American - Poet | June 17, 1871 - June 26, 1938
You are young, gifted, and Black. We must begin to tell our young, There's a world waiting for you, Yours is the quest that's just begun.
James Weldon Johnson
WaitingWorldBlackYouYoungBegin
Amsterdam was a great surprise to me. I had always thought of Venice as the city of canals; it had never entered my mind that I should find similar conditions in a Dutch town.
GreatCityMindMeThoughtSurprise
The Southern whites are in many respects a great people. Looked at from a certain point of view, they are picturesque. If one will put oneself in a romantic frame of mind, one can admire their notions of chivalry and bravery and justice.
GreatJusticeRomanticPeopleMind
Northern white people love the Negro in a sort of abstract way, as a race; through a sense of justice, charity, and philanthropy, they will liberally assist in his elevation.
LoveJusticePeopleCharityWhite
Any musical person who has never heard a Negro congregation under the spell of religious fervor sing these old songs has missed one of the most thrilling emotions which the human heart may experience.
HeartExperienceEmotionsPersonOld
And so for a couple of years my life was divided between my music and my school books.
LifeMusicSchoolMy LifeDivided
It is from the blues that all that may be called American music derives its most distinctive character.
MusicCharacterAmericanBluesMay
There are a great many colored people who are ashamed of the cake-walk, but I think they ought to be proud of it.
GreatPeopleProudThinkAshamed
She was my first love, and I loved her as only a boy loves.
LoveLovedBoySheFirstFirst Love
I believe it to be a fact that the colored people of this country know and understand the white people better than the white people know and understand them.
PeopleBelieveBetterWhiteCountry
Young man, young man, your arm's too short to box with God.
GodManShortYoungYoung ManBox
Labor is the fabled magician's wand, the philosophers stone, and the cap of good fortune.
GoodStoneLaborCapGood Fortune
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