Final answer:
W.E.B. Du Bois stressed education and leadership development through his concept of the 'Talented Tenth' and actively promoted African American civil rights as a founder of the NAACP. He opposed compromising with segregation and believed in full political and social equality, influencing the direction of civil rights efforts.
Step-by-step explanation:
W.E.B. Du Bois's Efforts in Promoting African American Advancement
W.E.B. Du Bois played a crucial role in promoting the recognition of African Americans as equal members of society. As a founding figure of movements like the NAACP and his influential publication, 'The Souls of Black Folk', Du Bois advocated for political and social equality for African Americans.
He emphasized the need for proper education as a means to rise to leadership positions, propounding the idea of the 'Talented Tenth' which represented the highly educated leaders who would advance the status of African Americans. Du Bois firmly believed in equality without any compromise to segregation, unlike contemporaries such as Booker T. Washington. His legacy lives on as an instrumental force in the civil rights advancements for African American citizens.
Du Bois expressed the importance of education not merely as vocational training but as a transformative tool to foster well-rounded individuals capable of leading their communities and fighting for civil rights. Moreover, his pursuits in the realms of history, sociology, and economics at universities, particularly at Atlanta University, and his background as the first African American to earn a Ph.D. from Harvard University, underscored his dedication to academic excellence and civil activism. The initiatives and organizations he led or influenced made significant strides in confronting inequality and setting the stage for the civil rights movement.