Reconsidering the Souls of Black Folk : Thoughts on the Groundbreaking Classic Work of W. E. B. Dubois

by Crouch, Stanley

• ISBN13: 9780762416998
• ISBN10: 0762416998
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-12-15
• Publisher: Perseus Books Group

Summary

Written with passionate conviction, The Souls of Black Folk was and is an eloquent attack on the complacency of those who see the struggle of African Americans as less than an urgent matter. Writing in 1903, W.E.B. DuBois predicted that "the problem of the 20th century is the problem of the color line." DuBois was right, and the issues outlined in his provocative essay, and his proposed solutions, still scream for our attention. Now is the perfect juncture to reread and reassess DuBois's classic work. In Reconsidering the Souls of Black Folk, noted journalists and commentators Playthell Benjamin and Stanley Crouch do precisely that. Taking very different -- and nuanced -- positions on DuBois and his life and thought, Crouch and Benjamin treat the reader to a duel of two of the wittiest pens in America. Here is a book that journalists and historians will relish, and that will appeal to all people of conscience. Book jacket.

Author Biography

Stanley Crouch is a columnist, novelist, essayist, and television commentator. He has served since 1987 as an artistic consultant at Lincoln Center and is a co-founder of the department known as Jazz at Lincoln Center. He is the author of Notes of a Hanging Judge and The Artificial White Man, among other titles. He lives in New York City. Never less than penetrating and controversial, Playthell Benjamin is a veteran columnist and critic whose work has appeared on many websites as well as in publications such as The World & I and the Village Voice.

Table of Contents

Introduction	4	(2)
Playthell Benjamin
The Souls of Black Folk: Poetry, Prophecy, Pioneering Social Science	6	(2)
The Historical Context in Which Souls Was Born	8	(6)
The Struggle For a First-Rate Liberal Education	14	(9)
The Struggle to Study Abroad	23	(7)
The Engaged Scholar Takes the Field	30	(5)
The Philadelphia Negro	35	(15)
The Philadelphia Negro: A Final Word	50	(1)
Some Antecedents of Souls	51	(51)
A reply from Stanley Crouch
A Two-Part Invention on the Black Willie Blues
Blues To Be There	69	(10)
Blues in the Background	79	(23)
Playthell Benjamin
The Souls of Black Folk: Interpreting the Text	102	(39)
A Note on Life After Souls	141	(16)
Some Reflections on the Legacy of W.E.B. DuBois	157	(28)
The Legacy (Part II)	185	(1)
The Historians	186	(13)
The Legacy (Part III)	199	(1)
The Sociologists	200	(11)
Some Parting Thoughts	211
A reply from Stanley Crouch
A Hundred Years Hence: Blues to Be DuBois	214
The Legacy of DuBois	244