First Lady Michelle Obama. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images) The amazing W.E.B. Du Bois is often celebrated as one of America’s greatest educators, historians, human rights leaders, prolific authors, and galvanizing change agents. What many may not realize is that during the first half of the 20th century he stood among that select group of “enlightened” men who championed the rights of women, and who argued that their full empowerment was crucial to the continuing development of democratic ideals and practices. The degree to which Dr. Bois believed the unfettered role of women in American society was an absolutely essential one can be summed up in part by these words from his pen: “...No state can be strong which excludes from its expressed wisdom, the knowledge possessed by mothers, wives and daughters.” There are numerous reasons to spend time considering Du Bois’ insight on women’s equality at this specific juncture of history in th

Poet Nikky Finney and novelist Jesmyn Ward.(photo courtesy of National Book Foundation) It is not uncommon in modern times for African-American women to win major literary awards but it is rare, if not unprecedented, for two such women to win the same major award in separate categories in the same year. That is precisely what happened on November 16, 2011, when Jesmyn Ward won the National Book Award for fiction and Nikky Finney accepted the award for poetry. “We begin with history” Finney, a professor of English and creative writing at the University of Kentucky, won the award for Head Off & Split, her fourth volume of poetry. Her previous titles include: The World Is Round (2003); Rice (1995); and On Wings Made of Gauze (1985). She is also author of the short story collection, Heartwood (1998). Upon accepting her National Book Award, Finney may have summed up just how triumphant the events of the evening turned out to be when she noted the following at the beginning her speech: P