W. E. B. Du Bois, American Prophet is the first religious biography of this leading civil rights activist and intellectual. Though Du Bois is often labeled an atheist, historian Edward J. Blum argues that his religious and spiritual insights are central to understanding his political and intellectual work.

W. E. B. Du Bois, American Prophet

Edward J. Blum

2007 | 288 pages | Cloth $39.95 | Paper $22.50
Biography | African-American/African Studies | American History

Table of Contents

Introduction. Rethinking W.E.B. Du Bois, Rethinking Religion and Race

1. The Hero with a Black Face: Autobiography and the Mythology of the Self
2. Race as Cosmic Sight in The Souls of Black Folk
3. A Dark Monk Who Wrote History and Sociology: The Spiritual Wage of whiteness, the Black Church, and Mystical Africa
4. Black Messiahs and Murderous Whites: Violence and Faith in Literary Expression
5. Christ Was a Communist: Religion for an Aging Leftist

Epilogue. The Passing of the Prophet

Notes
Index
Acknowledgments