New Book Takes Multi-Faceted Look at the Many Sides of W.E.B. DuBois

(Taylor Media Services) He was a historian, sociologist, Sunday school teacher and one of the greatest intellectuals produced by Black America. He was also a militant activist and a communist. The “he” in question is Dr. W.E.B. DuBois – one of the leading figures in the African American as well as the Pan-African rights movements of the early party of the 20th century.
The many sides of DuBois are the subjects of a just released book by Professor Edward Blum entitled “W.E.B. DuBois: American Prophet.” The book is published by University of Pennsylvania Press. DuBois would become frustrated with the slow progress of Blacks in America and move to Africa. He died in the West African nation of Ghana in 1963 at the age of 95.
During a period in 1910 when white Christians were using religion to justify suppression and even lynching of Blacks, DuBois wrote a prayer for the students of Atlanta University which read in part “It is never too late to mend. Nothing is so bad that good may not be put into it and make it better and save it from utter loss. Strengthen in us this knowledge and faith and hope, O God, in these last days. Amen”

Lead Story: Black Congressman John Conyers Backs Impeachment Efforts against President Bush

(Taylor Media Services) Although Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has declared impeachment efforts against President Bush are “off the table,” senior Congressional Black Caucus member John Conyers (D. Michigan) appeared to give encouragement Tuesday to those activists who would like to see the president impeached for abuse of the powers of his office.

Conyers told the Associated Press that he supports “a national effort calling for the impeachment of President Bush and Vice President Chaney.” However, the wording of the Conyers statement suggested that he was not ready to lend the powers of his office to lead such an effort. Since the Democrats gained control of Congress last November, Conyers has headed the powerful House Judiciary Committee.

Critics have charged the president with violating the laws and the Constitution by illegally spying on Americans and misleading the public in order to gain support for the initial invasion and occupation of Iraq. Thus far, an estimated 85 cities and towns have passed impeachment resolutions. But getting Congressional support is still viewed as unlikely.

Studies Suggest America’s Black Middle Class Is Stagnating and Possibly Declining

(Taylor Media Services) A review of several government and private studies has found that the nation’s Black middle class appears to be caught in a nearly 30-year period of stagnation and may actually be declining as a percentage of all Black households. “Since the early 1980s, the Black middle class has hardly grown.” Those were the words of American Enterprise Institute resident scholar Douglas Besharov testifying some time ago before the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.

Besharov’s conclusion was based on 2005 data. But more recent reports are reaching a very similar finding. Last Saturday, an investigative report in the Omaha World Herald concluded, “middle class status for many U.S. blacks is, at best, tenuous.” The paper explained, “White middle class families often have several generations of family wealth building and middle class relatives to fall back on if they hit hard times. That’s not the case with many middle class blacks …”

In another investigative report the McClatchy Newspapers found in February that government figures show “severe poverty” throughout the nation but especially for Blacks “grew by 26 percent from 2000 to 2006.” While the definition of middle class is often an elusive matter of opinion, the one used for this review by Taylor Media Services establishes a family of four as middle class if its annual income is above the median household income for all families. This means a family would have to be earning at least $46,400 a year to be classified as middle class.
By this definition, approximately 30 percent of Black families would be middle class. That percent has changed little since the late 1970s.