To America

James Weldon Johnson

How would you have us, as we are?

Or sinking ‘neath the load we bear?

Our eyes fixed forward on a star?

Or gazing empty at despair?

Rising or falling? Men or things?

With dragging pace or footsteps fleet?

Strong, willing sinews in your wings?

Or tightening chains about your feet?

James Weldon Johnson was born in Jacksonville, Florida, on June 17, 1871. Johnson was not only a poet but also a major leader in the NAACP and the first African American professor to teach at New York University. He died in 1938.