Author · United States · 1871–1938
James Weldon Johnson
Poetry and prose of the Harlem Renaissance; voice, pride, and music in public.
James Weldon Johnson was an American writer and civil rights activist. Johnson established his reputation as a writer, and was known during the Harlem Renaissance for his poems, novel, and anthologies collecting both poems and spirituals of black culture.
Genres
Historical fiction
Voice and vision for 2026
James Weldon Johnson joins hymn, satire, and history into one civic art. He names harm and hope with control that invites many readers in. Read him today to hear a nation argue for its soul and to practice speech that lifts without lying.
