W. E. B. Du Bois

W. E. B. Du Bois, or William Edward Burghardt Du Bois, was born on February 23, 1868, in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. During his life, Du Bois would fight for racial equality and spread knowledge and dedication to the issue. As a pioneer in the Civil Rights Movement, he would fight against Jim Crow laws, lynching, inequality in education, and racism in America for many years of his life. 

Du Bois was a sociologist; his mind would set excellent precedents in the way of knowledge and influence while spreading the cause. Du Bois' methods ranged from educating students on his sociological beliefs to active protests. Du Bois was a writer, who shared his views on matters such as lynchings, segregation, disenfranchisement, and much more. The man was liberal with his pushback, criticizing those who he didn’t think did enough; he opposed the conservative methods used by other civil rights activists like Booker T. Washington. Du Bois called for immediate changes to show that Black Americans wouldn’t just sit around and accept the poor treatment imposed on them by the systems in America.

Du Bois was the first Black American to earn a Ph.D. from Harvard University and he would go on to become the NAACP Director of Publicity and Research after helping to organize the Niagara Movement. Part of his responsibilities for the NAACP, which was founded in 1909, was to edit its magazine, “The Crisis,” which would spread their message. 

Du Bois’ intelligence and ability are the factors that helped him to succeed during much of his life but his later actions would turn him into a common name. After years of what he would consider failed attempts at equality, he became entirely disillusioned with the United States.  Believing it would never change, he gave up and moved away to live an entirely different life.

W. E. B. Du Bois would die on August 27th, 1963 before getting to see the Civil Rights Act passed on July 2nd, 1964. Du Bois’ contributions to the cause acted as informational and inspirational for many American people, giving hope and eventually equality for everyone.