One of the most intriguing activists and artists of the 20th century, Shirley Graham Du Bois also remains one of the least studied and understood. In Race Woman, Gerald Horne provides the first biography of this dynamic woman, celebrated and reviled for her political activities by figures ranging from Kwame Nkrumah and Malcolm X to Maya Angelou.
A woman of many talents, Graham Du Bois was a controversial figure who at various times championed the Civil Rights movement in America, the liberation struggles of Africa and the socialist development of Maoist China. Politically and culturally active long before she married W.E.B. Du Bois, Graham Du Bois wore many hats and lived many lives. Horne tells her incredible story, exploring her work as a Harlem Rennaissance playwright, biographer, composer, teacher, novelist. Left political activist, advisor and inspiration.
Through careful analysis and use of personal correspondence, interviews and previously unexamined documents, Horne allows us to see Graham Du Bois not just as a companion to one of the 20th century's most important leaders and thinkers, but as a powerful historical actor in her own right. A proto-feminist African-American woman, a crusader for civil rights, and a central figure in the U.S. and international left, Shirley Graham Du Bois and her life are a colorful prism through which to view this American century.