The Evolvement of “Double-consciousness”

The Evolvement of “Double-consciousness”

by T.M.K. DeWalt

Ujima– “ The Negro ever feels his two-ness- an American, a Negro, two souls, two thoughts, two un-reconciled strivings…two warring ideals in one, dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder.” These are the resounding words of W.E.B DuBois, author of The Souls of Black Folk, which summoned the notion of “double-consciousness.” This concept suggests that blacks were lodged between their African descent and identity as an American around the early 20th century. DuBois made his assessment regarding the black psyche over a century ago, but the “dichotomy” he alludes to rings true, even today. However, there is a new “double- consciousness” which resides on the very threshold of ruin. We have garnered our very own sense of self and identity since the post-civil rights era. We are no longer as inclined to perceive ourselves through the…