on
ud
om 1 t we
'1 L H R .... 1 JR.
Or. u 13 ",I
to hi p >pl . 'I h
publi
d pn
tion ( I
d xlic tion
nd
< u u t or III p
w re r b d ) d isive to their
th t th theft of III 'It hi l I Y eern d Illy mall pa
their lo . BUl I r. 1 \l 13 i knew tho t lO I e one', his-
t ry is t I. c one' lf-und r t, nding and with it the
roots for pride, -I III d ov him t b come a hi t rian f
Negr life, nd the ombin ti n of hi unique zeal nd
inte ller ; 1(' (lild 1(11 .i l l d II .1 hUIt.IgC \\itll till, \ , .. Ii!
h: v plO{Olllldh II,llfld\('1 :,itnl II
r. nil BOil/II' 11111 I Iltl'l1 lO be ll'IlIt'lllh,l'lnl ttld 1\
when d P II I, .lil lOll Illl'\. I nt III the y .1 he lived
an if uaht: t H"t' \'.h 1.11 IIIIIIC J·lI'ldH.ltl 11 lot rill 11.ItIPII
. .,
an i II I ell' 11('1, .uid \l't hi Luth ill III people 11l'\l'l
\ red. III Ill\ L' .111(1 1.11111 III I cglO' P I mc.u e cv (.'1 Y
entcnce of hi ,\ritlllg .111() 0 CT .t( t f Ill' II c. \\ ithout
th ,. d rooted mouun hi, \,'( r k would h.iv . 11
arid. nd at> (1.1( l \\'uh t lum III de tis wcr . p.l ion.ur
torrn tho t w ·pt (ht' Itlth (If LlI ('hp( d from the p,Ig<.; of
c t b Ii h cd ' "I t ( 1 v.
H ml o li zcd ill hi lx m t hi I I ide in .the hl.r � m.iu.
Ic did nr t .lpologi/· fOI heing hi. c k and. bel, ll. of it,
handi ppcd. III t ,Id h .Ht.1 k d lh oppre 01 for lh
crime [ llitHing' hl: k Him. lie onf routed the c tabl i h­
m nt a a model ( { mili\, III manh<' d nd intcKrily. He
d fi d th m and, thou�" the h ap <I'venom and )TJl
n him, hi pm rf ul \'OJ( t' \ d. nev r ti lied.
And yet, with ,'II hi PII(:C. n I spirit h did not Ill, k
a my rique out () I. ( k nc ., lIe wa proud of hi people,
not c ause th it (Cllol endowe I them \\ ith orne vague
gr arne but het .ru-, > their (ncr 1 a hicvem III in
I· h.ul ,1(1\ a m «d luuna nit y, and he s;�w and I vcd
pr res iv ' hum.uut y III .tll it hu ,bla .k, white, yellow,
red, and rown.
Above all It, did not r out III him elf with hurling in.
vectiv s [or emotion, I rei', '.md h n to retire int mug.
pa ive ti fat r iOIl. ] I i tory had t ught him it is n-::>t
en ugh. f r pOll to he . ngly-tlt upretTl t. k i to
organize, nd unite' people ,.0 thal their, nger hccome ;t
VJillt, "' r 'I� ,If II II r Iwd Il" Hnl, f flllfl l%,I} I I II "�lIt"i If'rlr1rl ,HId ,WIlHII .... , II
III''1IHIIII''llhf' r.qrn ( 1111"1111 1'1' 11 1( O( 11'111 II 1,1 ('I hN "'II thp NAACP
"
,
c
pro
t tl
alw Y
Bl ck man. "
Nkrumah and Duboisefounding fathers of Pan-Africanism
tran forming for e. It wa never po . ihle to kit w where­
th scholar Du Bois ended and the or anizer Du Boi be­
Ran. The two qualiric in him were a in le, unified force.
his life tyle of Dr. Du Boi i the m t important
quality thi generation of Negroe need to emulate. The
educated Negro who i not really part of 11 and the angry
militant vho f it to org niz " have nothing in common
, ith Dr. Du B i . He xernplified hla k power in a hieve-
merit and he organized bla k PO\V r in a ti n. It wa no
abstract slogan to him.
\Vc cannot talk of Dr. Du Bois without re ognizing
that he was a radi al all f his lifev : me people would
like to ignore th fact 'that he wa a Communist in his
later year. It is worth noting that Abraham Lincoln
warmly wel orned tl;e upport f Karl Marx during the
Civil War and corre pond d wit'll him freely. In contem­
porary life the Engli h-sp aking world has n� difficulty
with the fa t that, can O'Casey was a literary giant of the
twentieth elltury and a mmunist or that P blo Neruda.
is generally con idered the great t. living poet though he
al 0 served in the, Chilean S nate a a mmunist. h is
time to cease muting the fa t that Dr. Du Bois was a
genius and eho e to be a mmuni t. Our irrational, ob­
sessive anti ommunism ha led liS int too many quag­
mires to be retained a if it were a m de of s ientiflc
thinking.
In do ing, it would be well to'remind white America
of its debt to Dr. Du Boi . When they orrupted Negro'
history they di torted Ameri an history, becau e Negroes
are too big a part, f the buildinJ.; of this nation to be
written out of it without d stroying ientific history_
White America, dren hed with lie b tit groe. ha
Jived t 0 long in a f g of ignoran e. Dr. Du Hoi gav
them a gift of truth for whi h th y hould et rnally b
indebted to him.
Negroe 'have heavy ta ks today. We wer partially lib­
erated and then re- n laved. W hav fight again on
old battlefields, but our onfiden is great r, our vi ion
is I ar r, and our ultimate victory slIrer hecau e of th
contributi n a militant, pas ionat bla k iant left b _
hind him.
Dr. Du Boi ha I ft u but he ha not died. The pirit
f fr edom i n t buri d in the grav f the valiant. H
will be with u' when we go to Wa hington in April to
demand our right to life, lib rty. and th' pur uit of hap­
pine.
We h ve to go to \Vashin ton be au ' th y h v de-
lared an armi tice in th war on pov rty while quand r-
ing billi ns to expand a en el ruel, unjust war in.
Vietnam. W will g there, we will d m nd t b heard,
and w will tay until th admini trati n re nds. If thi
mans ( r 'ible r pre sion four mov m nt, w will. on­
front it, for w have d ne this b fore. If thi mean om
or ridi ule, we will embra it, for that i what Am ri a'
poor n w rive. If it mean jail, we a pl it willingly.
for th million of r already ar impri 011 d hy x­
pI itati n nd di rimin tion.
Dr. Du B i w uld be in tb fr III rank. of th p a
mov ment too y. He would r adily e the pal n I be-
tw en Am ri an orrupt 1(' pis d
Thi u-Ky I gim oTth TIl upport to ,outh rn
lav rna ler in I h· .fA " Hcly ggerat('�, in-
"Du Q. gr at t
virtue. was his
committed. empathy
with all the
oppressed
and hi divine
dissati faction
with all.forms
of inju tice."
deed it is surprisingly honest, when it leul te for n­
gress that the war in Vietnam can persi t for one hundred
years. Peopl� deprived of their freedom do not give u p_
Negroes have been fighting more than a hundred ye rs,
and even if the date of full emancipation is un ertain,
what is explicitly certain is lhat the scru.,.1 f r it wi II
endure.
In conclu ion 'Jet me say that Dr. Du B i ' gr , t st 11-
tue was ,his committed em athy , ith all the PI re ed
nd hi divine dis ati factign \ Ilh all f rm f inju ti
oday we ar still challen cd to b di ati fie . l.et u h
di satisfi d until every m n 'an h ve fo d an m t ri I
ne e slUe for hi b dy, 1I1 tun: (nd edu at ion t r hi
mind, freedom and human dignity f r hi· pint. et tI
b� dis atisfi d until rat-inf ted, v rmin-fill d iutns will
be a thing of a dark p st nd ev ry mily will ha:v
decent, sanitary house in whi h to liv. et u b eli an­
fled until the empty stoma'h f Mi i sippi < r died an
the idle industrie of pp I, hia are r vi[ lil l. t u
be di ati fied until 1>r the hood i no I n r, me ning­
I ss w rd c th end f a pr yer ut the Ir tonI r of 1>u. I_
n n ever Ie i lativ 3CT('nd, el u be ell 'I.Hi (it'd
until ur r til r of the Third W >rld-A i.l. ,\flil.l, ,mel
L tin meri a-will n I ngcl b th' vi '[illl 01 Illlp"nait t
xpl itatiGn, but will b littni r m th' 1 >11, night
v rty, illit ra y" nd di .;) e. L,t u b' di ''hUI led until
t�i I) ndin m: el ill 1> n. n f tlllcd il1{( (1('
live palm f ·((C nl "jull (' \\111 lUll 10\'11 Id"l'
wat rs fr m mighty tr m.
�I RTI�
nnR kl;\ , JR.