Final answer:
Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois were pivotal African American leaders during the Progressive Era, advancing different strategies for racial equality; Washington focused on vocational education and self-reliance while Du Bois emphasized higher education and direct civil rights advocacy.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Progressive Era saw the rise of African American leaders such as Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois, who offered different strategies to challenge racial inequalities. Washington, born into slavery, promoted self-improvement through education and entrepreneurship, urging African Americans to gain skills and economic independence, which he believed were key to social progress. He became the first principal of the Tuskegee Institute, advocating the teaching of practical skills to prepare African Americans for economic empowerment.
Conversely, Du Bois, the first African American to earn a doctorate from Harvard, emphasized the importance of higher education and intellectual leadership among African Americans, coining the concept of the 'Talented Tenth'. He co-founded the NAACP, advocating for full civil rights and opposing Washington's Atlanta Compromise through the Niagara Movement, which called for an end to all forms of discrimination against African Americans.