THE SOULS OF BLACK FOLK

 The novel, The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. DuBois, taught us a lot about a black culture's come up and history. This was told to us as written stories by W. E. B Dubois, both internally and externally. We were told these stories as essays, from the first essay about the history and immediate impact of Emancipation to the last essay about DuBois's individuals and events to illustrate the disparity between white and black society. Throughout the book, DuBois met some fantastic achievements, but he also faced some crucial challenges along the way. Most of these things related to DuBois fighting for black civil rights at his time of living. Some achievements included the success of fighting for his rights and being a leader at everything he did. But what does that mean? During Dubois's story in Chapter 1, he mentioned to himself how he noticed he was different from other kids (quote). This saying had many meanings. He didn't take it as something to bring him down or feel like he wasn't as good as others; he took it as something to uprise himself from others. He sure didn't have the opportunities that White people got at the time, but he for sure used the most of what he got. He mentioned how he showed it by getting better grades and running faster than other kids back in his childhood. I believe his mentality was very unique and kept him going throughout his whole life, especially after the passing of his young son. He knows everything that happened to him at the time was unfair, even wondering why it wasn't him that died but instead his own son. He just kept going, and that's where the leader mentality grew on him when saying what he had to say about his black folks. After learning a lot about the success of Booker T, which I would say was his idol, he wanted to be like him but at another level of success. He would even criticize Booker T and said he had room for improvement after Booker solved many problems for black people at his time. DuBois had bigger ideas and goals for black people to have political power, the push for civil rights, and higher education for black people, which was great to see.

 Though, DuBois didn't have an easy path to accomplish his many achievements. He had to overcome many challenges growing up. A key challenge was the inequality he had against white people, and the other one was bringing his own black folks to stand up with him. Obviously, with how black people's lives and white people's lives worked back then, black people couldn't say or do too much in the world—especially some people like DuBois. Restrictions were set, and he couldn't j say what he wanted. I would say this was a significant challenge for DuBois because it was hard for people like him to stand up for something and have everyone around you agree with what you said. He couldn't just stand up and make a speech for his community while his folks were laboring all day and night and expect him actually to make something out of it. It would make him look like a fool and, that's where his second most significant challenge also affected him through his come-up—the will of bringing his own people in to stand up together. In Dubois's first essay, he spoke about something called double-consciousness. (quote) Black people think of themselves from a different perspective. This is a white perspective. It was something that they all faced, even Dubois. This double-consciousness mainly brought people even more down than they already were. All they wanted at the time was to live like a white person in that society. This made Dubois's situation worse because if his own people wanted to think of themselves as white and always be down being who they are, why would it make sense for them to help DuBois stay true to themselves and fight for their rights. DuBois had to do to uplift his people to prove what they were capable of and stand up for themselves. He had to show and tell. Most didn't think DuBois would make anything out of it, but the ones that believed had the best leader to guide them to the right path. Dubois struggled to get to where he was but, It was amazing to see how he eventually succeeded in life and overcame many difficulties. He did what was suitable for black culture.

As well as learning about the life of DuBois and everything he encountered, I also got to expand my knowledge about black culture and what really went on through the first-person point of view. As of living now, I believe there's been some growth and equality for the black culture. It all wouldn't have happened without Dubois and other great black men and women. You can compare and contrast the many things from when DuBois told his stories to now. You can analyze exactly everything that went wrong or went well, but what makes reading more meaningful than just comparing both generations would be a self-reflection of yourself and what I can relate to during Dubois's stories. Looking back at the book, specifically chapter 6, Dubois talked about his life as an up-and-coming teacher in a small rural town after graduating from Fisk University. (quote). DuBois would realize the struggle for his kids to attend school while they also had other responsibilities to take care of around town. At this time, he would mention how kids would have to be working while also trying to attend school to help their families out. DuBois would try to help the kids as well by going around town and connecting with each family, and it showed how much of a passion he had for teaching and helping his community out. He would do so much to the point where he thought if there would be any progress happening if he ever left the town. Looking at a situation like this now is something we don't see too often, and it's something he should feel blessed for, especially as college students. From that, we notice a change and evolution from one generation to another. It's also something that I can sort of relating to as I grew up. Coming from immigrant parents and not having that extra resource to provide for me while attending school, I felt like we each had to provide for ourselves, and for me, it started at a young age. While also having younger siblings and having responsibilities like something as little as taking care of them after school when my parents would still be working, would give me flashbacks while reading about DuBois students. It was to maintain a balanced life with many responsibilities and tasks going on in your life. Luckily for us, we have evolved from the point of time where we don't have to work countless hours like DuBois students while also attending a heavy workload of hours in school. Something my parents would tell me while they went through a similar path as the DuBois students were that no student now can afford to be in that situation, and we should be blessed for everything that changed. It's something that I agree on, and I'll always appreciate people like W.E. B. Dubois and everything they've done for us.