Freedom, too, the long-sought, we still seek,—the freedom of life and limb, the freedom to work and think, the freedom to love and aspire.
W.E.B. Du Bois: “Freedom, too, the long-sought, we still seek,—the freedom of life and limb, the freedom to work and think, the freedom…”
Editor's note · Context
This passage from his influential book defines the comprehensive and enduring quest for freedom, extending beyond mere physical liberation to include intellectual, economic, and emotional dimensions.
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More from W.E.B. Du Bois
If somewhere in this whirl and chaos of things there dwells Eternal Good, pitiful yet masterful, then anon in His good time America shall rend the Veil and the prisoned shall go free.
So wofully unorganized is sociological knowledge that the meaning of progress, the meaning of “swift” and “slow” in human doing, and the limits of human perfectability, are veiled, unanswered sphinxes on the shores of science.
So long as the world stands meekly dumb before such questions, shall this nation proclaim its ignorance and unhallowed prejudices by denying freedom of opportunity to those who brought the Sorrow Songs to the Seats of the Mighty?
Our song, our toil, our cheer, and warning have been given to this nation in blood-brotherhood.