W. E. B. Du Bois, American Prophet (Politics and Culture in Modern America) | 
 enlarge | Author: Edward J. Blum
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
Category: Book
List Price: $39.95
Buy New: $24.00
You Save: $15.95 (40%)
New (25) Used (6) from $24.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  7 reviews
Sales Rank: 522551
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 288
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 9 x 5.9 x 1.2
ISBN: 0812240103
Dewey Decimal Number: 305.8960730092
EAN: 9780812240108
ASIN: 0812240103
Publication Date: May 29, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand new hardcover and dustjacket. No markings whatsoever. In stock, ships in 1-2 business days. Free delivery confirmation on all domestic orders. International orders ship via priority mail.
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Pioneering historian, sociologist, editor, novelist, poet, and organizer, W. E. B. Du Bois was one of the foremost African American intellectuals of the twentieth century. While Du Bois is remembered for his monumental contributions to scholarship and civil rights activism, the spiritual aspects of his work have been misunderstood, even negated. W. E. B. Du Bois, American Prophet, the first religious biography of this leader, illuminates the spirituality that is essential to understanding his efforts and achievements in the political and intellectual world.
Often labeled an atheist, Du Bois was in fact deeply and creatively involved with religion. Historian Edward J. Blum reveals how spirituality was central to Du Bois's approach to Marxism, pan-Africanism, and nuclear disarmament, his support for black churches, and his reckoning of the spiritual wage of white supremacy. His writings, teachings, and prayers served as articles of faith for fellow activists of his day, from student book club members to Langston Hughes.
A blend of history, sociology, literary criticism, and religious reflection in the model of Du Bois's best work, W. E. B. Du Bois, American Prophet recasts the life of this great visionary and intellectual for a new generation of scholars and activists.
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 2 more reviews...
The Body Politic of Religion August 26, 2008
The winds of change. But for all of the change that we have experienced in America, nothing much has truly changed at all. When W.E.B. Du Bois wrote The Souls of Black Folk in 1903, he spoke eloquently of the "color line" in America. It was his answer to the question, "How does it feel [add "black man"] to be a problem?" To that, his answer was, in so many words and paraphrased by me, "I'm not the problem, America has a problem--and that is the problem of the color line."
With amazing detail and a highly introspective look into this religious aspect of Du Bois' life, Edward J. Blum, a history teacher at San Diego State University, delves into the one aspect of Du Bois' life that remains open for debate to this day. The question of who or what did he believe in that inspired him to touch the minds, hearts, and the souls of folk in the way that he did. Some thought him a man of faith, but many men of faith begged to differ--questioning his beliefs and his faith, and he often left them wondering if he had any faith at all.
For a man whose writings and work often paralleled Bible stories, he appeared disconnected from church traditions and religiosity, but still connected to his faith in God. Today's community of Bible thumpers would have called him a "spiritualist," rather than a Christian.
Hallie Queen, says Blum, likened the chapter called 'Of our Spiritual Strivings' to the 137th Psalm in character and significance, and indeed, the struggle of the black man in America very much paralleled the struggle of the ancient Hebrews in Egypt. Had it not been for the lost sense of community and individual connectivity, the spiritual strivings of the American black man were exactly as those of the Hebrews, except that there were many "pharoahs" called 'the written law' rather than one ruler who could change his mind on a whim.
Blum re-examines Du Bois' life and his historical record from a different and refreshing perspective. It would appear to some that the black nationalism and black liberation theology of Du Bois' writings were diametrically opposed to religion, but Du Bois appears instead to be walking a tightrope between the two.
It has been rumored in the black community that whatever hurts whites devastates blacks. If, as Karl Marx said, religion is the 'opiate of the masses,' then for blacks, religion may be the cluster bomb that wiped out the effectiveness of the black church in handling the ongoing pressures of blackness in society. As tax laws changed and churches were cornered into losing their exemption status for protesting too loudly on the political scene, what amounted to a matter of exemptions for white churches became a matter of ending centuries of rhetoric against racial injustice in America for black churches. What was fought in court originated in church for most blacks, and if one were to say the church "weakened" the black man's political stance before, it was easier to say this move "watered it down."
The "weak" black church was the only podium from which a black man could take a calculated stand in the fight for equality and still be heard; but that church has traded out the speeches of justice in exchange for the speeches of prosperity. If Du Bois was both sinner and saint, it was not because he hated religion, but because he hated the use of religious entities to defraud, bully, and control the masses. He did not shun religion, but often used it to counter some of the traditions that men embraced.
In summary, the author comes close to the edge of defending the 'religion' of W.E.B. Du Bois, who died as misunderstood as he was when he lived, and yet he made a deep impact on all who have seen, heard, or read of him. He was labeled a radical, and was largely ignored by those who had hoped that his massive contributions would be buried along side of him, But, as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote, "history cannot ignore W.E.B. DuBois because history has to reflect truth, and Dr. DuBois was a tireless explorer and a gifted discoverer of social truths...his singular greatness lay in his quest for truth about his own people..."
In the final chapter, entitled The Passing of the Prophet, Blum repeats Du Bois' words of courage. "Beyond The Veil," he (Du Bois) wrote in 1897, ["the veil" being the insidious Color Line of our yesterdays and todays] lies an undiscovered country, a land of new things, of change, of experiment, of wild hope, and somber realization, of superlatives and italics - of wondrously blended poetry and prose." Blum states, "Du Bois inhabited that realm for much of his lifetime, let us strive to join him there."
Reviewed by Marjani
for The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers
A Major Reinterpretion of the Life and Thought of W.E.B. Du Bois February 6, 2008
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
Like many others I had long ago gained enormous respect for W.E.B. Du Bois, one of the outstanding leaders in race relations in the hundred years immediately after the American Civil War. As a writer, lecturer, scholar, and teacher he was a persistent voice for equality of opportunity, integration of society, and the civil rights of African Americans. I had never thought of him, however, as a religious thinker. That is, until now.
In this marvelous new book by Edward J. Blum, an historian at San Diego State University, Du Bois emerges as a major thinker in Christianity and the social gospel. As Blum demonstrates, Du Bois was in no small measure motivated by the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, by the moral teachings of scripture, and by the thinking of theologians throughout the ages. And in this aspect of his life, like all others, Du Bois found ample scriptural and moral teaching advancing equality of all people. It is an eye-opening and unexplored aspect of Du Bois's character and one that all future investigators of his life and career will have to bring into the discussion of his other activities. As Blum shows, Du Bois's work cannot be understood absent his spiritual life.
This work is a fine analysis that progresses through a series of Du Bois's writings to probe the depths of his moral and spiritual beliefs. A major chapter on "The Souls of Black Folk," as only one example, demonstrates the significance of his seeking universal truth in religion. Part sociological analysis, literary criticism, and theological exploration, Blum's work on Du Bois offers a new avenue for understanding one of the towering figures in American race relations. It is a brilliant, authoritative, and seminal study that all scholars of U.S. religion, race relations, and the early twentieth century will find invaluable.
Thoroughly Scripted and Researched November 8, 2007
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
WEB DuBois:American Prophet is an absolute gem for in the ever expanding field of religious history. Blum's ability to analyze his sources and to use them to discover the spiritual side of DuBois allows the reader to understand the real DuBois. Blum is able to dismiss the idea that DuBois was secular in nature. A must have for all religious historians!!!!
Prophetic religion for the rest of us August 20, 2007
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
This is a beautiful book, lucid, passionate, rigorous, and engaged. Blum's pathbreaking consideration of DuBois as a key religious figure in America transforms the "black church" model that has needlessly constrained the story of African American spiritual striving, and powerfully dislodges the religious/secular dividing line that has likewise constrained scholarship on DuBois in all of the disciplines that claim him. This is the beginning of a new and needed conversation on prophetic faith in America, one to which historians and scholars who might otherwise have little truck with religion may join their voices without apology.
Definitive August 6, 2007
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
This is without question the definitive study of Du Bois and his relationship to religion, faith, and the church. Not only is the scholarship top notch, but the prose are thoughtful, rich, and compelling. It is so well written, so well-researched, and so engaging for anyone interested in religion in American history, race and religion, and the genius of WEB Du Bois.
Blum delves in to so much with respectable sensitivity, and his analysis and insights go much deeper than all other biographers concerning Du Bois's relationship to religion.
Brilliant. Highly recommended for students, professors, people interested in religious studies, history, identity, etc.
|
|
|
