W. E. B. Du Bois, American Prophet (Politics and Culture in Modern America) (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "SHORTLY BEFORE JOINING the Communist Party in 1961 and rejecting the United States in favor of citizenship in Ghana, the ninety-two-year-old W.E.B..." (more)
Key Phrases: white supremacist theology, cosmic sight, spiritual wage, African Americans, United States, Jesus Christ (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

...corrects a decades-old consensus view of Du Bois as a man of little or no religious feeling... -- San Diego State Universe, May 29, 2007

Blum's very well-written, well-documented book is full of rich information and hard insights. It should have special appeal for scholars and students in a range of disciplines, and especially in African American history, cultural studies, and American religion. -- Church History, March, 2008

Blum's work powerfully evokes both the spirit and substance of Du Bois's moral vision in ways that will greatly benefit students and scholars of American religious and intellectual history for years to come. -- The Journal of American History, June 2008

This book is compelling, engaging, illuminating, and at times combative. . . .anyone with even a casual interest in Du Bois must read this important book and come to terms with its thesis. -- American Historical Review, June 2008

This book is valuable for providing fresh insights into one of the greatest US intellectual activists of the 20th century . . . Highly recommended. -- Choice, April, 2008

This is a very readable biography, one that opens our eyes to the ease with which Christianity has been and can be used in the service of oppression -- The Christian Century Magazine, March, 25, 2008

Review

"This book is a marvelous probing into the unknown and unexplored dimension of the great W. E. B. Du Bois's life and work: his self-styled religious and spiritual temperament. Edward Blum is to be congratulated for this grand contribution!"—Cornel West, Princeton University

"Blum's work powerfully evokes both the spirit and substance of Du Bois's moral vision in ways that will greatly benefit students and scholars of American religious and intellectual history for years to come."—Journal of American History

"From comprehensive and original archival research, Blum reveals a Du Bois who from the beginning to the end of his career was obsessed with religion, its rhetoric, typologies, practices, and moral virtues. This book—really, an intervention—is long overdue."—Callaloo

"A greater tribute to the man cannot be found, even in the works of the most seasoned Du Bois scholars."—Church History

"Blum illuminates the entire range of Du Bois's writings, showing him as a prophetic thinker at times, a deliverer of jeremiads, a composer of creeds, an appreciator of the spirituality of everyday folk, and a visionary who anticipated trends in black theology and womanist theology. A truly valuable contribution to African American and American religious history."—Paul Harvey, University of Colorado

"In this eloquent and penetrating book, Edward Blum explores a crucial but neglected aspect of the life and times of W. E. B. Du Bois: the intersection of race and religion. . . . He gives us, as no one else has, a new Du Bois. It is a signal accomplishment and should be required reading for anyone interested in American protest literature and the role of religion in social reform."—John Stauffer, author of The Black Hearts of Men

"Edward Blum has offered us a remarkably fresh, provocative, and searching reading of Du Bois, one that places religion and spirituality at the center of his thought and sensibilities. But he has offered us something more as well: an important engagement with religion and the construction of race—of blackness and whiteness—in America."—Steven Hahn, author of A Nation under Our Feet: Black Political Struggles in the Rural South from Slavery to the Great Migration

"While W. E. B. Du Bois's many prescient ideas on race and the color line are often quoted, he is rarely characterized in the sacred prophetic sense. In this first comprehensive study of the religious meaning and biblical references in Du Bois's writings, Edward Blum brilliantly and movingly renders the complex soul of this intellectual giant, who demanded his people's deliverance from a sin-sick world of racial injustice."—Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, author of Righteous Discontent: The Women's Movement in the Black Baptist Church, 1880-1920

"With this book Edward J. Blum solidified his reputation as one of the most singular and innovative scholars writing on religion and race today."—Journal of Southern History

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press (May 29, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812240103
• ISBN-13: 978-0812240108
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #658,966 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Major Reinterpretion of the Life and Thought of W.E.B. Du Bois, February 6, 2008

By	Roger D. Launius "Historian" (Washington, D.C., United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Like many others I had long ago gained enormous respect for W.E.B. Du Bois, one of the outstanding leaders in race relations in the hundred years immediately after the American Civil War. As a writer, lecturer, scholar, and teacher he was a persistent voice for equality of opportunity, integration of society, and the civil rights of African Americans. I had never thought of him, however, as a religious thinker. That is, until now.

In this marvelous new book by Edward J. Blum, an historian at San Diego State University, Du Bois emerges as a major thinker in Christianity and the social gospel. As Blum demonstrates, Du Bois was in no small measure motivated by the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, by the moral teachings of scripture, and by the thinking of theologians throughout the ages. And in this aspect of his life, like all others, Du Bois found ample scriptural and moral teaching advancing equality of all people. It is an eye-opening and unexplored aspect of Du Bois's character and one that all future investigators of his life and career will have to bring into the discussion of his other activities. As Blum shows, Du Bois's work cannot be understood absent his spiritual life.

This work is a fine analysis that progresses through a series of Du Bois's writings to probe the depths of his moral and spiritual beliefs. A major chapter on "The Souls of Black Folk," as only one example, demonstrates the significance of his seeking universal truth in religion. Part sociological analysis, literary criticism, and theological exploration, Blum's work on Du Bois offers a new avenue for understanding one of the towering figures in American race relations. It is a brilliant, authoritative, and seminal study that all scholars of U.S. religion, race relations, and the early twentieth century will find invaluable.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Long Overdue, July 24, 2007

By	M. Johnson "Rev. Matthew V. Johnson, Sr., Ph.D." (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This exceptionally engrossing read of the spiritual depths of DuBois's opus is a long overdue correction to the biased, poorly nuanced "examinations" of DuBois and religion in traditional DuBois scholarship. Blum's work inadvertently highlights the deeper problem of religious illiteracy in the larger liberal educational establishment which sustains the enlightenment prejudices against religion or the study of as a necessary contributor to our stock of knowledge concerning human race and culture. The illiteracy in the American Academy grows out of a profound ignorance of and malign neglect of religious studies and hence are rife with simplistic assumptions about what spirituality really is and the range of ways religion and spirituality can manifest itself in and through people's lives. Blum's work in the quiet courage of solid and profoundly insightful scholarship lifts and deepens our sense of the impact of religion and spirituality in the most important opus on what continues to be the defining issue in American society and culture. Thank you, Dr. Blum!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A New Look at W.E.B. Du Bois, July 27, 2007

By	Phillip L. Sinitiere (Houston, Texas) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The spiritual dimensions of W.E.B. Du Bois is the subject of a new book by Edward J. Blum, a history professor at San Diego State University. Blum's compelling work goes against the grain of previous Du Bois biographers, who uniformly claim that Du Bois was either agnostic or atheist.

Blum's volume uncovers Bu Bois's multiple religious selves, and since the biographical details of his life are relatively well known, Blum resists a chronological approach and instead offers an innovative, thematic analysis that investigates The Souls of Black Folk (Enriched Classics Series), Du Bois's sociology of religion, his understanding of Christianity and Communism, the uses of religion in Du Bois's creative work, and the reception of the spiritual Du Bois among students, scholars, and cultural critics. Blum canvasses Du Bois's massive corpus, not only including weighty academic works, but also letters, literary expressions, and even prayers written for students at Atlanta University in 1909-1910, published in 1980 as Prayers for Dark People.

The result of this thematic investigation is a convincing picture of the multiple ways Du Bois engaged religion--and in particular Christianity. One of the book's major contributions is to show when, where, how, and why Du Bois brought spiritual insight to bear on global issues he investigated both historically and sociologically, particularly those related to black Americans. It is interesting to note that Du Bois's commetaries on the issues of his time still resonate deeply with today's concerns--something I suppose prophets are able to do.

Blum's book is clearly an academic work, but unlike many scholarly monographs, it also speaks to students and other curious, interested readers, a notable achievement and something for other writers to emulate. Blum's work is a must read for anyone interested in American history, religious history, or even world history.

There is no doubt _W.E.B. Du Bois, American Prophet_ will stand as one of the most important works for understanding this important historical figure. Be sure to pick up your copy today.