James Weldon Johnson: Activist and Literary Pioneer
James Weldon Johnson (June 17, 1871 – June 26, 1938) was an important American writer and civil rights activist. He was married to Grace Nail Johnson, who was also a civil rights activist.
James Weldon Johnson, born in Jacksonville, Florida, attended Atlanta University before taking on roles as a schoolteacher, lawyer, journalist, civil rights advocate, and U.S. consul in Venezuela and Nicaragua. Later, he taught at Fisk University. With his brother, composer Rosamond Johnson, he co-wrote “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” which became known as the Black National Anthem. His poetry collections include *Fifty Years and Other Poems* (1917), *Saint Peter Relates an Incident* (1934), *Selected Poems* (1936), *The Creation* (1994), *Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing* (songs, 1995), and *Complete Poems* (2000). He received honors such as the Spingarn Medal and the W.E.B. Du Bois Prize for Negro Literature. Johnson died in a car accident while vacationing in Maine.
Poems:
articlesforchristians 