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:
“Young man—Young man—Your arm’s too short to box with God.”
—James Weldon Johnson (1871–1938)
“And she straiked me three times o’er her knee;
She changed me again to my ain proper shape,
And I nae mair maun toddle about the tree.”
—Unknown. Alison Gross. . .
Oxford Book of Ballads, The. James Kinsley, ed. (1969)
“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)
“Forgetfulness is necessary to remembrance. Ideas are retained by renovation of that impression which time is always wearing away, and which new images are striving to obliterate. If useless thoughts could be expelled from the mind, all the valuable parts of our knowledge would more frequently recur, and every recurrence would reinstate them in their former place.”
—Samuel Johnson (1709–1784)