This blog began life as an online tribute to W E B Du Bois, "an eccentric fan`s labour of love" as I called it at the time.
As it happens, my life has changed a lot since I started it and it`s become obvious that I can`t really do justice to the original idea, due to work and family commitments.
I`m a bit reluctant to give up on it altogether, so I`ve decided to go with a slightly different approach, a `wider interests` sort of thing which will sometimes look at the life and times of Du Bois, but will also carry more general articles likely to be of interest to anyone who is also interested in Du Bois. Articles will tend to be shorter and I`ll be making more use of links.
As a general thing, my approach to more topical matters is that I`m not someone who seeks out controversy - there are few things more tiresome than intentional `controversialists` - but I don`t shy away from it either. I may occasionally touch on what I call `real politics`, but I won`t be involving myself in party politics as such, for the simple reason that I`m British and, as is well known, we don`t tend to be fond of politicians !
I will be using this blog periodically to plug books I have for sale, where relevant. I`d have preferred not to do that, but in these are troubled times we`re living through and we all have to make our accomodations with the world we live in.
Lastly, the new `beyond left or right` tag - which I know is a bit of a cliche - just reflects my personal feeling about the modern world, given that the left has been in sharp retreat ever since I was a teenager (and trust me, it`s a long time since I was a teenager !), but also that, particulary in the OK, we`re living in a world in which the old rules don`t apply.
Monday, 13 June 2011
Tuesday, 19 April 2011
Manning Marable RIP
As many will be aware, Manning Marable, the author of `W E B DU Bois : Black Radical Democrat` died recently at the age of 60.
Mr Marable, a noted US academic and campaigner on social issues, had many books and articles to his name. In the UK he had links with the Institute of Race Relations and their periodical Race and Class whilst in the US he was connected with a group known as the Movement for a Democratic Society and took a particular interest in it`s student branch, Students for a Democratic Society. Many of his works and particularly the titles he chose reflected an ongoing pre-occupation with the life of W E B Du Bois and, I suspect, a desire to continue that tradition ( one of his books was entitled `The Crisis of Color and Democracy` and his syndicated column was called `Along the Colour Line`).
Needless to say, I have a much-treasured copy of Black Radical Democrat in my own collection !
I will leave it to others to discuss his career and related activities in greater depth.
Instead, I would like to quote from one of his works, `Black America : Multicultural Democracy in the Age of Clarence Thomas and David Duke`, published in 1992 by Open Media in the Open Magazine Pamphlet Series (Number 16 in that series).
That pamphlet is necessarily dated and in my personal view is in some respects flawed, though certainly well worth a read. I have chosen this particular quote because, while it certainly reflects the author`s politics and to a certain extent his background in academia, it also reflects a deep-seated compassion and commitment that other self-styled radicals would do well to emulate. Dig beyond the slightly dated language and one finds a depth of experience and, in my estimation, an inner strength which seems to me to be wholly admirable. Without wanting to over-egg the pudding, notice how the passage in question comes to life when he draws on his own experiences. I mention all this in advance as I want to give Manning Marable himself the last word ;
"It is unfortunately true that people who are victimized by one form of prejudice or social intolerance sometimes fail to appreciate the oppression of other victims. There are blacks who are unfortunately anti-Semitic, and Jews who are racist ; there are white women who are racist and oppressive to sisters of colour ; there are Latinos who are homophobic and oppressive to gays and lesbians ; there are people of colour who are insensitive to whites who are physically challenged.
Yet for many of us, the experience of oppression gives us some insights into the pain and discrimination of others. I am a scholar of the civil rights movement, and I write about lynching, political franchisement and Jim Crow. But I also lived through this experience. I personally know what it`s like to go to the back of the bus. I know what it is like not to be served at a restaurant. I know what it`s like not to be permitted to sit inside a heated bus terminal, but to be forced to stand outside in the cold. I know what it is like not to be permitted to try on a cap or pair of pants because you are black. When you experience this you can never forget it.
And I believe that the experience of oppression, if properly understood, can be universalized. Because I have felt the pain of oppression, I can understand and feel the pain of my sisters, victimized by violence, harassment, and sexist discrimination. I can understand the anger of my Jewish sisters and brothers who must confront the hatred and bigotry of the anti-Semite. I can express my sympathy and support for lesbians and gays who experience discrimination because of their sexual preferences."
I had intended to leave it at that, but on reflection, I will close with the words Manning Marable used in the closing paragraphs of `Black America : Muliticultural Democracy...` ;
"If we can believe in the vision of a dynamic democracy in which all human beings...coming (sic) to terms with each other, we can perhaps begin to achieve Martin Luther King`s vision when he said `we shall overcome`."
Mr Marable, a noted US academic and campaigner on social issues, had many books and articles to his name. In the UK he had links with the Institute of Race Relations and their periodical Race and Class whilst in the US he was connected with a group known as the Movement for a Democratic Society and took a particular interest in it`s student branch, Students for a Democratic Society. Many of his works and particularly the titles he chose reflected an ongoing pre-occupation with the life of W E B Du Bois and, I suspect, a desire to continue that tradition ( one of his books was entitled `The Crisis of Color and Democracy` and his syndicated column was called `Along the Colour Line`).
Needless to say, I have a much-treasured copy of Black Radical Democrat in my own collection !
I will leave it to others to discuss his career and related activities in greater depth.
Instead, I would like to quote from one of his works, `Black America : Multicultural Democracy in the Age of Clarence Thomas and David Duke`, published in 1992 by Open Media in the Open Magazine Pamphlet Series (Number 16 in that series).
That pamphlet is necessarily dated and in my personal view is in some respects flawed, though certainly well worth a read. I have chosen this particular quote because, while it certainly reflects the author`s politics and to a certain extent his background in academia, it also reflects a deep-seated compassion and commitment that other self-styled radicals would do well to emulate. Dig beyond the slightly dated language and one finds a depth of experience and, in my estimation, an inner strength which seems to me to be wholly admirable. Without wanting to over-egg the pudding, notice how the passage in question comes to life when he draws on his own experiences. I mention all this in advance as I want to give Manning Marable himself the last word ;
"It is unfortunately true that people who are victimized by one form of prejudice or social intolerance sometimes fail to appreciate the oppression of other victims. There are blacks who are unfortunately anti-Semitic, and Jews who are racist ; there are white women who are racist and oppressive to sisters of colour ; there are Latinos who are homophobic and oppressive to gays and lesbians ; there are people of colour who are insensitive to whites who are physically challenged.
Yet for many of us, the experience of oppression gives us some insights into the pain and discrimination of others. I am a scholar of the civil rights movement, and I write about lynching, political franchisement and Jim Crow. But I also lived through this experience. I personally know what it`s like to go to the back of the bus. I know what it is like not to be served at a restaurant. I know what it`s like not to be permitted to sit inside a heated bus terminal, but to be forced to stand outside in the cold. I know what it is like not to be permitted to try on a cap or pair of pants because you are black. When you experience this you can never forget it.
And I believe that the experience of oppression, if properly understood, can be universalized. Because I have felt the pain of oppression, I can understand and feel the pain of my sisters, victimized by violence, harassment, and sexist discrimination. I can understand the anger of my Jewish sisters and brothers who must confront the hatred and bigotry of the anti-Semite. I can express my sympathy and support for lesbians and gays who experience discrimination because of their sexual preferences."
I had intended to leave it at that, but on reflection, I will close with the words Manning Marable used in the closing paragraphs of `Black America : Muliticultural Democracy...` ;
"If we can believe in the vision of a dynamic democracy in which all human beings...coming (sic) to terms with each other, we can perhaps begin to achieve Martin Luther King`s vision when he said `we shall overcome`."
Friday, 27 August 2010
Famous Last Words
W E B Du Bois died on 27 August 1963 and was buried on 29 August 1963. Immediately after his internment, a last message from him to the world was read to the mourners. Characteristically, he had actually composed this message during 1957 and had left it in safe-keeping until it was needed !
It is, in my view, a deeply positive message ;
"It is much more difficult in theory than actually to say the last good-bye to one`s loved ones and friends and to all the familiar things of this life.
I am going to take a long, deep and endless sleep. This is not a punishment but a privilege to which I have looked forward for years.
I have loved my work. I have loved people and my play, but always I have been uplifted by the thought that what I have done well will live long and justify my life : that what I have done ill or never finished can now be handed on to others for endless days to be finished, perhaps better than I could have done.
And that peace will be my applause.
One thing alone I charge you. As you live, believe in life ! Always human beings will live and progress to greater, broader and fuller life.
The only possible death is to lose belief in this truth simply because the great end comes slowly, because time is long.
Good-bye."
It is, in my view, a deeply positive message ;
"It is much more difficult in theory than actually to say the last good-bye to one`s loved ones and friends and to all the familiar things of this life.
I am going to take a long, deep and endless sleep. This is not a punishment but a privilege to which I have looked forward for years.
I have loved my work. I have loved people and my play, but always I have been uplifted by the thought that what I have done well will live long and justify my life : that what I have done ill or never finished can now be handed on to others for endless days to be finished, perhaps better than I could have done.
And that peace will be my applause.
One thing alone I charge you. As you live, believe in life ! Always human beings will live and progress to greater, broader and fuller life.
The only possible death is to lose belief in this truth simply because the great end comes slowly, because time is long.
Good-bye."
Wednesday, 25 August 2010
William Henry Melish on W E B Du Bois, W E B Du Bois on Henry Melish
W E B Du Bois on William Howard Melish ;
"Howard Melish is on of the few Christian clergyman for whom I have the highest respect. Honest and conscientious, believing sincerely in much of the Christian dogma, which I reject, but working honestly and without hypocrisy, for the guidance of the young, for the uplift of the poor and ignorant, and for the betterment of his city and his country...Here is a young man of ideal character, of impeccable morals ; a hard worker, especially among the poor and unfortunate."
Melish, who tells his own story in a book, Strength for Struggle, was a priest who ran a church called Holy Trinity in Brooklyn Heights. W E B Du Bois lived nearby and it would seem Melish was a fairly regular visitor to the home of W E B and Shirley Graham Du Bois.
Melish seems to have held Communist political beliefs whilst remaining a Christian himself. I`m not in a position to comment on how he reconciled the two, or on his stances on particular issues, but it does seem clear that he was pro-Soviet (not just anti- the Cold War) at a very ugly time in Soviet history. Inevitably, he became the target of McCarthyite harassment which prevented many of his activities - moves to remove him from his Church went as far as the New York Supreme Court on two separate occasions - but he continued to be involved in many issues, working with single mothers and later joining a Civil Rights organisation, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
Du Bois in the Autobiography portrays Melish as an earnest, hardworking priest persecuted because his church was attracting "workers and Negroes". Others have speculated that the chief persecutor of the Melishes, James P De Wolfe, had sectarian motives. Undoubtedly, the Rev Melish did much good in his life, but there seems little doubt that his political views were, to say the least, questionable. For myself I would hope that most people could recognise that he did a lot of good in his life, but let`s not pretend he was perfect !
In September 1963, the Rev. Melish flew to Ghana to address a Memorial Service for Du Bois. On his return, he had cheaply produced booklets made up containing the text of his speech, which he apparently sold for small sums in the Brooklyn area to raise funds for his church. My copy was obtained fairly cheaply and from what I`ve seen, quite a few have survived to this day.
The Rev. Melish both opened and closed his address with quotes from a piece by Walt Whitman, a poet Du Bois admired.
The rest is an amiable enough trundle through the life of Du Bois, certainly worth a read.
I was puzzled by a couple of references to incidents I don`t recall having seen mentioned elsewhere - one is a reference to hostility to research work done by Du Bois and
others in `Lownes` (Lowndes ?) County - "Du Bois and his team of investigators ...met resistance, harassment and shotgun blasts" - and the other concerns the Atlanta Riots, which he says left the first Mrs Du Bois "injured in a manner that contributed to her invalidism in later life" and refers to their daughter Yolande "hiding in a stair well". I`ve checked against the Autobiography and David Levering Lewis` Biography but cannot see any reference to these details, which I don`t recall having seen in any other books by/about Du Bois either. Maybe someone else can cast light on this ?
Elsewhere, he refers to Du Bois standing for public office later in life for the Progressive Party rather than the American Labor Party. I have been able to resolve this ; Aptheker in his notes to Against Racism states that the American Labor Party was a name used by the Progressive Party in New York only, so presumably that`s the explanation.
At the end of the booklet are a selection of tributes to Du Bois from various bodies, including the NAACP Board of Directors ( "His contributions to the ageless struggle for human rights were imperishable. His passage leaves a great void which there is no immediate prospect of filling." ), an interesting one from Madison S Jones at the New York Commission of Human Rights ( "I had the honor of working with him.. I am proud to say he gave me a great deal of counsel, advice and guidance...The world is better for his massive contribution towards freedom for all." ) and one from Malcolm Cowley, President of the National Institute of Arts and Letters ( "The Institute has lost the most distinguished member whose passing will be mourned by the world of letters" ).
As we approach another anniversary of the death of W E B Du Bois, it`s interesting to reflect on his long life, prolific writing career and dedication to progressive causes.
My intentions in running this blog are pretty basic. If I can demonstrate that it`s possible to build up an interesting Du Bois collection even if, like me, you`re perennially short of both time and money, and if I can encourage others - particularly the young - to take an interest in Du Bois` life and work, I`ll be happy.
On a slightly more ambitious note, I would hope it`s possible for people of goodwill to build on the positive aspects of Du Bois` work whilst accepting that he had flaws - we all have flaws, after all ! If I voice the odd criticism, that`s the reason. At the end of the day, uncritical appreciation is not appreciation at all !
Thursday, 10 June 2010
W E B Du Bois on Benjamin Franklin
The Story of Benjamin Franklin by W E B Du Bois is little-known and generally regarded as little more than a curiosity. Published by the rather grand-sounding Secretariat of the World Council of Peace, Vienna during 1956, the work contains no original research by Du Bois , but in his Foreword he comments "My chief sources of information have been the celebrated Franklin `autobiography`, the monumental work by Carl van Doren, and the shorter work by Samuel Morse. My own social studies in Philadelphia and New England have given me some personal knowledge of Franklin`s environment."
The circumstances surrounding the publication are explained in the Preface;
"The 250th anniversary of the birth of Benjamin Franklin has been celebrated by the whole world.
The World Council of Peace included this anniversary among the great cultural anniversaries to be celebrated in 1956.
The choice was made to enable the peace movement to associate itself with the commemoration of a man who, by his own unaided efforts, became his country`s greatest journalist, a scientist of world renown who paved the way for all modern research on electricity, and a great citizen who worked for his country`s independence and strove to win it through negotiation."
Among other observations, the Preface notes that ;
"The end of his life was the culminating point in the ascending development of a man who, from being a slave dealer became an opponent of slavery, from being a colonialist ended by drawing up his country`s Declaration of Independence."
Shirley Graham Du Bois in His Day is Marching On ; A Memoir of W E B Du Bois, also comments on the circumstances surrounding publication of the booklet ;
"Since 1951 Du Bois had received many invitations from abroad which the State Department had prevented him from accepting, never, however, for any occasion in which he was so deeply, and over so many years involved*. When he was invited to the People`s Republic of China to participate in the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the birth of Benjamin Franklin (an anniversary scarcely noted in the United States), he had met the passport refusal by writing a small, beautifully illustrated book on Benjamin Franklin and sending it to China. He had countered the State Department`s refusal to return his passport so that he could attend a World Festival of Youth and Students by publishing a scathing article in the National Guardian in which he quoted from his letter to the Passport Office : "My beliefs are none of your business. I repeat my demand for a passport in accordance with the Constitution of the United States, the laws of the land, and the decision of the Courts."
I am not so sure that I would have used the phrase "beautifully illustrated"(as distinct from just "illustrated"), but then again I`m not given to hyperbole ! It is a nice enough little booklet and I am quite proud of my copy. For the moment I won`t pen a review as I think the background story is interesting in it`s own right. We may return to this booklet in the fullness of time however.
* Here she refers to the rejection of passport applications by Mr and Mrs Du Bois, applications made in order to attend Ghana`s Independence Ceremony during March 1957. Shirley also quotes an editorial in the Accra Evening News, which pointed out the contradiction in the fact the "America is the very first nation outside the Commonwealth to establish full diplomatic relations with free Ghana" but had denied a passport to Dr Du Bois "to see the historic birth of Ghana" and commented "That the position remained unchanged after our Prime Minister`s personal intervention is the first serious slap in the face of Pan-Africanism since our emergence to Independence." (Evening News, Accra, Ghana, 13 March 1957).
Thursday, 29 April 2010
"A People`s Leader" - W E B Du Bois and Philip Foner on Frederick Douglass
`A People`s Leader` was the headline given by Masses and Mainstream magazine (May 1950) to a review by W E B Du Bois of the first two volumes of Philip S Foner`s The Life and Writings of Frederick Douglass, which had been published by New York publishing company International.
Du Bois opened his review by saying that Foner`s book "puts all America under deep obligation" and was "in happy contrast to the neglect of Douglass by American historians".
He commented "It has been difficult for America to see Frederick Douglass in his correct perspective : he was a Negro and therefore in a special category ; he was certainly an unusual Negro, but how was one to compare him with white folk ? There were no accepted standards of comparison."
He quotes an (unnamed) editor`s account of hearing Douglass speak in 1841;
"This is an extraordinary man. He was cut out for a hero...As a speaker he has few equals. It is not declamation - but oratory, power of debate. He has wit, argument, sarcasm, pathos...His voice is highly melodious and rich, and his enunciation quite elegant, and yet he has been but two or three years out of the house of bondage."
Du Bois indicates that this opinion was shared by many, in many parts of the word, but feels that in itself it tells us little ; "But oratory is in a sense superficial ; what was the man beneath ? Foner traces his intellectual growth, with perhaps not enough emphasis on the continuous study that gave Douglass more than a college training within seven years after learning to read."
Du Bois quotes Douglass` shocked reaction to the poverty and misery he saw in Ireland ; "The scenes I witnessed were such as to make me `blush, and hang my head to think myself a man`. I speak truly when I say I dreaded to go out of the house. The streets were almost literally alive with beggars."
Du Bois takes up the story. "Soon he was developing into a man who could see the evils of the world and not simply the plight of his own people", and quotes with approval his comment "I am not only an American slave, but a man, and as such, am bound to use my powers for the welfare of the whole human brotherhood."
"Particularly was his growth helped by meeting men and being treated as an equal" Du Bois remarks, "He talked and ate with some of the great figures of his day and returned to the United States, not only a Negro, but a world citizen."
Without wanting to play the `armchair psychoanalyst`, it is clear that Du Bois is becoming sidetracked here from reviewing the book and it seems likely that Du Bois was identifying very strongly with Douglass.While a spirit of academic detachment can be a good thing, his close identification with his subject gives us something of an insight into WEBD`s own character and thinking, as well as into the character of Douglass.
Returning to the matter in hand, he comments that in Foner`s book "one can follow details of (Douglass`s) life and compare them with what he was thinking and saying...Those of us who have always thought of Douglass principally as a speaker will be amazed at the virility and clarity of his writing". In support of this he quotes Foner`s contention that Douglass` "editorials, speeches and letters...are among the most penetrating and eloquent of any American."
"He grew as he worked and he wrote," says Du Bois, "from the lecture platform he went into the editor`s chair ; he assumed more and more the leadership of free Negroes, a difficult and intelligent group." Is it too much to think he was having a little wry joke with us, as Douglass`s story begins to sound more than a little like his own, and he reflected on the difficulties he himself had experienced ?
"He was active in the temperance movement", Du Bois continues, "he announced himself a Chartist and endorsed the land reform movement...he opposed capital punishment and was a pioneer for women`s rights."
He touches on Douglass` falling out with his former ally Garrison, apparently because Douglass had indicated he would approve if slaves used violence to free themselves (it`s worth reminding ourselves here that slaveowners were not slow to use violence to keep their slaves, and that the slave trade was inherently violent from start to finish), but points out that Harriet Beecher Stowe had been quick to write to Garrison defending Douglass` new views as "a genuine growth of his own convictions."
Douglass, we learn, "moved into politics ; into both the Liberty and Free Soil parties and finally, with some reluctance, voted with the Republicans." He regarded his association with John Brown to be "among the highest privileges of my life."
Here the first two volumes of Foner`s work end, and here Du Bois` review ends also. "These first two volumes are clear, exhaustive and convincing" he concludes. "The figure of a great man rises from them."
I hope this proves helpful to those who might not otherwise see the review (though you should be able to pick up the appropriate back issue of M and M quite cheaply on http://www.abebook.com/ or http://www.marelibri.com/ if you want your own copy).
I also hope the late Dr Du Bois would forgive me my poor punctuation and rather brutal pruning of his review in an effort to keep this article reasonably concise !
Lastly, if you were interested in this article, you may also be interesed in some of my other efforts ;
Civil Rights Showdown Revisited - 17 April 2010
Blasts From the Past ; Angus Cameron on McCarthyism - 11 April 2010
Fighting Slavery and Climate Change in Yorksire - 2 April 2010
Civil Rights Showdown - 13 March 2010
all to be found at http://masses2mainstream.blogspot.com/
Cheers,
Nick
Du Bois opened his review by saying that Foner`s book "puts all America under deep obligation" and was "in happy contrast to the neglect of Douglass by American historians".
He commented "It has been difficult for America to see Frederick Douglass in his correct perspective : he was a Negro and therefore in a special category ; he was certainly an unusual Negro, but how was one to compare him with white folk ? There were no accepted standards of comparison."
He quotes an (unnamed) editor`s account of hearing Douglass speak in 1841;
"This is an extraordinary man. He was cut out for a hero...As a speaker he has few equals. It is not declamation - but oratory, power of debate. He has wit, argument, sarcasm, pathos...His voice is highly melodious and rich, and his enunciation quite elegant, and yet he has been but two or three years out of the house of bondage."
Du Bois indicates that this opinion was shared by many, in many parts of the word, but feels that in itself it tells us little ; "But oratory is in a sense superficial ; what was the man beneath ? Foner traces his intellectual growth, with perhaps not enough emphasis on the continuous study that gave Douglass more than a college training within seven years after learning to read."
Du Bois quotes Douglass` shocked reaction to the poverty and misery he saw in Ireland ; "The scenes I witnessed were such as to make me `blush, and hang my head to think myself a man`. I speak truly when I say I dreaded to go out of the house. The streets were almost literally alive with beggars."
Du Bois takes up the story. "Soon he was developing into a man who could see the evils of the world and not simply the plight of his own people", and quotes with approval his comment "I am not only an American slave, but a man, and as such, am bound to use my powers for the welfare of the whole human brotherhood."
"Particularly was his growth helped by meeting men and being treated as an equal" Du Bois remarks, "He talked and ate with some of the great figures of his day and returned to the United States, not only a Negro, but a world citizen."
Without wanting to play the `armchair psychoanalyst`, it is clear that Du Bois is becoming sidetracked here from reviewing the book and it seems likely that Du Bois was identifying very strongly with Douglass.While a spirit of academic detachment can be a good thing, his close identification with his subject gives us something of an insight into WEBD`s own character and thinking, as well as into the character of Douglass.
Returning to the matter in hand, he comments that in Foner`s book "one can follow details of (Douglass`s) life and compare them with what he was thinking and saying...Those of us who have always thought of Douglass principally as a speaker will be amazed at the virility and clarity of his writing". In support of this he quotes Foner`s contention that Douglass` "editorials, speeches and letters...are among the most penetrating and eloquent of any American."
"He grew as he worked and he wrote," says Du Bois, "from the lecture platform he went into the editor`s chair ; he assumed more and more the leadership of free Negroes, a difficult and intelligent group." Is it too much to think he was having a little wry joke with us, as Douglass`s story begins to sound more than a little like his own, and he reflected on the difficulties he himself had experienced ?
"He was active in the temperance movement", Du Bois continues, "he announced himself a Chartist and endorsed the land reform movement...he opposed capital punishment and was a pioneer for women`s rights."
He touches on Douglass` falling out with his former ally Garrison, apparently because Douglass had indicated he would approve if slaves used violence to free themselves (it`s worth reminding ourselves here that slaveowners were not slow to use violence to keep their slaves, and that the slave trade was inherently violent from start to finish), but points out that Harriet Beecher Stowe had been quick to write to Garrison defending Douglass` new views as "a genuine growth of his own convictions."
Douglass, we learn, "moved into politics ; into both the Liberty and Free Soil parties and finally, with some reluctance, voted with the Republicans." He regarded his association with John Brown to be "among the highest privileges of my life."
Here the first two volumes of Foner`s work end, and here Du Bois` review ends also. "These first two volumes are clear, exhaustive and convincing" he concludes. "The figure of a great man rises from them."
I hope this proves helpful to those who might not otherwise see the review (though you should be able to pick up the appropriate back issue of M and M quite cheaply on http://www.abebook.com/ or http://www.marelibri.com/ if you want your own copy).
I also hope the late Dr Du Bois would forgive me my poor punctuation and rather brutal pruning of his review in an effort to keep this article reasonably concise !
Lastly, if you were interested in this article, you may also be interesed in some of my other efforts ;
Civil Rights Showdown Revisited - 17 April 2010
Blasts From the Past ; Angus Cameron on McCarthyism - 11 April 2010
Fighting Slavery and Climate Change in Yorksire - 2 April 2010
Civil Rights Showdown - 13 March 2010
all to be found at http://masses2mainstream.blogspot.com/
Cheers,
Nick
Friday, 19 March 2010
Postal Paraphernalia # 2
I don`t think too much additional comment is needed from me here. Following on from the original Postal Paraphernalia a few weeks ago, here are two more American first day covers celebrating the life and times of W E B Du Bois.
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