James Weldon Johnson James Weldon Johnson was born in Jacksonville, Florida on June 17, 1871. He was the second of three children. Johnson was an American author, lawyer, and diplomat. He was educated at Atlanta and Columbia universities. In 1898 he became the first black lawyer admitted to the bar in Duval County, Florida. He practiced law in Florida until 1902. In that year Johnson moved to New York, and collaborated on the well-known song, “Lift Every Voice and …showed first 75 words of 791 total…

…showed last 75 words of 791 total…pleasant time in the “white” world. Once he found out he was black his whole outlook on things changed. He changed and the teachers changed toward him. He always understood the black status but it was different once he learned it was also his status. He knew that he would be treated different and would have different rules to live by. This is the Double Consciousness that W.E.B. Dubois introduced to the world.