The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois

Honoree Fanonne Jeffers' "The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois" is a magisterial epic tracing the complex lineage of an African American family from the colonial slave trade to the modern era. The narrative centers on Ailey Pearl Garfield, who, since childhood, has grappled with W.E.B. Du Bois's concept of "Double Consciousness." Bearing the names of formidable Black figures, Ailey is raised in the North but spends summers in Chicasetta, Georgia, where her maternal ancestors, including enslaved Georgians and tenant farmers, have lived for centuries. Battling for a sense of belonging amidst a hovering family trauma and the weight of ancestral expectations, Ailey embarks on a profound journey into her family's past. She unearths shocking tales of Indigenous, Black, and white ancestors, confronting a legacy of oppression, resistance, bondage, and resilience that ultimately helps her embrace her full heritage and understand the interwoven "song" of America.