychology & Interactions | Psychology & Counseling | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1600964036
Release Date: 2006-08-03

Book Description

Customer Reviews:

Understand "double counsciousness".......2007-04-27

W.E.B. Du Bois : Writings : The Suppression of the African Slave-Trade / The Souls of Black Folk / Dusk of Dawn / Essays and Articles (Library of America)

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W.E.B DuBois4for1

W.E.B. Du Bois : Writings : The Suppression of the African Slave-Trade / The Souls of Black Folk / Dusk of Dawn / Essays and Articles (Library of America)
W. E. B. Du Bois
Manufacturer: Library of America
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Classics | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Literary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Frederick Douglass : Autobiographies : Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave / My Bondage and My Freedom / Life and Times of Frederick Douglass (Library of America)
W. E. B. Du Bois, 1868-1919: Biography of a Race (Owl Books)
W.E.B. Dubois: The Fight for Equality and the American Century, 1919-1963
Darkwater: Voices from Within the Veil (Dover Thrift Editions)
Autobiography of W.E.B. Dubois: A Soliloquy on Viewing My Life from the Last Decade of Its First Century

ASIN: 094045033X

Book Description

Historian, sociologist, novelist, editor, and political activist, William Edward Burghardt Du Bois was the most gifted and influential black intellectual of his time. Here are his essential writings, spanning a long, restless life dedicated to the struggle for racial justice. "The Suppression of the African Slave-Trade" recounts how Americans tolerated the traffic in human beings until taught by bloody civil war the consequences of moral cowardice; the essays in "The Souls of Black Folk" celebrate the strength and pride of black America, pay tribute to black music and religion, assess the career of Booker T. Washington, remember the death of an infant son; the autobiography "Dusk of Dawn" moves from a Massachusetts boyhood to the founding of the N.A.A.C.P. and emerging Pan-African consciousness. Essays and speeches from 1890 to 1958--angry and satiric, proud and mournful--show Du Bois at his freshest and most trenchant.

Customer Reviews:

W.E.B DuBois4for1.......2006-03-07

Excellent opportunity to get several of DuBois' Works under one cover and at one price.

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