The Negro

During the era commonly referred to as the Nadir (1877-1920) of American race relations, the understanding that an African cultural heritage and common experience was shared by people of African descent on a global scale.This realization resulted in a formalized Pan Africanist Movement. Activist and scholars throughout the African Diaspora convened in a 1900 Conference in London, England that was organized by a Trinidadian by the name of Sylvester Williams. This conference profoundly impacted a young scholar by the name of William Edward Burghardt DuBois (1868-1963) who was born in Great Barrington, MA. In his efforts to combat the assassination of African respectability on the world stage, DuBois worked tirelessly as an author and activist on behalf of African people. One of his greatest literary contributions, which also happens to be one of his most underappreciated, was a sophisticated little book that historicized the African Diaspora experience. The book's title - The Negro - was somewhat understated but the book succeeded in providing both depth and breadth to the first book every written on the African Diaspora. DuBois was the trailblazer for this field of study although this fact is not recognized among many of the scholars today who think of themselves as specialist or even proficient in the field of African Diaspora Studies. The Negro was published in 1915 and despite being nearly one hundred years old, it surpasses nearly all of the recent edited volumes and synthesis created on the subject.