"No nation threatens us. We threaten the world." - W.E.B. DuBois (1958), commenting on the role of the United States internationally.
It is easy to forget about W.E.B. DuBois since an orchestrated effort has been conducted by the larger society to minimize his contributions and, in fact, to expunge him from our collective memory. Beginning with the Cold War in the late 1940s, the government and the right-wing went out of their way to harass DuBois, restrict his travel and opportunities and limit his access to those who wanted to or needed to hear his words.
The work and life of DuBois was particularly significant because of his commitment to the struggle against racist discrimination at home, as well as against imperialism and colonialism abroad.
DuBois saw no inconsistency in taking up both struggles, usually at the same time. Thus, DuBois is acknowledged as the "father" of the modern Pan-African movement. He was directly involved in organizing and helping to lead the first five Pan African Congresses.
He also was one of the leaders, along with the great Paul Robeson, of the Council on African Affairs, a U.S.-based advocacy group on Africa which was, in many ways, a political ancestor of TransAfrica Forum. DuBois was also a founder of the NAACP, editor of its magazine, Crisis, and author of the monumental and definitive study "Black Reconstruction in America."
DuBois would probably have been heralded by the larger U.S. establishment if he had restricted his criticisms to racial matters in America. DuBois refused to be so constrained. His critique of U.S. society expanded over time to examining the economic roots of racial oppression, as well as his expansive analysis of Western colonialism and the U.S. role in propping up colonial empires, allegedly in the name of fighting communism.
Following World War II, when the United States came to the aid of various European colonial powers, in some cases reinforcing their domination, in other cases attempting to replace them, DuBois was one of the courageous few who would not be silenced. DuBois saw that anti-communism and red-baiting were not aimed at stopping the spread of a totalitarian ideology, but rather were aimed at silencing any and all dissent from policies that advanced corporate interests. For his recognition, the forces of repression came down upon him.
Ultimately DuBois chose to leave the United States and reside in Ghana. Before his death he began work on an encyclopedia of the African world. He did not live to complete it.
It is not enough for us to honor the memory of DuBois, though that is itself important. Reminding ourselves, and particularly younger activists and scholars of the renown of such a human being has a value in and of itself.
Yet for those who work with and support TransAfrica Forum, and other organizations committed to a democratic foreign policy on the part of the United States, the life and work of DuBois has an additional value.
All too often I hear people suggest that international events are too distant from the realities of the everyday person. DuBois repudiated such notions, suggesting instead that it is inconceivable that we, African Americans, can fight the good fight here in the United States for social justice in isolation from the fight for what we now call global justice. A system that would ignore the plague of HIV/AIDS as it ravages Africa and the Caribbean; a system that would promote the interests of pharmaceutical corporations over those of the individuals living with HIV/AIDS, can never be expected to discover humanity in its treatment of those of African descent living in the United States.
The reverse is also true. As often as we attempt to illustrate our patriotism through volunteering to support U.S. wars overseas and other such adventures, we may achieve awards and note, but it brings us no closer to achieving actual freedom, equality and dignity at home. To the extent to which we stand up for what is right rather than what the establishment deems to be popular, we regain our humanity. If there is no other lesson to learn from the work and life of W.E.B. DuBois, it is that one simple point.
Bill Fletcher Jr. is president of TransAfrica Forum, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit educational and organizing center formed to raise awareness in the United States about issues facing the nations and peoples of Africa, the Caribbean and Latin America. He also is co-chair of the anti-war coalition, United for Peace and Justice
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