Negro Americans, What Now? [Harlem Renaissance]

New York: The Viking Press, 1934. First Edition, First Printing. Very Good/No Dust Jacket.

Red cloth with paper title labels; the top edge stained red; 7.5 inches tall; viii. 103 pages. The bindings are tight and square. Text clean, light even toning. Minimal shelf handling wear. Previous ownership stamps on the front endpages. . James Weldon Johnson, a key figure in the Harlem Renaissance, and a prolific American author authored. He was a leader in the NAACP, diplomat to Venezuela, and the inaugural African-American professor at New York University,

In this important yet very elusive work, this extended essay evaluates the circumstances facing Black Americans and their avenues for progress, exploring themes such as education, political engagement, and the evolution of the Black Church as a societal institution.

Johnson places particular emphasis on education, observing that "there is hardly an important page of American history that can be fully and truthfully written without reference to the Negro," yet American textbooks overlook or misrepresent this fact. He argues that Black students should not only learn about their American history and "African cultural background," but also develop "independent political thinking... The ignorance of white people concerning us constitutes one of our greatest obstacles.