W.E.B. Du Bois, one of the leading intellectuals of the 20th century, was unwavering in his commitment to the equality of the colored peoples of the world. All intellectual giant and a life-long agitator, Du Bois devoted his life to ensuring that the majority of the people in the world, "those of color," would break the shackles of colonialism and racial discrimination. It was in 1900 during the first meeting of the Pan-African Congress in London that Du Bois made his famous statement, "The problem of the 20th century is the problem of the color line--the relation of the darker to the lighter races of men in Asia, Africa, in America and the islands of the sea."