Saving the Race : Conversations on Du Bois from a Collective Memoir of Souls

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Summary: A twenty-first century perspective on The Souls of Black Fol
Review: William Edward Burghardt Du Bois is perhaps one of the most influential African-Americans in history. Before there was a Martin Luther King, Jr. or Malcolm X, Du Bois was a voice and conscience of a people. An intellectual, scholar and activist, Du Bois' fight for equality spanned from the era of Reconstruction to the Civil Rights Movement. His philosophy and insight into the plight of African-Americans still reigns true and valuable today. In SAVING THE RACE: CONVERSATIONS ON DU BOIS FROM A COLLECTIVE MEMOIR OF SOULS author Rebecca Carroll gathers eighteen well-known and influential African-Americans such as: Julian Bond, A'Leila Bundles, Lalita Tademy, Toure, and Jewell Jackson McCabe to discuss their perspective on Du Bois and his most famous and studied work The Souls of Black Folk.
In candid essays, each of the eighteen people, whose accomplishments range from writer to politicians, discuss their thoughts on Du Bois's work, ideology and accomplishments. They revisit issues raised in The Souls of Black Folk such as race, classism, injustices and hope. Each person reveals how the concerns raised by Du Bois nearly a century ago are still relevant today to African-Americans as a community and within their own personal lives. Rebecca Carroll also peppers the book with her personal struggles of coming to terms with being Black in America, for she was a bi-racial child raised by a White family in rural New Hampshire. At times isolated and unsure of her identity, Du Bois was one of Carroll's first and most influential personal testament to the trials and tribulations of African-Americans.

I thoroughly enjoyed the testimony by the many well known African-Americans. Looking at The Souls of Black Folks from a modern perspective was refreshing and inspiring. The essays were revealing and thought provoking. Although the old adage "The more things change the more they stay the same," reigns true in many instances, the accomplishments, hope, dignity and pride that African-Americans have managed to hang on to in the face of enormous obstacles is nothing short of a miracle.

Reviewed by L. Raven James
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers