W. E. B. Du Bois, Ethiopianism, and Black Internationalism: A New Interpretation of the Global Color Line

Scholarship on Black internationalism has revived, focusing on Du Boiss Ethiopian-centered perspective. The book examines his efforts to link African Americans, Afro-Caribbean, and the Pan African project to Ethiopia to address the "color line" issue. Du Bois believed that Africans in the Diaspora and Ethiopia should build reciprocal relations for the benefit of the Black Race and their mutual development. He made multiple attempts to engage and establish relations with Ethiopia and worked through official and unofficial channels to develop those relations. The book suggests ways in which his evolving Pan-Africanism might be understood differently.

Format: Hardback
Length: 180 pages
Publication date: 24 November 2023
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Scholarship on Black internationalism has witnessed a resurgence, with a growing focus on Du Bois's ideas about the "color line" in a global context. However, most scholarship has overlooked his Ethiopian-centered perspective. This book offers an examination of Du Bois's efforts to connect African Americans, Afro-Caribbean people, and the Pan-African project with Ethiopia as a response to the emerging question of Black historical identity. For Du Bois, Ethiopia, its history, and its monarchial leadership were crucial in addressing the global issue of the "color line." He believed that Africans in the Diaspora, particularly in the United States, and Africans across Ethiopia should establish reciprocal relations with Ethiopia for the benefit of the Black Race and their mutual development. Du Bois made multiple attempts to engage and establish relations with Ethiopia, utilizing official and unofficial channels to strengthen those ties. By revisiting and reassessing Du Bois's engagement strategies with Ethiopia, the book proposes alternative interpretations of his evolving Pan-Africanism, shedding light on his conceptual and practical motivations for specifically linking Ethiopia to African Americans and the global challenges of social and economic justice. The book provides fresh insights into Du Bois's famous invocation of the global "color line" by uncovering his underlying conceptual and practical reasons for connecting Ethiopia to African Americans and the broader issues of global social and economic justice.

Weight: 420g
Dimension: 236 x 160 x 20 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781538160015