Shawn Leigh Alexander

W. E. B. Du Bois: An American Intellectual and Activist - Library of African American Biography Shawn Leigh Alexander

Marc Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.; W. E. B. Du Bois was one of the most prolific African-American authors, scholars, and leaders of the twentieth century. In this book, Alexander traces the development of Du Bois' thought over time. Review Quotes: Shawn Leigh Alexander s thoughtful and comprehensive survey of one of the most important literary figures and political writers of the twentieth century will be useful at every level. General readers will find it wellwritten and up-to-date, and advanced professionals will find it a convenient and sophisticated review text.--Wilson J. Moses, professor of history, The Pennsylvania State University"Review Quotes: Alexander is a first-rate scholar.--John David Smith, professor, The University of North Carolina at CharlotteTable of Contents: The Early Years The Study of the Negro Du Bois, Booker T. Washington and Others: A Challenge of Leadership Building Movements: The NAACP, Pan-Africanism, Garvey, and a Renaissance Back to the Wings of Atlanta and the NAACP Redux Marching towards PeaceReview Quotes: Here is an admirable and accessible synthesis of Du Bois's life and work. This sophisticated and well-crafted book will serve undergraduate classes and graduate seminars, ordinary readers interested in learning of the scope of Du Bois's work, as well as sophisticated researchers plumbing the seemingly endless complexities of Du Boisian thought and practice.--Ernest Allen Jr., Emeritus Professor of Afro-American Studies, University of Massachusetts AmherstReview Quotes: Shawn Leigh Alexander's well-written and concise yet wide-reaching biography of W. E. B. Du Bois will help all students of African American history better understand the nuances of one of the most important black leaders of the twentieth century.--Pero Gaglo Dagbovie, author of What is African American History?Biographical Note: Shawn Leigh Alexander is associate professor and graduate director of African and African American studies and director of the Langston Hughes Center at the University of Kansas, where he specializes in African American social and intellectual history of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. He has published an anthology of T. Thomas Fortune's writings, T. Thomas Fortune, the Afro-American Agitator (2008); a study of African American civil rights activity in the post-Reconstruction era entitled, An Army of Lions: The Struggle for Civil Rights before the NAACP (2012); a reprint of William Sinclair s classic 1905 study, The Aftermath of Slavery: A Study of the Condition and Environment of the American Negro (2012); and a collection on racial violence after the Civil War, Reconstruction Violence and the Ku Klux Klan Hearings (2015)."Publisher Marketing: W. E. B. Du Bois was one of the most prolific African American authors, scholars, and leaders of the twentieth century, but none of his previous biographies have so practically and comprehensively introduced the man and his impact on American history as noted historian Shawn Alexander's W. E. B. Du Bois: An American Intellectual and Activist. Alexander tells Du Bois story in a clear and concise manner, exploring his racial strategy, civil rights activity, journalistic career, and his role as an international spokesman. The book also captures Du Bois s life as a historian, sociologist, artist, propagandist, and peace activist, while providing space for the voices of his chief critics: Booker T. Washington, Marcus Garvey, Walter White, the Young Turks of the NAACP not to mention the federal government s characterization of his ever-radicalizing beliefs, particularly after World War II. Alexander s analysis traces the development of Du Bois' thought over time, beginning with his formative years in New England and ending with his death in Ghana. Paying significantly more attention to the many pivotal and previously unexamined intellectual moments in his life, this biography illustrates the experiences that helped bend and mold the indispensable thinker that W. E. B. Du Bois became: the kind whose crowning achievement is his continued relevance in contemporary culture, from classrooms to curbsides."