Peter, Here is a way to look backward that I hope spurs us forward as well.
” Whether you like it or not the millions are here, and here they will remain. If you do not lift them up, they will pull you down. Education must not simply teach work – it must teach life.” – W. E. B. Du Bois
Du Bois was and is a giant, an American sociologist, …
Peter, Here is a way to look backward that I hope spurs us forward as well.
” Whether you like it or not the millions are here, and here they will remain. If you do not lift them up, they will pull you down. Education must not simply teach work – it must teach life.” – W. E. B. Du Bois
Du Bois was and is a giant, an American sociologist, socialist, historian and Pan-Africanist civil rights activist; he was also the author of 21 books. The most remarkable among them, The Souls of Black Folk: Essays and Sketches, a 1903 work of American literature, It is a seminal work in the history of sociology, a cornerstone of African-American literature. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Souls_of_Black_Folk
He was a founder of the Niagara Movement, a collective of civil rights activists who drew up a statement of principles opposed to the Atlanta Compromise, a speech given by Booker T. Washington, president of the Tuskegee Institute, to the Cotton States and International Exposition in Atlanta, Georgia, on September 18, 1895. The Niagara Movement was a movement comprised of African-American intellectuals founded in 1905 at Niagara Falls. It was dedicated to obtaining civil rights for African-Americans. For more about the movement, see below.
Niagara Movement - Oberlin College and Conservatory
Du Bois was also a founder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and edited its journal, The Crisis. ‘… using his perch to draw attention to the still widespread practice of lynching, pushing for nationwide legislation that would outlaw the cruel extrajudicial killings. A 1915 article in the journal gave a year-by-year list of more than 2,700 lynchings over the previous three decades.’ (NAACP) See link below.
Du Bois is known for the concept of the “talented tenth.” ‘He believed that full citizenship and equal rights for African Americans would be brought about through the efforts of an intellectual elite; for this reason, he was an advocate of a broad liberal arts education at the college level.’
The more I look at the antics of politicians, the more I remember my cynical Neapolitan colleague's parting shot on returning to work after a coffee break:
"Andiamo far finta..."
(Let's go back and pretend to work.)
(The Soviet variation:
"They pretend to pay us and we pretend to work...")
Who can keep up with the speed and stupefying acceleration of change today?
Some few may understand what's going on but most politicians ran after the train and missed it... a long time ago...
So now they're like kids at play, giving us a great mime show, pretending the train's just coming in and they are getting on it... They who didn't even buy a ticket... and when they did, it was for the wrong train...
Many or most should in any case be kept well away from trains and the exercise of adult responsibilities, as they know only how to wreck things.
No, if the world's to be saved, it will be by ordinary people. Mainly, I suspect, women, thanks to greater mental flexibility. People who dare to be themselves, people who, when they see what needs doing -- and no one doing it -- just roll up their sleeves and get on with doing what needs to be done.
Some rare politicians fit this profile. Like Stacey Abrams.
Yes, Peter, as you wrote '..., if the world's to be saved, it will be by ordinary people.' We must see and act against what is happening before our eyes -- the Republicans, chief among them, DeSantis, are STOMPING on education, the precious lives of our children and the future of the country.
'And now, in 2022, we are in a new educational moment. Between January 2021 and January 2022, the legislatures of 35 states introduced 137 bills to keep students from learning about issues of race, LBGTQ+ issues, politics, and American history. More recently, the Republican-dominated legislature of Florida passed the Stop the Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees (Stop WOKE) Act, tightly controlling how schools and employee training can talk about race or gender discrimination.'
'Republican-dominated legislatures and school districts are also purging books from school libraries and notifying parents each time a child checks out a book. Most of the books removed are by or about Black people, people of color, or LGBTQ+ individuals.' (Letter)
Stay tuned for information about how states are destroying public school education.
Censorship by fascists. Our free speech needs to be revisited due to extremists' mind-control propagandist tactics. They sure are petrified of Democracy, Truth, Justice and our Melting Pot!
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for this, Fern, especially for that first quote. I'm a retired teacher and am finding it very painful to see what my former colleagues (and their students) are experiencing now. Also, I have read ABOUT W.E.B. Du Bois but have never read any of his actual works. Now I know where to start (I copied and pasted this into my notes app). Education is a lifelong endeavor.
Judith, I had an emotional response to your generosity. My readings of W.E.B. Du Bois began when I was ready, past fifty. It is natural for me to think of him, particularly, now. Thank you.
Thank you for sharing this, Fern. You capture the essence and brilliance of Du Bois. “The Talented Tenth.” And you also capture the “poverty “ and racism of our America, a country that since 1619 has marginalized and brutalized the African American. And any other human being who might be called “the other”.
Peter, Here is a way to look backward that I hope spurs us forward as well.
” Whether you like it or not the millions are here, and here they will remain. If you do not lift them up, they will pull you down. Education must not simply teach work – it must teach life.” – W. E. B. Du Bois
Du Bois was and is a giant, an American sociologist, socialist, historian and Pan-Africanist civil rights activist; he was also the author of 21 books. The most remarkable among them, The Souls of Black Folk: Essays and Sketches, a 1903 work of American literature, It is a seminal work in the history of sociology, a cornerstone of African-American literature. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Souls_of_Black_Folk
He was a founder of the Niagara Movement, a collective of civil rights activists who drew up a statement of principles opposed to the Atlanta Compromise, a speech given by Booker T. Washington, president of the Tuskegee Institute, to the Cotton States and International Exposition in Atlanta, Georgia, on September 18, 1895. The Niagara Movement was a movement comprised of African-American intellectuals founded in 1905 at Niagara Falls. It was dedicated to obtaining civil rights for African-Americans. For more about the movement, see below.
Niagara Movement - Oberlin College and Conservatory
https://www2.oberlin.edu/external/EOG/Niagara%20Movement/niagaramain.htm
Du Bois was also a founder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and edited its journal, The Crisis. ‘… using his perch to draw attention to the still widespread practice of lynching, pushing for nationwide legislation that would outlaw the cruel extrajudicial killings. A 1915 article in the journal gave a year-by-year list of more than 2,700 lynchings over the previous three decades.’ (NAACP) See link below.
https://naacp.org/find-resources/history-explained/civil-rights-leaders/web-du-bois
Du Bois is known for the concept of the “talented tenth.” ‘He believed that full citizenship and equal rights for African Americans would be brought about through the efforts of an intellectual elite; for this reason, he was an advocate of a broad liberal arts education at the college level.’
W.E.B. Du Bois and the Rise of Black Education
Thank you, Fern. This is precious.
*
The more I look at the antics of politicians, the more I remember my cynical Neapolitan colleague's parting shot on returning to work after a coffee break:
"Andiamo far finta..."
(Let's go back and pretend to work.)
(The Soviet variation:
"They pretend to pay us and we pretend to work...")
Who can keep up with the speed and stupefying acceleration of change today?
Some few may understand what's going on but most politicians ran after the train and missed it... a long time ago...
So now they're like kids at play, giving us a great mime show, pretending the train's just coming in and they are getting on it... They who didn't even buy a ticket... and when they did, it was for the wrong train...
Many or most should in any case be kept well away from trains and the exercise of adult responsibilities, as they know only how to wreck things.
No, if the world's to be saved, it will be by ordinary people. Mainly, I suspect, women, thanks to greater mental flexibility. People who dare to be themselves, people who, when they see what needs doing -- and no one doing it -- just roll up their sleeves and get on with doing what needs to be done.
Some rare politicians fit this profile. Like Stacey Abrams.
Yes, Peter, as you wrote '..., if the world's to be saved, it will be by ordinary people.' We must see and act against what is happening before our eyes -- the Republicans, chief among them, DeSantis, are STOMPING on education, the precious lives of our children and the future of the country.
'And now, in 2022, we are in a new educational moment. Between January 2021 and January 2022, the legislatures of 35 states introduced 137 bills to keep students from learning about issues of race, LBGTQ+ issues, politics, and American history. More recently, the Republican-dominated legislature of Florida passed the Stop the Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees (Stop WOKE) Act, tightly controlling how schools and employee training can talk about race or gender discrimination.'
'Republican-dominated legislatures and school districts are also purging books from school libraries and notifying parents each time a child checks out a book. Most of the books removed are by or about Black people, people of color, or LGBTQ+ individuals.' (Letter)
Stay tuned for information about how states are destroying public school education.
Censorship by fascists. Our free speech needs to be revisited due to extremists' mind-control propagandist tactics. They sure are petrified of Democracy, Truth, Justice and our Melting Pot!
Peter, I love your analogy of people "missing the train". It is so accurate of many in the rethuglican party.
❤️❤️❣️ What you said, Peter!
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for this, Fern, especially for that first quote. I'm a retired teacher and am finding it very painful to see what my former colleagues (and their students) are experiencing now. Also, I have read ABOUT W.E.B. Du Bois but have never read any of his actual works. Now I know where to start (I copied and pasted this into my notes app). Education is a lifelong endeavor.
Just yesterday I received a Summer Reads newsletter from Foreign Affairs with an article by W.E.B. Du Bois. It's from 1935, about Ethiopia/Abyssinia in the context of the Italian invasion of Abyssinia in 1935. It's one of the limited number of articles available to non-subscribers. https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/ethiopia/1935-10-01/inter-racial-implications-ethiopian-crisis
At the end of this article are links to two other articles, one of them also by Du Bois.
Thank you!
Judith, I had an emotional response to your generosity. My readings of W.E.B. Du Bois began when I was ready, past fifty. It is natural for me to think of him, particularly, now. Thank you.
Dear Pat, Now, more than ever, I remember the teachers who are part of my understanding, knowledge and care. Thank you.
Thank you for sharing this, Fern. You capture the essence and brilliance of Du Bois. “The Talented Tenth.” And you also capture the “poverty “ and racism of our America, a country that since 1619 has marginalized and brutalized the African American. And any other human being who might be called “the other”.
attempted like
Thank you, Citizen60. I am happy that you read it.
❤
Thanks Fern. Essential. Link to Niagara Movement info?
G. Zinn, Please see 'Niagara Movement -Oberlin College and Conservatory after opening the link.
https://www2.oberlin.edu/external/EOG/Niagara%20Movement/niagaramain.htm
❤️