The Crisis — LLMpedia

The Crisis
Cornelius Marion Battey · Public domain · source
Title	The Crisis
Editor	W. E. B. Du Bois (1910–1934), Roy Wilkins (1934–1949), James Weldon Johnson (acting, 1920), Henry Lee Moon (1949–1972), Warren Marr II (1972–1981), Fred Beauford (1981–1982), Maybelle Ward (1982–1983), Chester Higgins Sr. (1983–1997), Phil Petrie (1997–2007), Jabari Asim (2007–2017), Victoria Valentine (2017–present)
Frequency	Monthly
Category	News magazine, Political commentary
Company	NAACP
Founded	1910
Founder	W. E. B. Du Bois
Country	United States
Language	English
Website	https://www.thecrisismagazine.com/

Contents

Founding and Early History
Role in the NAACP and Civil Rights Strategy
Editorial Leadership and Political Stance
Key Publications and Literary Impact
Influence on Public Opinion and Legislation
● (United States|Draft,
● Rights Act of Representatives,

The Crisis

The Crisis is the official magazine of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Founded in 1910 by scholar and activist W. E. B. Du Bois, it is one of the oldest continuously published periodicals in the United States dedicated to issues of civil rights and social justice. The publication has served as a vital platform for documenting racial inequality, advocating for political and legal reform, and nurturing African-American literature and intellectual thought, making it an indispensable chronicle of the modern Civil Rights Movement.

Founding and Early History

The magazine was established in November 1910, just one year after the founding of the NAACP itself. W. E. B. Du Bois, the only African American among the NAACP's founding executives, was named its director of publicity and research and became the founding editor of *The Crisis*. Its name was inspired by James Russell Lowell's poem "The Present Crisis," reflecting Du Bois's view of the urgent need to address the "Negro problem" in America. The first issue, with a print run of 1,000 copies, sold out. Circulation grew rapidly, reaching a peak of over 100,000 by 1919, fueled by public reaction to events like the East St. Louis riots and the Red Summer of 1919, which the magazine covered extensively. Financially independent from the NAACP for its first two decades, the magazine's success provided crucial funding for the parent organization's broader activism.

Role in the NAACP and Civil Rights Strategy

*The Crisis* functioned as the primary communications organ and ideological compass for the NAACP. It was instrumental in promoting the organization's foundational strategy of using litigation, legislation, and public education to achieve racial equality. The magazine meticulously documented lynchings, Jim Crow laws, and other forms of racial discrimination, providing irrefutable evidence for the NAACP's legal campaigns. It championed the work of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and was a consistent advocate for federal anti-lynching legislation, which, despite repeated failures in Congress, kept the issue in the national conscience. This focus on factual reporting and constitutional argument helped establish the NAACP's reputation for sober, persistent advocacy.

Editorial Leadership and Political Stance

Under W. E. B. Du Bois's editorship (1910–1934), the magazine combined militant protest with a commitment to showcasing African American achievement. Du Bois's editorials were often sharply critical of Booker T. Washington's accommodationism and later of the U.S. government's failure to protect Black citizens. His stance grew more leftist over time, leading to tensions with the more legally focused, integrationist NAACP board, culminating in his resignation in 1934. Successive editors, including Roy Wilkins and Henry Lee Moon, steered the magazine to closely align with the NAACP's mainstream Cold War-era liberalism, emphasizing racial integration and support for the Democratic Party coalition. This editorial tradition has generally favored institutional reform and national unity over more radical or separatist ideologies.

Key Publications and Literary Impact

Beyond journalism, *The Crisis* has been a seminal publication in American literature. Du Bois used its pages to discover, promote, and publish the work of generations of Harlem Renaissance and later writers. Key literary figures first published in the magazine include Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, Jean Toomer, and Arna Bontemps. The magazine also featured the early artwork of Aaron Douglas. This commitment to arts and culture was rooted in Du Bois's belief, articulated in his essay "Criteria of Negro Art" (1926), that all art is propaganda and must serve the cause of racial advancement. By providing a prestigious national outlet, *The Crisis* helped legitimize African American creative expression as a central component of the fight for civil rights.

Influence on Public Opinion and Legislation

The magazine's influence extended directly into the political arena by shaping elite and public opinion. Its relentless documentation of racial violence and disenfranchisement educated a growing white liberal readership and mobilized the Black middle class. *The Crisis* was a persistent advocate for specific legislative goals, including the Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill in the 1920s, the desegregation of the United States Armed Forces, and later, the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965. By framing civil rights as a fulfillment of American values and a national imperative for stability and justice, the magazine's rhetoric helped build the United States Armed Forces Act|American Civil Rights Act of the Civil Rights Act (United States Armed Forces Armed Forces Armed Forces Act of Representatives, and later the United States Armed Forces Act of America|American Civil Rights Act of America|United States|United States|United States|American Civil Rights Movement for the Advancement of America|American Civil Rights Movement. The magazine, and later the United States Armed Forces Act of the United States|American Civil Rights Act of 1964

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