Each summer for the past three years, Black intellectuals and artists have gathered in The Berkshires for The Du Bois Forum, an event that honors the legacy of sociologist and historian W.E.B. Du Bois and advances social change and creative production. Founded by Kendra Field and Kerri Greenidge of Tufts University, along with Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David Levering Lewis, the Forum serves as an important space for connecting past intellectual achievements with current challenges.

The historical roots of The Du Bois Forum are deeply significant. Du Bois, born in Great Barrington, MA, in 1868, was a powerful figure in American intellectual history, known for his profound work in sociology, history, and civil rights. He was intimately connected to the Berkshire hills, which he saw as a place of community and restoration. In pursuit of fostering such a community, Du Bois convened two landmark gatherings at Troutbeck, the estate of NAACP co-founder and Jewish-American civil rights activist Joel Spingarn, in Amenia, New York. These gatherings, known as the Amenia Conferences, took place in 1916 and 1933 and were among the first major assemblies of Black intellectuals in the United States.

Read the full article here: https://www.forbes.com/sites/marybethgasman/2024/08/10/why-honoring-black-intellectual-and-artistic-traditions-matters/