Bernard A. Drew: Don’t overlook James Weldon Johnson

By Bernard A. Drew

Featured in The Berkshire Eagle - February 22, 2020

I hadn’t anticipated writing another Black History Month column, but then I received two prompts about James Weldon Johnson. Elizabeth Freeman and W.E.B. Du Bois deservedly are receiving a lot of attention of late, but Johnson (1871-1938) shouldn’t be overlooked. He was a lawyer, writer, lyricist (“Lift Every Voice and Sing” with his brother Rosamond) and entertainer, as well as diplomat and activist for social justice. He and his wife, Grace Nail Johnson (1885-1976), had a summer place in the Seekonk section of Great Barrington. They called it Five Acres.