\u201cAll Art is Propaganda\u201d: W.E.B. Du Bois\u2019s The Crisis and the Construction of a Black Public Image

This article explores W.E.B. Du Bois\u2019s political thought through his use of rhetoric in his The Crisis writings (1910s\u20131930s). I argue that Du Bois used The Crisis to build an interracial dialogue on civilandpoliticalrightstodrawsupportforfederalinterventioninfavorofAfricanAmericans. Du Bois\u2019s views on artistic expression were an organic part of his program to build a black public image for political purposes. As Du Bois\u2019s political strategy started shifting after 1925, so did his position on the political use of interracial dialogue and, thus, his ideas on artistic expression