“The old time Negro preacher of parts was above all an orator, and in good measure an actor. He knew the secret of oratory, that at the bottom of it is a progression of rhythmic words more than anything else. …He often possessed a voice that was a marvelous instrument, a voice he could modulate from a sepulchral whisper to a crashing thunder clap. …At such time his language was not prose but poetry. It was from memories of such preachers there grew the idea of this book of poems.”
Featuring seven-free verse biblically inspired poems, God’s Trombones: Seven Negro Sermons in Verse is a brief, yet powerful, critically acclaimed collection that celebrates the oratorical talent of the “old time” Black preacher; the rhythm and lyricism of his words, as well as the heart and soul of his church. Beginning with the preliminary call to prayer “Listen Lord” and ending with “The Judgement Day,” Johnson leads readers on a literary journey that showcases the collision of Black life and Black art within the realm of Christianity.
Inspired by both his childhood memories of listening to sermons and a desire to pay tribute to the work of Black preachers, God’s Trombones: Seven Negro Sermons in Verse is James Weldon Johnson’s exciting exploration of African American religious expression and history.
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Author Biography:
James Weldon Johnson (1871—1938) was an African American writer and civil rights activist. Born in Jacksonville, Florida, he obtained an education from a young age, first by his mother, a musician and teacher, and then at the Edwin M. Stanton School. In 1894, he graduated from Atlanta University, a historically black college known for its rigorous classical curriculum. With his brother Rosamond, he moved to New York City, where they excelled as songwriters for Broadway. His poem “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing” (1899), set to music by Rosamond, eventually became known as the “Negro National Anthem.” Over the next several decades, he dedicated himself to education, activism, and diplomacy. From 1906 to 1913, he worked as a United States Consul, first in Puerto Cabello, Venezuela, and then in Nicaragua. He married Grace Nail, an activist and artist, in 1910, and would return to New York with her following the end of his diplomatic career. While in Nicaragua, he wrote and anonymously published The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man (1912), a novel exploring the phenomenon of racial passing. In 1917, Johnson began his work with the NAACP, eventually rising to the role of executive secretary. He became known as a towering figure of the Harlem Renaissance, writing poems and novels as well as compiling such anthologies as The Book of American Negro Poetry (1922). For his contributions to African American culture as an artist and patron, his activism against lynching, and his pioneering work as the first African American professor at New York University, Johnson is considered one of twentieth century America’s leading cultural figures.
