The Birmingham Times
James Weldon Johnson was an educator, journalist, diplomat, lyricist, poet, and human rights activist best known as the writer behind “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” the timeless hymn celebrated as the Black national anthem. But he also used his writing to win the heart of the love of his life — Grace Nail Johnson.
James Weldon Johnson was born in Jacksonville, Florida, on June 17, 1871, to James and Helen Louise Dillet Johnson. Raised in a comfortable middle-class setting, James was encouraged by his mother, a public school teacher, to pursue intellectual and artistic interests. He attended Atlanta University, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in 1894. After graduation, he returned to Florida and served as a principal, founded a short-lived newspaper called Daily American, and eventually passed the Florida bar examination and worked briefly as a lawyer…