I hope you are enjoying our first book selection, The Souls of Black Folk. Here are some memorable passages for me:
“Herein lies the tragedy of the age: not that men are poor, –all men know something of poverty, not that men are wicked,–who is good? No that men are ignorant,–what is Truth? Nay, but that men know so little of men.”
”It is, then, the strife of all honorable men of the twentieth century to see that in the future competition of races the survival of the fittest shall mean the triumph of the good, the beautiful, and the true; that we may be able to preserve for future civilization all that is really fine and noble and strong, and not continue to put a premium on greed and impudence and cruelty.”
“Even so is the hope that sang in the songs of my fathers well sung. If somewhere in this whirl and chaos of things there dwells Eternal Good, pitiful yet masterful, then anon in His good time Americana shall rend the Veil and the prisoned shall go free. Free, free as the sunshine trickling down the morning into these high windows of mine, free as yonder fresh young voices welling up to me from the caverns of brick and mortar below—swelling with song, instinct with life, tremulous treble and darkening bass. My children, my little children, are singing to the sunshine, and this they sing.”
What passages speak to you?
Sep 22, 2010 @ 13:58:29
I think this book is awesome. Those passages are some of my favorites too. And to me, this book, though written in the early 1900s, still rings very true today in its ideas and principles.
Sep 22, 2010 @ 20:08:59
Dr. McLemore assigned this reading in Black Political Thought. I didn’t learn to appreciate the reading until sometime later and required my honors students to read excerpts of the book in a government class. Someone toldme it was too complex for my student but I have had students tell me this is their favorite book! Thanks Dr. McLemore, your efforts have extended farther than me. Jennifer R. Shorter, ABD
Sep 22, 2010 @ 22:35:03
So here we stand among thoughts of human unity, even through conquest and slavery; the inferiority of black men, even if forced by fraud; a shriek in the night for the freedom of men who themselves are not yet sure of their right to demand it. This is the tangle of thought and afterthought wherein we are called to solve the problem of training men for life
Sep 23, 2010 @ 01:31:42
These words of DuBois remind me that many prophets are not recognized as such while they live upon this earth. Inasmuch as their words outlive their corporeal beings, their lives will illuminate many lives yet unlived.
I have been privileged to personally have known, and even to have been mentored by, some such prophets. I am privileged now to have such words to read, via such a resource as this website.
Thanks, God bless, and Godspeed in the good work.
Sep 23, 2010 @ 06:59:20
As teacher of record in Hist 449-01 and Hist 530-01 commonly called Black History from 1865-1920, my students are required to delve into the mindset and conceptual framework for the era under scrutiny. The Souls of Black Folks does this for them in the latter half of the course. Great selection. Excellent reading. Go Mack go!
Sep 23, 2010 @ 07:41:55
I have not had the pleasure of reading the entire book; however, we have been discussing DuBois in my Philosophy class instructed by Dr. Holbrook. He said so many wonderful things and it seemed as if he forseen the future of Black People. I am a nontraditional student and it seems as if JSU is getting better and richer in culture all the time- to me, there are many heroes of the Civil Rights’ Movement-it is nice to read about different folks
W.E.B. DuBois was one of the greatest philosophers of any color during his lifetime.
Sep 23, 2010 @ 10:58:26
Please check out SANKOFA Reading Group’s blog on The Souls of Black Folk at
http://sankofareadinggroup.blogspot.com/2010/09/welcome-to-sankofa-reading-groups-blog.html
SANKOFA Reading Group is an auxiliary of Women For Progress of MS, Inc. and we have decided to join the JSU community in reading The Souls of Black Folk. We have posted photos and interesting youtube clips on our blog.
Check it out!
Sep 23, 2010 @ 11:08:22
Some memorable passages for me in The Souls of Black Folk include the following
from the first essay entitled “Of Our Spiritual Strivings” :
“How does it feel to be a problem?”
“It is a peculiar sensation, this double-consciousness, this sense of always looking at one’s self through the eyes of others, of measuring one’s soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt.”
“The history of the American Negro is the history of this strife, –this longing to attain self-conscious manhood, to merge his double self into a better and truer self”
Sep 25, 2010 @ 23:45:27
I have not had the pleasure of reading this awesome book. However, all of the passages posted spoke to me. The one with the greatest impact was the last passage. Key phrases: “in His good time Americana shall rend the Veil and the prisoned shall go free.” Keyword: “prisoned” shall go free”, relates across the board to any soul that is prisoned by anything shall go free when the Veil (of whatever is the hindrance) is removed. “A mind is a terrible thing to waste.” Unfortunately, the mind is where the “prison” is stationed. This Reading Community is fantastic. Thanks. I am proud of my university.
Sep 27, 2010 @ 09:50:37
W.E.B. DuBois was a social critic of his own time and place, a historian, and a prophet. His concept of double consciousness expands into the multiple consciousness that defines us all today. We view ourselves as we are, as we would be, and as we are seen by others. We fill multiple roles simultaneously and often subconsciously. We are defined by, limited by, oppressed by, and inspired to greatness by the sum of these often discordant views of self. This book continues to be one of the most relevant and insightful that I have ever read and has universal applications across all cultures.
Sep 27, 2010 @ 12:31:37
Dear Dr. McLemore,
I am so glad that you assigned this reading at Jackson State University. I am a proud, 2001 graduate of JSU from the Ph.D. Program in Public Administration. My first teaching appointment started in January 2002 at the very HBCU whose founding can almost directly be attributed to Dr. DuBois’ Souls of Black Folk, Albany State University. In 1903, after reading Dr. DuBois’ work, Rev. Dr. Joseph Winthrop Holley traveled to Albany, Dougherty County, GA to open a Manual and Bible Training Institute for blacks.
The two chapters that resonated for him as they do now for me are Chapters 7 and 8 that discuss Dr. DuBois’ visit to this region to study the life of blacks post emancipation. Dr. Holley was so moved and inspired to come here in the heart of the Black (Slave) belt to improve the circumstances for so many in need.
Sep 27, 2010 @ 14:39:51
I would ask everyone that is enjoying reading The Souls of Black Folk to please check out SANKOFA Reading Group’s blog at:
http://sankofareadinggroup.blogspot.com/
Sign in and comment and tell us what you think of the blog.
Thanks!
Jan 25, 2011 @ 19:25:57
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