African-American Racial Pride in James Weldon Johnson’s Literary Work James Weldon Johnson (1871 - 1938) was an important Black author, poet, leader, and political activist whose work was very influential in his time. He was born in Jacksonville, Florida in 1871 to middle-class parents. In a long career he worked as a teacher, a lawyer, a diplomat and the executive officer of the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People). His literary works had a powerful influence on other African-American poets of the time, and those that followed him. His best known work is the hymn, Lift Every Voice and Sing, which is considered the Negro National Anthem. He wrote many other poems such as The Color Sergeant, To America, and The Creation. In these poems, he expresses the emotions and thoughts of African Americans. In The Color Sergeant, he uses images and metaphors to convey the bravery and pride of a colored American …show more content…
Johnson was consistently attentive to these issues throughout his life. In his autobiography, Along this Way, Johnson states, “I had in the main known my own people as individual or as groups; and now I began to perceive them clearly as a classified division, a defined section of American society ... what black and white meant stood out starkly.” According to Carroll A. Richards, he was influenced directly by the conditions of life for African-Americans in the rural South (347). Johnson tried to bring the determination of African-Americans against these barriers to the attention of the wider world. Allan H. Spear asserts that Johnson “was a part of the movement to create a positive and vital culture rooted in the folk experience of the Negro people” (Richards 344). He accomplishes this goal in To America through the use of symbols to express racial
George Washington Lane was born to Jonathan and Mary Colley Lane 1806. George was either born in Cherokee or Ogelthorp County Georgia. In 1818 George moved to Limestone County Alabama with his mother Mary Colley Lane. George earned an elementary education after arriving in Alabama. He read law under Judge Daniel Coleman and was admitted to the bar in 1826. George was then elected probate judge of Limestone County, Alabama and then was elected circuit judge, he served that office for sixteen consecutive years. George represented Limestone County on several occasions in the legislature. On October 3, 1834 George Married Martha Nicholas Davis the daughter of Captain Nicholas Davis. George and Martha had 11 children, Robert Wilson Lane, George Gale, Nicholas, Mary, Kate Gaston, Belta Colley, May Fern, Charles Paul, and Hector Davis are the children listed in the 1840 census. Seven of George’s children lived to adulthood. The 1840 census of Limestone County Alabama lists George as head of a household of 48. George owned 44 slaves. George Washington Lane was a highly respected and successful farmer, lawyer and politician at the beginning of the anti-slavery movement. As the anti-slavery movement increased, George is said to have freed all of his slaves soon after the secession debates in Montgomery were held. George was strongly opposed to secession. George was convinced that secession was a mistake, and to let everyone know how he felt, he hung a union flag over his door. Apparently George’s beliefs were well known and had found their way to Washington around April of 1861. At that time it is said that he was appointed Federal Judge of
Calvin Johnson has been the best wide receivers in the NFL in his whole career being 6’5” 240 he is the toughest receiver to cover and his stats prove it. As seen in the picture from CBS sports. In 2012 he had 1,964 yards which is the most ever in a season in the entire history of the NFL and with his stats not dropping that much a lot of people thought he still has a lot of time left to make an impact in his career. Except he announced a couple weeks ago saying that he was retiring at only age 30. Many people have there opinions on why he is retiring although he has not completely said why he is retiring.
William Johnson was a slave before being freed at age 11, along with his mother, Amy, and sister, Adelia. He got his barber shop in 1830 from his half brother, James Miller. After starting his barber shop, he keeps a diary and he used it until he died. He also owned a bathhouse and bookstore.He married named Ann Battles, who was also a free african american. They had about 11 children before Johnson died. He lived in the free town of Natchez, and he almost had about three thousand dollars in 1835. Johnson was friends with other freed african americans like Robert McCary and hunted and fished with them. Johnson and Baylor Winn got into a dispute and it ended in Johnson`s favor in court. Winn was upset and shot Johnson when he was returning to
This short excerpt from the speech reveals the one of the main points that Jackson is trying to persuade his audience. Jackson claims that the civil rights movement is “an effort of American citizens to get full equality of opportunity.” It mentions the effort of non-discrimination and independence from the start of the United States. The purpose of his writing was to empower the black people to continue to fight for justice and freedom, and also to give advice for the future. The following paragraphs will be an evaluation of how logos, pathos, and ethos are used and applied in his writing, and how it affects the writing and effectiveness to the audience.
James Weldon Johnson author of The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man discusses the issue of race and identity in his short story. Writing in first person Johnson follows the unnamed protagonist from childhood up to adulthood, he demonstrates in different areas how this unnamed man handles his identity and his race as colored. The fact that he remains nameless throughout the story shows more of the connection between identity and race. During the course of the story Johnson’s protagonist makes the argument that identity is highly based upon the race of the individual. His journey from adolescence to adulthood as a colored man seems to play a keen role in the jobs he makes and the people he interacts with, ultimately defining his identity based on his race.
Andrew Jackson Young Jr was born on March 12, 1932 in New Orleans, Louisiana. His
In the early sixteen-hundreds there were nearly equal opportunities for blacks and whites in the New World, most specifically in Virginia. One African-American man in particular exemplifies this fact. Anthony Johnson escalated in society from being a slave1 to becoming a wealthy landowner with slaves of his own.2 The successes of this man both economically and socially provide a rather important window into the lives and opinions of the peoples in Virginia at the time, especially the black community and their treatment by their fellow white agriculturalists.
Lyndon B. Johnson was born August 27, 1908, in Stonewall, Texas Sam Ealy Johnson, Jr., a politician, farmer, cotton speculator, and newspaper owner, and Rebekah Baines Johnson, a homemaker and sometime newspaper editor (Smallwood). He was he first born of five children. Johnson started school school near his home along the Pedernales River in the Texas hill country at age four. Although at age four, Johnson attended the nearby one-room, one-teacher Junction School, his formal education began in 1913 when he was enrolled in first grade in the Johnson City Elementary School. He also attended a school in the small community of Albert. Johnson’s father, Sam Johnson, was a small-time farmer whose first love was politics; he served several terms in the Texas legislature. He also was able to gain a measure of financial security which allowed him to re-enter politics. In 1917, he won a special election and regained his seat in the Texas legislature. Johnson was introduced to the fascinating world of politics as small boy. When Sam Johnson decided to move, Johnson then transferred to high school nearby Johnson City. He did exceptionally well as a student. He was elected senior class president, was a leader of the school debate team, finished second in a graduating class of six, and gave the student oration at graduation. Johnson’s classmates recall that he always wanted to be the leader and always wanted to
Bryan Johnson: a son, a brother, a uncle, a friend, a lover, a athlete and outdoor enthusiast. Bryan Johnson is a man with many hats, depending on the day you may see several of these. When he is not working, Bryan loves to be in the outdoors or spend time with his family. Bryan is tough as nails, however, on the inside he is softer then cotton candy.
Breen implies that Anthony Johnson's accomplishments were great but held no place in a predominantly white colony and I will have to agree with his assumption. The making of black gentlemen in the seventeenth century would have to take a back seat to the white's self centered ideals. It was obvious that whites held most of the power and with that power were able to decide much of a black man's life especially his status in society. That status would hover above black slaves and indentured servants but still stay beneath any white
African-American men and white men are born and raised within the continental U.S.; each of their own faculty empowered to change the social injustice of a society. The innate qualities of the African American do not compare to those of the white man, yet - “empowered” they are with character. The foundation for the concept –“character” is best defined as “holistic,” meaning of physical, mental and social qualities – A. Adler’s school of thought, as well as A. Maslow and C. Rogers’ thoughts –“[a]n equal human being… cognitive, emotional, and volitional” (Ambrus, 33 -34)
For example, Locke would characterize Garvey as the Old and New Negro. For instance, Garvey writes that it’s time for each person to decide on how they will discover freedom. Garvey writes “The hour has now struck for the individual Negro as well as the
James Weldon Johnson (1871-1938), was a highly talented and celebrated African American writer. He was a poet, songwriter, novelist, literary critic, and essayist. Along with his wide-ranging literary accomplishments, Johnson also served as a school principal, professor of literature at Fisk University, attorney, a diplomatic consul for the United States in Venezuelaand Nicaragua, and secretary for the NAACP from 1920-1930. He is considered one of the founders of the Harlem Renaissance and the first "modern" African American.
Johnson uses words like “disdainful”, “magnificent”, “pompous”, “incompetent”, “imitate”, “supercilious”, “arrogant,” “meed,” and bold to describe the Negro in Harlem and to show their ‘supercilious’ nature towards other cultures.
Like Dan Richter in Facing East, Walter Johnson in Soul By Soul describes the powerless suffrage by yet another oppressed race. Soul by Soul is another consensus novel that uses antebellum slaves in the 1850’s to describe the outsiders’ view. Johnson, like Richter believes that by understanding the outsiders’ languishes; ultimately shows the other side to historical events that are not captured by history texts books. Johnson uses three different types of people to describe his argument of the antebellum south. He uses the slave, the slave trader, and the slave owner to show the full spectrum of the slave trade. Johnson uses an arsenal of sources to describe the difficulties slaves had to endure during the slave trade. However, like Richter’s sources, Johnson cannot fully rely on primary sources from the slaves themselves. For example Johnson explains, “the antislavery history of these narrative has made some historians wary of using