Rhodes professor wrote the book and so much more on W.E.B. DuBois
Earl Wright II, a sociology professor at Rhodes College has co-written a book on W.E.B. DuBois and will be featured in “Fifty Key Leaders in Black Social Thought” to be published this fall. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian)
Earl Wright II, one of the nation’s leading scholars on W.E.B. DuBois, grew up in North Memphis and planned to teach at Trezevant High, his alma mater.
He wanted to teach because teachers also coach. That was his dream.
But Elizabeth Higginbotham, a sociology professor at then-Memphis State, recognized the quality of his mind and insisted Wright apply to graduate school.
She was relentless.
Three decades later, Wright is chairman of the sociology department at Rhodes College, has just had his sixth book published — “An Introduction to W. E. B. Du Bois” — which he co-wrote with former student Kalasia S. Ojeh, a sociologist at Kean University in Union, New Jersey.
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Jane Roberts
Jane Roberts has reported in Memphis for more than 20 years. As a senior member of The Daily Memphian staff, she was assigned to the medical beat during the COVID-19 pandemic. She also has done in-depth work on other medical issues facing our community, including shortages of specialists in local hospitals. She covered K-12 education here for years and later the region’s transportation sector, including Memphis International Airport and FedEx Corp.
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