Biography and Critical Analysis of James Weldon Johnson and His Work "The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man"

For decades blacks in America have been suppressed much like a flame being smothered in order to extinguish it, but unlike fire, the spirits and souls of blacks have never stopped burning. Blacks have been physically abused by society through lynchings, burnings, and other acts of violence and have been emotionally abused through slurs, organized protest such as ones held by the Ku Klux Klan, and other forms of racism. Although our forefathers stated when they declared our independence, "that all men are created equal," and, "that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights", blacks have found themselves denied the right to live, the right of liberty in its entirety, and have had their pursuit of happiness blocked. …