W.E.B. Dubois is acknowledged as one of the most influential Blacks of the 20th century. He was born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts on February 23, 1868. He was an only child. His father left the family when he was very young. He was very close to his mother because she was partially disabled.

Dubois excelled in school, and when his mother died suddenly, four benefactors recognized his academic talent and helped him get into to Fisk University. After two years there, he was accepted at Harvard. His study of Negroes in the South convinced him that much work was needed to help the Negro overcome the conditions in which they lived. Education was a must and first.

Dubois was a committed socialist, but he left the party because of racism. He was a founding member of NAACP in 1909. During the McCarthy era, Dubois refused to sign a statement saying that he was not a communist. He was widely criticized for his political views and misunderstood by his own Negro and colleagues. He spent the last years of his life in Ghana.