James Weldon Johnson (June 17, 1871 – June 26, 1938) was an American author, politician, diplomat, critic, journalist, poet, anthologist, educator, lawyer, songwriter, and early civil rights activist. Johnson is remembered best for his leadership within the NAACP, as well as for his writing, which includes novels, poems, and collections of folklore. He was also one of the first African-American professors at New York University. Later in life he was a professor of creative literature and writing at Fisk University.
Read more about James Weldon Johnson: Life, Education and Law, Diplomacy, Literature and Anthology, Poetry, Activism, Awards, Honors, and Legacy
Famous quotes containing the words weldon johnson, james, weldon and/or johnson:
“This Great God,
Like a mammy bending over her baby,
Kneeled down in the dust
Toiling over a lump of clay
Till He shaped it in His own image;”
—James Weldon Johnson (1871–1938)
“There are moods in which one feels the impulse to enter a tacit protest against too gross an appetite for pure aesthetics in this starving and sinning world. One turns half away, musingly, from certain beautiful useless things.”
—Henry James (1843–1916)
“Young women especially have something invested in being nice people, and it’s only when you have children that you realise you’re not a nice person at all, but generally a selfish bully.”
—Fay Weldon (b. 1933)
“I look upon every day to be lost, in which I do not make a new acquaintance.”
—Samuel Johnson (1709–1784)