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Articles on W.E.B. Du Bois

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Cicero defined ‘liberal arts’ in a book he wrote about rhetoric in a republic. ra-photos/E+ via Getty Images

What are the liberal arts? A literature scholar explains

When people hear the term ‘liberal arts,’ it may sound like a phrase with political overtones. A scholar of literature explains why that’s wrong and takes a closer look at its origin and meaning.
People wait in line for a free morning meal in Los Angeles in April 2020. High and rising inequality is one reason the U.S. ranks badly on some international measures of development. Frederic J. Brown/ AFP via Getty Images

US is becoming a ‘developing country’ on global rankings that measure democracy, inequality

The United States came in 41st worldwide on the UN’s 2022 sustainable development index, down nine spots from last year. A political historian explains the country’s dismal scores.
W.E.B. Du Bois in his office at The Crisis in New York City, 1925. W. E. B. Du Bois Papers (MS 312). Special Collections and University Archives, University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries

W.E.B. Du Bois embraced science to fight racism as editor of NAACP’s magazine The Crisis

As editor of the magazine for 24 years, Du Bois featured articles about biology, evolution, archaeology in Africa and more to refute the rampant scientific racism of the early 20th century.
Former presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Thabo Mbeki share a light moment at a meeting of the G8 and developing nations in Tokyo in 2000. EFE-EPA/Michel Euler

Mbeki and Obasanjo: case studies in the use of soft power in Africa’s interests

Former presidents Obasanjo and Mbeki have arguably made the most important contribution to Africa in the 21st Century by promoting peace, democracy, regional integration and pan-Africanism.
On May 27, 1919, British Prime Minister Lloyd George, Italian President Vittorio Orlando, French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau and American President Woodrow Wilson met May 27, 1919, during the Paris Peace Conference. Lee Jackson/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)

How the failures of the 1919 Versailles Peace Treaty set the stage for today’s anti-racist uprisings

Suffering a pandemic and the aftermath of a war that killed 50 million, the world in 1920 faced a turning point as it negotiated a new political order. As today, the key issue was racial inequality.
On Aug. 28, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., addresses marchers during his “I Have a Dream” speech at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington. AP/File

J. Edgar Hoover’s revenge: Information the FBI once hoped could destroy Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. has been declassified

Publication was justified of information from the FBI that Martin Luther King Jr. witnessed and celebrated a woman’s rape, writes a historian, who warns the FBI had long wanted to destroy King.
During Super Bowl LIII, will Atlanta’s long struggle for racial equality be highlighted or glossed over? Peter Ciro/flickr

Super Bowl LIII and the soul of Atlanta

The country’s ‘Black Mecca’ is hosting the Super Bowl. With the NFL’s national anthem controversy still lingering, this creates an undeniable paradox.

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