Darkwater: Voices from Within the Veil

About the Author

William Edward Burghardt Du Bois

William Edward Burghardt Du Bois (1868-1963) was an American sociologist, historian, civil rights activist, Pan-Africanist, author, and editor. Born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, Du Bois was the first African American to earn a doctorate from Harvard University in 1895. Throughout his long and productive career, he emerged as one of the most influential intellectuals of the 20th century and a tireless advocate for racial equality. As a founding member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1909, he served as editor of its magazine, The Crisis, from 1910 to 1934, using it as a platform to challenge racism and promote civil rights. Du Bois's scholarly work, particularly 'The Philadelphia Negro' (1899) and 'The Souls of Black Folk' (1903), pioneered scientific sociology in America and introduced key concepts like 'double consciousness' that remain essential to understanding the African American experience. As his career progressed, his political views became increasingly radical; he embraced socialist principles, questioned capitalism's compatibility with racial equality, and became a leading figure in the Pan-African movement that sought the liberation of colonized peoples worldwide. In his later years, disillusioned with American racism and facing political persecution during the McCarthy era, Du Bois joined the Communist Party, renounced his American citizenship, and moved to Ghana at the invitation of President Kwame Nkrumah. He died in Accra, Ghana, on August 27, 1963, at the age of 95, one day before the March on Washington, where Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous 'I Have a Dream' speech. Du Bois's intellectual legacy spans multiple disciplines and continues to influence scholarship on race, politics, history, and culture.