The Souls of Black Folk

The Souls of Black Folk by W. E. B. Du Bois Herein is Written The Forethought I. Of Our Spiritual Strivings II. Of the Dawn of Freedom III. Of Mr. Booker T. Washington and Others IV. Of the Meaning of Progress V. Of the Wings of Atalanta VI. Of the Training of Black Men VII. Of the Black Belt VIII. Of the Quest of the Golden Fleece IX. Of the Sons of Master and Man X. Of the Faith of the Fathers XI. Of the Passing of the First-Born XII. Of Alexander Crummell XIII. Of the Coming of John XIV. Of the Sorrow Songs The Afterthought To Burghardt and Yolande The Lost and the Found The Forethought Herein lie buried many things which if read with patience may show the strange meaning of being black here at the dawning of the Twentieth Century. This meaning is not without interest to you, Gentle Reader; for the problem of the Twentieth Century is the problem of the color line. I pray you, then, receive my little book in all charity, studying my words with me, forgiving mistake and foible for sake of the faith and passion that is in me, and seeking the grain of truth hidden there. I have sought here to sketch, in vague, uncertain outline, the spiritual world in which ten thousand thousand Americans live and strive. First, in two chapters I have tried to show what Emancipation meant to them, and what was its aftermath. In a third chapter I have pointed out the slow rise of personal leadership, and criticized candidly the leader who bears the chief burden …