Booker Taliaferro Washington (April 5, 1856 – November 14, 1915) was an American educator, author, and orator. Between 1890 and 1915, Washington was the primary leader in the African-American community and of the contemporary Black elite.
David William Blight (born 1949) is the Sterling Professor of History, of African American Studies, and of American Studies and Director of the Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition at Yale University.
Robert Gooding-Williams is a scholar known for his work on W.E.B. Du Bois and other significant figures in American thought. His writing often explores themes present in "Souls of Black Folk," "Southern Horrors and Other Writings," and "Up from Slavery." Gooding-Williams contributes to discussions on race, philosophy, and history.
William Edward Burghardt Du Bois (February 23, 1868 – August 27, 1963) was an American sociologist, socialist, historian, and Pan-Africanist civil rights activist.