The Souls of Black Folk

The Souls of Black Folk
by W.E.B. Du Bois

This landmark in the literature of black protest eloquently affirms that it is beneath the dignity of a human being to beg for those rights that belong inherently to all mankind.

W.E.B. Du Bois (1868–1963), writer, civil rights activist, scholar, and editor, is one of the most significant intellectuals in American history. A founding member of the NAACP, editor for many years of The Crisis and three other journals, and author of seventeen books, his writings, speeches, and public debates brought fundamental changes to American race relations.

John Brown

John Brown
by W.E.B. Du Bois

This new edition of Du Bois's John Brown includes the text of the original 1909 edition and is accompanied by a major introduction that underscores Du Bois's intellectual and emotional debt to the martyred abolitionist. John David Smith's introduction asks new questions about Brown's influence on Du Bois's emerging thoughts on race and society. Smith also provides contextualizing documents, including letters from Brown to his family and Frederick Douglass's account of his last meeting with Brown.