I have loved The Creation by James Weldon Johnson, since I first read it, more years ago than I can remember. Let me share a little of the background of the author.
Being a white man, educated in a lily-white school district, I am hardly qualified to speak to the different Civil Rights leaders over the years. (I did not even know of Juneteenth until recently) But I will say that my own personal favorite is James Weldon Johnson. I got to thinking about him, when his birthday came up on my news feed last week.
James was born in Jacksonville, Florida, on June 17, 1871, the son of a Baptist minister, who was a freeborn Virginian, and a Bahamian mother. He was raised without the sense of the limitations that the Jim Crow society of the day placed on African Americans.
Near his summer home in Dark Harbor (located on the southern end of Islesboro) When a Maine Central Railroad train collided with his car, Johnson died in Wiscasset, Maine, on June 26, 1938, at the age of 67. More than 2,000 people attended his funeral in Harlem.
Some of Johnson’s accomplishments over the years included:
• Civil Rights activist: James Weldon Johnson organized the first peaceful protest which was the silent parade in 1917 with 15,000 African Americans who marched in silence down 5th Avenue which was profound part of the movement; He would work several years for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and became the first black leader. The NAACP had about 10,000 members when he became field director, and membership went to 100,000 members.
• Writer: His published works include The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man (1912) and God's Trombones (1927). In 1900, he wrote the song “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing,” considered by many to be the “Black National Anthem.” His brother, J. Rosamond Johnson wrote the music. The song was written to introduce honored guest Booker T. Washington. (See note below on the song.)
• Journalist: In 1895, while working as a principal, Johnson established the Daily American, a newspaper dedicated to informing African-Americans in Jacksonville of various social and political issues of concern.
• Diplomat and Politician: Johnson served as United States counsel to Venezuela from 1906 to 1912.
• Educator: and grammar school principal; In 1934, James Weldon Johnson became the first African-American professor at New York University.
• Lawyer: In 1897, he became the first African American to pass the Florida Bar
• Harlem Renaissance: He was one of the leading figures in the creation and development of the Harlem Renaissance, also he assisted other writers. Johnson assisted writers during the Harlem Renaissance and was also known during the Harlem Renaissance for his poems, novels, and anthologies collecting both poems and spirituals of black culture.
