Darkwater: Original and Unabridged

Darkwater: Voices From Within the Veil is a literary work by W.E.B. Du Bois. Published in 1920, the text incorporates autobiographical information as well as essays, spirituals, and poems that were all written by Du Bois himself.

Written when he was 50, Darkwater is the first of Du Bois's three autobiographies.

Du Bois maintained that the book was written to develop an understanding of the complications of the color-line with emphasis on its political implications.

"I venture to write again on themes on which great souls have already said greater words, in the hope that I may strike here and there a half-tone, newer even if slighter, up from the heart of my problem and the problems of my people."

Darkwater opens with "Credo", which was frequently reprinted. It was written in style similar to a Christian creed and was his statement of faith and vision for change.