W.E.B. Du Bois, the scholar, civil rights activist, historian and communist was born in 1868 in Massachusetts. He died on August 27, 1963 at age 95 in Ghana after a remarkable life that took him around the world in his fight for justice, equality and freedom.
In the Letter of an American Communist -- the letter that Du Bois attached to his membership application to the CPUSA when he joined in October, 1961 at the of age 93 -- DuBois wrote that:
"Capitalism cannot reform itself; it is doomed to self-destruction. No universal selfishness can bring social good to all.
Communism -- the effort to give all men what they need and to ask of each the best they can contribute -- this is the only way of human life."
Images in order of appearance:
1) Cover of a Soviet book published in 1971 dedicated to life and writings of W.E.B. Du Bois.
2) Paul Robeson and W.E.B DuBois great each other at the World Congress of the Partisans of Peace, 1949
3) Anna Louise Strong, Mao and W.E.B. Du Bois in Wuhan. 1959
4) Mao and W.E.B. Du Bois in the People's Republic of China, 1959
5) Premier Zhou Enlai with Du Bois and his wife the writer Shirley Graham (third from left). First and second from right are Vice-Premier Chen Yi and his wife Zhang Qian
6) At a birthday reception, 1959