{"product_id":"james-weldon-johnson-writings-loa-145-isbn-9781931082525","title":"James Weldon Johnson: Writings (LOA #145)","description":"James Weldon Johnson’s career was one of extraordinary range, spanning the worlds of diplomacy (as U.S. consul in Venezuela and Nicaragua), politics (as Secretary of the NAACP), journalism (as founder of one newspaper and longtime editor of another), musical theater (as lyricist for the Broadway songwriting team of Cole and Johnson Brothers), and literature (as novelist, poet, and anthologist). At the dawning of what would become the modern civil rights movement, he forged a record of accomplishment that defied the odds. The Library of America now presents a collection of his writings that displays the many facets of a complex and impassioned writer.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man\u003c\/i\u003e (1912), Johnson’s first book, is a novel that on its original anonymous publication was taken by many for an actual memoir. A groundbreaking work of modern fiction, it powerfully describes the inner development of a gifted, socially alienated man as he tries to come to terms with the constraints of racism.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eAlong This Way\u003c\/i\u003e (1933) is Johnson’s genial and enthralling account of his fantastically busy life, with a cast of characters including W.E.B. Du Bois, Paul Robeson, Clarence Darrow, Booker T. Washington, Theodore Roosevelt, Carl Van Vechten, and many others.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA selection of shorter prose—editorials from The \u003ci\u003eNew York Age\u003c\/i\u003e, political essays, literary prefaces, an excerpt from the historical study \u003ci\u003eBlack Manhattan\u003c\/i\u003e—confirms the variety of Johnson’s interests, as he comments on figures and topics including Jack Johnson, Marcus Garvey, Woodrow Wilson, lynching, anti-Japanese discrimination in California, American involvement in Haiti, changing trends in theater and poetry, and the significance of spirituals.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJohnson’s poetry is represented by the full text of \u003ci\u003eGod’s Trombones\u003c\/i\u003e (1927), his stirring homage to African-American preaching, and shorter works including “O Black and Unknown Bards,” lyrics from Johnson’s Broadway songwriting days, and “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” the hymn often referred to as the “Negro National Anthem.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLIBRARY OF AMERICA\u003c\/b\u003e is an independent nonprofit cultural organization founded in 1979 to preserve our nation’s literary heritage by publishing, and keeping permanently in print, America’s best and most significant writing. The Library of America series includes more than 300 volumes to date, authoritative editions that average 1,000 pages in length, feature cloth covers, sewn bindings, and ribbon markers, and are printed on premium acid-free paper that will last for centuries.“\u003ci\u003eThe Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man\u003c\/i\u003e established James Weldon Johnson as the first truly modern black American novelist, while his \u003ci\u003eAlong This Way\u003c\/i\u003e, published two decades later (in 1933), recounted his rich life as a diplomat, journalist, songwriter, and secretary to the NAACP. This collection of his writings, which includes both of those longer works plus several rare essays, poems, and songs, is yet another important volume in The Library of America series.” \u003cb\u003e— \u003ci\u003eDallas Morning News\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eJames Weldon Johnson\u003c\/b\u003e was born in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1871.  Among the first to break through the barriers segregating his race, he was educated at Atlanta University and at Columbia and was the first black admitted to the Florida bar.  He was also, for a time, a songwriter in New York, American consul in Venezuela and Nicaragua, executive secretary of the NAACP, and professor of creative literature at Fisk University—experiences recorded in his autobiography, \u003cb\u003eAlong This Way\u003c\/b\u003e.  Other books by him include \u003cb\u003eSaint Peter Relates an Incident\u003c\/b\u003e, \u003cb\u003eBlack Manhattan\u003c\/b\u003e, and \u003cb\u003eGod's Trombones: Seven Negro Sermons in Verse.\u003c\/b\u003e In addition to his own writing, Johnson was the editor of pioneering anthologies of black American poetry and spirituals.  He died in 1938.","brand":"Library of America","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46300528509157,"sku":"NP9781931082525","price":40.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9781931082525.jpg?v=1742920402","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/james-weldon-johnson-writings-loa-145-isbn-9781931082525","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}