Johnson, James Weldon: - James Weldon Johnson (1871-1938) was an early civil rights activist, a pioneering leader of the NAACP, and a leading figure in the creation and development of the Harlem Renaissance. Johnson's first success as a writer was the poem "Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing" (1899), which became known as the "Negro National Anthem." His published works include The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man (1912), God's Trombones (1927), and Black Manhattan (1930).