W. E. B. Du Bois 
Darkwater 
Voices from Within the Veil

‘I have been in the world, but not of it, ‘ W.E.B. Du Bois begins this book, a continuation of the project he began in his celebrated work
The Souls of Black Folk, describing the devastation of segregation, slavery, and the global color line that veiled half the world’s people in shadow. First published in 1920,
Darkwater gives voice to the rising power of ‘the darker races’ around the world, and includes Africa’s blistering indictment of Europe, a study of the curious and twisted souls of white folk, and his landmark essay ‘The Damnation of Women, ‘ in which he most seriously explores women’s oppression and the double burdens forced onto black women. Combining essays and analysis with poetry, allegory, and short fiction,
Darkwater is an angry and eloquent argument that, as Du Bois writes, ‘a belief in humanity is a belief in colored men.’



With a new introduction from award-winning poet and novelist Honor�e Fanonne Jeffers, and a historical preface by Manning Marable.

About the author

W.E.B. Du Bois was an American sociologist, historian, civil rights activist, Pan-Africanist, author, artist, and editor — and perhaps the most famous African American intellectual of the modern era. He was one of the co-founders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1909. His collection of essays,
The Souls of Black Folk, and his magnum opus
Black Reconstruction in America are landmark texts of African American history and literature.


Honor�e Fanonne Jeffers is an award-winning poet, essayist, and fiction writer, and a Professor of English at the University of Oklahoma. Her poetry books include
The Gospel of Barbecue,
Outlandish Blues,
Red Clay Suite,
The Glory Gets, and
The Age of Phillis, a reimagining of the life of Phillis Wheatley Peters. Her writing has been anthologized in
Angles of Ascent: Norton Anthology of Contemporary African American Poetry and
The Fire This Time: A New Generation Speaks on Race. Her first novel,
The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois, is forthcoming.