In January of 2021, the town of Great Barrington approved the proclamation of W.E.B. Du Bois Legacy Day. Gwendolyn VanSant, part of the town’s W.E.B. Du Bois Legacy Committee and of Founding Director of Multicultural BRIDGE says the yearly acknowledgment emerged from work that began in 2018 with the celebration of the Great Barrington native’s 150th birthday.
"Our vision is that we have a day to really honor this homecoming of Du Bois that we’ve been working on for the past three years, that every child in Great Barrington knows that Du Bois is from here," she said. "We picture businesses holding up the day and really honoring Du Bois. We’ll put the banners back up as we always do.”
On Monday, Feb. 19 at 7 p.m., Bard College at Simon’s Rock will present its 27th annual W.E.B. Du Bois event, “A Celebration of Soul with Ursula Rucker,” a free evening of cultural celebration, music, and soul. A poet, recording artist, activist, teacher and revolutionary, Rucker is a veteran of the global music and poetry scene. For nearly three decades, she has used her fiery prose and invigorating imagery to excite and inspire listeners worldwide. The event will be held at the McConnell Theater.
On Wednesday, Feb. 21 at 5 p.m. the Legacy Committee presents the festival keynote address by Dr. Suraj Yengde, one of India’s leading scholars and public intellectuals. A Hutchins Center W.E.B. Du Bois Scholar at Harvard University. Dr. Yengde is author of the book Caste Matters'; he is a prolific writer and scholar whose work focuses on developing critical theory of Dalit and Black Studies. He most recently appears in the motion picture, Origin. Dr. Yengde will speak about W.E.B. Du Bois and the Indian social justice advocate B. R. Ambedkar in a talk entitled “Du Bois and Ambedkar: Their Meanings of Democracy and Freedom.”
The Du Bois Freedom Center will host an evening event with renowned speakers on Thursday, Feb. 22 at 5:30 p.m. at St. James Church, 352 Main St. The Center will announce their 2024 Salon Series with newly appointed Executive Director Ny Whitaker.
Friday, Feb. 23 is Du Bois’s birthday anniversary, which Great Barrington has officially designated as W.E.B. Du Bois Day. This year’s celebration will be hosted by the First Congregational Church, 251 Main St., at noon. Festival attendees are encouraged to engage in self-guided legacy tours of Great Barrington earlier in the day, from 9:30-11:30.
Members of the Great Barrington Selectboard and Legacy Committee will open the noon event alongside special guests, Sen. Paul Mark, Governor’s Council member Tara Jacobs and representatives from the office of U.S. Sen. Ed Markey. A panel discussion will follow, facilitated by BRIDGE CEO & Du Bois Legacy Committee Co-chair Gwendolyn VanSant, André Lynch of BART Charter School, Alÿcia Bacon of Berkshire Taconic Foundation, and BerkShares Board Director Leah Barber. Musical reflection will be offered by the Macedonia Baptist Church choir.
Also on Friday at 6:30 p.m., as part of the 10x10 Upstreet Arts Festival, Du Bois Festival partner Jacob’s Pillow will offer a Work-in-Process Showing with CONTRA-TIEMPO at the Zion Lutheran Church, 74 First St., Pittsfield. CONTRA-TIEMPO is a bold, multilingual Los Angeles-based activist dance theater company that creates communities where all people are awakened to a sense of themselves as artists and social change agents.
The Festival continues on Saturday, Feb. 24 at 2 p.m. at the United Universalist Meeting of Southern Berkshire, 1089 Main St., Housatonic, with a celebration of W.E.B. Du Bois’s Haitian heritage hosted by BRIDGE. The “Migrations of the Heart'' BRIDGE community presentation will be uplifted, and special guests representing the Association of Haitian Women and the Massachusetts Task Force for Newly Arrived Haitians will join the occasion to mark connected legacies and growing solidarities. Presenters include Executive Director Carline Desire, Dr. Lunine Pierre Jerome with the Toudenkou band and radio show host and Haitian language Instructor in African Studies Department Jean Lesly Rene of UMASS Boston. This event is in partnership with Grace Episcopal Church
On Sunday, Feb. 25, Macedonia Baptist Church in Great Barrington (celebrating 80 years of local Black community worship and fellowship) will offer an 11 a.m. service of prayer and praise in honor of W.E.B. Du Bois.
Rounding out the festival events, on March 6th, the W.E.B. Du Bois Middle School Family Crew will host a special program for middle school families (children ages 10-14 and their caregivers). The event will include the annual “Du Bois Dinner,” followed by facilitated small group discussions and activities about W.E.B. Du Bois, his views and activism on intellectual freedom, and about the current state of intellectual freedom. RSVP required, inquiries, duboisfamilycrew@gmail.com
For more information, please visit duboislegacy.com & the Festival Facebook event page.
