Selected Essays by Ralph Waldo Emerson Book

I feel better now that I've read many of Du Bois's major essays.

To be clear'I don't feel better about race relations or their history. I feel better because I feel like NOT having read him, especially The Souls of Black Folk, was a major gap in my learning and understanding.

You don't need me to recommend W.E.B. Du Bois. And neither does he. In terms of the forcefulness of his prose and the spectrum of change he occupied, I'd place him between Baldwin (my favorite) at his left and King at his right. All three were MASTER rhetoricians and courageous beyond all sound.

Even if you don't pick up this Library of America version with his other writings, The Souls of Black Folk is essential reading for any student of history, race, and identity.