W. E. B. Du Bois (1868-1963) was an African-American sociologist, activist and co-founder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). He was the first African American to gain a doctorate at Harvard. He argued that capitalism was one of the causes of racism and was an early advocate of nuclear disarmament. He wrote movingly and passionately in his writings about the tension between the U.S. ideals of freedom and the injustice that so often befell non-whites. He wrote:
My country tis of thee,
Late land of slavery,
Of thee I sing.
Land where my father’s pride
Slept where my mother died,
From every mountain side
Let freedom ring!
The words on this tea towel come from his 1905 speech at the founding of the Niagara Movement calling for equal rights.
