Autobiography of an ex-colored man pages
The Autobiography of an Ex-Coloured Man
"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
James Weldon Johnson
Johnson lived an extraordinary life as a writer, musician,educator, lawyer, and diplomat. Born in Jacksonville, Florida,in 1871, the son of teacher Helen Dulett and James Johnson, the head waiter at St. James Hotel, one of the early resort hotels in Jacksonville. Johnson developed his love of music and literature from his mother. His confidence to pursue a professional position was inspired by his father.
Atlanta University
Johnson entered Atlanta University at age 16 and received his degree in 1894. Along with his brother, Rosamond, Johnson wrote numerous songs which were incorporated into Broadway hits of the day. Working with the Theodore Roosevelt campaign, as a Republican, Johnson composed campaign songs for Roosevelt. Upon his election Roosevelt appointed Johnson as American Consul to Puerto Rico and Venezuela. The election of Woodrow Wilson,a Virginia Democrat,ended Johnson's diplomatic career. No longer bound by the requirements of circumspection in the political world, Johnson became a civil rights activist and a founder of the NAACP.
Johnson was killed in a collision with a train at an unmarked crossing, headed for a speaking engagement. His death at the age of sixty seven brought a premature end to an extraordinary life.
Considering the quote from Johnson which serves as a preamble to this review, the subject matter of The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man concerns the life of a man from childhood through life with the knowledge that he is Black, but with the ability to pass as a white man. His conflicted opinion on whether to live safely as a white man as opposed to acknowledging his racial identity and ac
The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man by James Weldon Johnson
The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man
Book by James Weldon Johnson
The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man (1912/1927) by James Weldon Johnson is the fictional account of a young biracial man, referred to only as the "Ex-Colored Man", living in post-Reconstruction era America in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He lives through a variety of experiences, including witnessing a lynching, that convince him to "pass" as white to secure his safety and advancement, but he feels as if he has given up his dream of "glorifying" the black race by composing ragtime music.
History
Johnson originally published The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Mananonymously in 1912, via the small Boston publisher Sherman, French, & Company. He decided to publish it anonymously because he was uncertain how the potentially controversial book would affect his diplomatic career. He wrote openly about issues of race and discrimination that were not common then in literature. The book's initial public reception was poor. It was republished in 1927, with some minor changes of phraseology, by Alfred A. Knopf, an influential firm that published many Harlem Renaissance writers, and Johnson was credited as the author.
Despite the title, the book is a novel. It is drawn from the lives of people Johnson knew and from events in his life. Johnson's text is an example of a roman à clef.
Plot summary
The novel begins with a frame tale in which the unnamed narrator describes the narrative that follows as "the great secret of my life." The narrator notes that he is taking a substantial risk by composing the narrative, but that it is one he feels compelled to record, regardless. The narrator also chooses to withhold the name of the small Georgia town where his narrative begins, as there are still living residents of the town who might be able to connect him to th .