NAACP

W.E.B Du Bois

How W.E.B. Du Bois Used Innovative Communication To Advance Social Justice

I receive many free books to review for this site, but I don’t always have the time to read them unless I find a book that really speaks to me.  I recently read A People’s Art History of the United States by Nicolas Lampert, which documents how art and visual communication shaped American social movements over the last four hundred years.

One chapter that caught my attention was about civil rights activist and journalist W.E.B. Du Bois.  In 1910 when Du Bois became the director of publicity and research for the NAACP, he also became the editor for its monthly magazine, The Crisis.  At the time, a growing number of lynchings were taking place throughout the South. According to the Tuskegee Institute, an estimated 4,724 people were lynched in the United States from 1882 to 1968, and two-thirds of them were African-American.  Blacks were lynched for pretty much any “suspected” reason.

a reply to mr holmes from alabama. cortesy of University of Wisconsin MilwaukeeDu Bois used his platform at The Crisis to speak out about the killings. Using photographs and eyewitness accounts, The Crisis became the leading publication in the country that regularly reported lynchings.

This postcard was published in the January 1912 edition of The Crisis.  As was common at the time, photographers present at lynchings would process their images and print postcards on-site to sell to the crowd as “souvenirs.”  This particular postcard was sent to anti-lynching advocate Rev. John Haynes Holmes to intimidate him.  Du Bois reprinted the postcard in The Crisis to show the world the reality and prevalence of this horrific practice.  At the time, it wasn’t common to see images of lynchings, even in the black press.

Du Bois also published lynching images of Jesse Washington (below), a mentally disabled black teenager in Waco, Texas, who was found guilty of raping and murdering a white woman.  While Washington did confess to the murder, there was never any evidence that a rape had taken place.  Following his conviction, Washington was castrated, mutilated, stabbed, and beaten before he was lynched.  His body was then lowered into a fire, cut into pieces, and distributed as “souvenirs” to the crowd.  As a finale, his torso was dragged through the streets.

Jesse Washington. Image credit: Library of CongressThe images are truly shocking, to say the least.  But what is even more shocking is that photographers took pictures of the lynchings for profit, and then people would buy them to mail to friends like they were postcards from an exotic travel destination.  This practice became so popular that in 1908 the U.S. Postmaster General banned mailing lynching postcards.  It also speaks volumes about the low-value African-Americans had at the time.

This is why Du Bois was determined to publish and reappropriate the images.  This was truly a case where images speak louder than words.  “Let everyone read this and act,” Du Bois once said.

A Man Was Lynched Yesterday. Image Credit: Library of CongressDu Bois also took his anti-lynching activism to the streets – literally.  This flag hung outside the New York NAACP offices on Fifth Avenue.  This image was the first thing that introduced me to the organization while learning about black history as a younger student.  It was a brilliant way to bring attention to the crime to those in the North and establish an advocacy brand for the organization.

While he made a name for himself and The Crisis with the anti-lynching campaign, Du Bois also knew that to fight racism, and he had to counter it with positive images of successful African-Americans.  This was largely driven by his controversial theory that the “talented tenth” percent of educated, middle-class blacks will guide the 90 percent of working-class blacks.  He was also an early supporter of the Harlem Renaissance and frequently published Langston Hughes, Laura Wheeler Waring, Alan LockeCountee Cullen, Claude McKay, and Romare Bearden.

Whether he was publishing images of an affluent black couple that just got married or putting on a silent march in solidarity with the East St. Louis race riots victims, Du Bois not only helped to change the way whites viewed African Americans but also how African Americans viewed themselves.  Du Bois’ work at The Crisis is a major milestone for racial uplift for African-Americans and advocacy journalism.

Interview with NAACP chairman Roslyn Brock

Roslyn McCallister Brock, chairman of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) national board, was the keynote speaker at the centennial gala for the Boston Branch on September 17. Last year she succeeded Julian Bond, becoming the fourth woman and the youngest person to serve in the position. In recent years, the organization has been accused of lacking relevance and not addressing the concerns of younger African Americans. However, during the gala, it seemed like there was an explicit effort to redress these complaints.

Watch the video interview here

Voices From “The State of Black Boston”

The Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts (ULEM) hosted the “State of Black Boston” (SOBB) conference July 25 to announce its report of the same name, which showcases various social issues affecting black Bostonians.  This meeting was held ahead of the National Urban League conference, which is hosting its annual meeting in the city for the first time since 1976.

Many are hoping that the national conference will help erase the belief among many African-Americans nationwide that Boston is racist, due to the infamous school busing and Charles Stuart incidents.  While this hope to change racial stereotypes is in the air, others are weary that there is little change within the Urban League, specifically around issues affecting younger demographics.

Watch the video here

Tyler Perry’s off-screen performances are worthy of NAACP honor

By Talia Whyte

theGrio

Filmmaker Tyler Perry will receive the Chairman’s Award at tonight’s NAACP Image Awards. This high honor is bestowed upon those who have established themselves through distinguished public service. Previous winners have been President Obama, environmental activist Wangari Maathai and former Vice President Al Gore.

Okay, so lets get the obvious out on the table first. Perry has many critics – myself included – who feel that his films and television shows have done a disservice to the black community, with his constant portrayal of us as buffoons and crackheads. There is also the complaint that he has had made millions by selling out to Hollywood with these negative characters.

Read the full article here