WEB Du Bois he was a `leader from the `Harlem Renaissance` era

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W . E . Du Bois : Leader From The Harlem Renaissance

William Edward Burghart Du Bois was born in Barrington , Massachusetts on 23rd February , 1868 . His parents were Alfred Du Bois and Silvina Burghardt Du Bois . He grew up in a predominantly white neighborhood Both his parents were free people of color . When he was two years of age , his father deserted his mother . Du Bois ' mother suffered stroke when he was still young thereby making them depend on other family members . He also worked after school

because her mother was unable to perform any chores . Du Bois believed he could make their situation better through education . He impressed some whites from the neighborhood who offered to rent out a place for him and his mother . While in Great Barringnton , Du Bois performed odd jobs to sustain his ailing mother While at school , he did not view himself as different from other students because of his color . However , there were instances when he could feel out of place especially when visitors from other towns came to great Barrington . One such occasion was when a girl refused an offer from him saying that she does not accept things from blacks . This incident was to shape his view towards himself , the black community and the whites

Regardless of his status as a poor boy without a father , Du Bois exhibited extreme intellectual capability . His intelligence did not go unnoticed thus making many people to encourage him to pursue further education . Through his success in academics , Du Bois believed that he could empower African American . In 1888 , he received a degree from Fisk University and joined Harvard College in the fall of that same year Among his notable achievements is being the first African American to receive a doctorate degree . He also got involved with the budding discipline of Sociology at the University of Berlin which profoundly shaped his future academic career . His encounter with Sociology offered him a basis for engaging in intellectual activism besides confirming his political vocation (Aptheker , 1989 ) Du Bois viewed racial prejudice as irrational and was convinced that an objective and rational view about human life was possible . His time in Germany sharpened his view on race holding the view that every race possessed distinctive talent

While at Atlanta University which he joined in 1898 , Du Bois taught wrote and oversaw the Atlanta Studies for a decade . Atlanta Studies was meant to provide a sociological picture of the life of African Americans through yearly series of monographs and conferences . During this period he edited his work , The Souls of Black Folk , which was intended to portray the subjective human reality of those he considered as living within the 'veil . This work was responsible for his stepping into the realm of racial politics . Even though the work was meant for white audience , its impact was to be on the blacks especially among the artists and who came out in the Harlem Renaissance . Du Bois played a...