James Weldon Johnson, God’s Trombones, Seven Negro Sermons in Verse
James Weldon Johnson
God’s Trombones, Seven Negro Sermons in Verse
1927 (1963 ed.)
James Weldon Johnson describes the unsung role of American preachers of African descent, and presents seven types of sermons that were fundamental to the beliefs of the black church in the early 20th century through poetry. This is one of the most important books ever written by James Weldon Johnson. Here is a fascinating excerpt from his introduction:
The old-time Negro preacher has not yet been given the niche in which he properly belongs. He has been portrayed only as a semi-comic figure. He had, it is true, his comic aspects, but on the whole he was an important figure, and at bottom a vital factor. It was through him that the people of diverse languages and customs who were brought here from diverse parts of Africa and thrown into slavery were given their first sense of unity and solidarity. He was the first shepherd of this bewildered flock.