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Of The Meaning Of Progress
© W. Owen Brown
Sep 4, 2001
DuBois takes a break from deep social/political thought to provide us a warm and passionate tale of his experience teaching in a small schoolhouse in Tennessee, in Of The Meaning Of Progress. He brings back the times of the Deep South at the end of the 19th century and the plight of the Negro in post-slavery America. He details the harsh stories of humble people trying to scratch out a living in a brutal era.
Poor, impoverished and illiterate, they strive to elevate their lives to a more lofty existence. In that tough and brutal world that existed, the importance of education was insignificant to achieving a small measure of accomplishment in raising a crop, purchasing land and providing for their family.
Du Bois also brings forth the compassion and endearment, of these humble people, for their local teacher who was allowed to share their lives, living quarters, meager sustenance and thus becoming a trusted and revered part of their community.
Then Du Bois takes us back to that hallowed place to see how life had progressed after being away for 10 years. He tries to find meaning in all the harsh realities that progress brings. Du Bois imparts the sad tales of lives lost and ruined, the cruel racial issues of the times and the brutality that man exhibits upon his own.
But out of the shadows of despair, progress yields many successes as these proud and hard working, yet illiterate, people found the courage and strength to reach for their dreams.
Although most people will look back at this story and think of a time far removed, because we have progressed to a point that these are tales we see in movies and history books. However, I am reminded of how slow this progress truly was, for it was not in history books and movies that these tales were revealed to me, but life itself.
I grew up on the back woods of southern Virginia in the 1960’s. While my education was steady and uninterrupted, I saw many of my classmates curtail or end their education at an early age to go work the farms and help the family scratch out a poor impoverished existence.
I spent time in the peanut and cotton fields but never at the expense of my education. I suffered through the deep poverty, and the pangs of hunger and not knowing where your next meal will come from. But my illiterate and uneducated parents never allowed us to forget the importance of education to change our hopes for the future.
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The copyright of the article Of The Meaning Of Progress in Writing from Harlem is owned by W. Owen Brown. Permission to republish Of The Meaning Of Progress in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
In response to message posted by Renie_Burghardt:
Hi my good friend Renie, thank you for stopping by to read Mr. Brown's art ...
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Hi Nichel, Mr. Owen's review is excellent. I read DuBoi's essay. So touching and sad, yet heartening, for people strive to overcome in even the worst circumstances. I know this from personal experi ...
-- posted by Renie_Burghardt
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