Dubois is indeed one of the most common streets in Nairobi Central Business District (CBD).
Located near River Road, the street has gained its reputation primarily due to the numerous businesses specialising in cosmetic and beauty products.
However, despite being one of the most frequented streets by Kenyans in search of cosmetic and skin care products, the majority do not know how the name originated.
Dubois is named after American civil-rights leader William Edward Burghardt Du Bois.
The civil rights activist was also an author and a friend of Kenya's first President, Jomo Kenyatta. Occasionally, the duo exchanged letters even before the Kenyatta became President.
The duo met in 1945 at a pan-African meeting. Notably, Du Bois was one of the organisers of the meetings that were pushing for the freedom of Africans, including the first one held in 1919 in Paris, France.
One of the famous letters that has been archived for years was written on April 28, 1961, when Du Bois wrote to Kenyatta to motivate him and Kenya in their push for independence.
In the letter, the author also highlighted how he was following the rise of Kenyatta, who later became the Prime Minister in 1963.
"The Manchester meeting of the Pan-African Congress was a great event. Out of it came Nkrumah and the Republic of Ghana, the independence of Sierra Leone, the rise of Kenya, and in many other ways the resurrection of Africa," read the letter in part.
The second famous letter was authored on July 2, 1963 - a month after Kenya attained Kenya’s internal self-rule from the British colonialists.
Kenyatta addressed the letter to Du Bois, thanking him for his support and contributions to championing Kenya's self-rule and independence.
"I deeply appreciate your message of congratulations on the attainment of internal self-government by Kenya and the formation of government by my party, the Kenya African National Union.
"The task now before us is to create in Kenya a society to which Kenyans of all races, tribes and communities will feel proud to belong and in which everyone will be able to live and work with honour and dignity. The goodwill and cooperation of friends like you will sustain us in our efforts to complete that task," Kenyatta wrote.
Du Bois passed away in Ghana at the age of 95 years on August 27, 1963, 56 days after receiving Kenyatta's letter.
Owing to his contributions to pan-Africanism, the road near River Road was named in his honour.
