W.E.B. Du Bois: The Activist Life (pg. 10)

The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line.

--W.E.B. Du Bois

As Du Bois grappled with the problems of racial oppression, he began to see a connection between the fate of Afro-Americans and other oppressed races living under the colonial rule of white Europeans. After World War I was fought to "make the world safe for Democracy," Du Bois called a Pan-African Congress to be held in Paris to coincide with the Versailles Peace Conference. Its aim was to bring the grievances of oppressed minorities to the attention of those laying the plans for a League of Nations. Pan-African Congresses continued to be held in various cities around the world in 1921, 1923, 1927, and 1945. Du Bois was a moving spirit behind the growing struggle for self-determination among Africans, and the Pan-African Congresses helped to bring the issues of this struggle to world attention.

Resolutions (page 1) established by 15 countries at the first Pan-African Congress, Paris, February 1919.

Notes for Du Bois' speech at the first Pan-African Congress in 1919

Speakers at the Pan-African Congress held in Brussels, Belgium, in 1921. Du Bois is 2nd from right.

Session of the 1921 Pan-African Congress in Belgium.

Delegates to the Pan-African Congress in Belgium, 1921.

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