Helene+Johnson

by Madeline Ashton
 * Helene Johnson**

Helen Johnson was raised by her mother after her father left the family. She grew up around many strong women, which shines through in her poetry. She showed a talent for writing at a young age; when she was young, she won a short story contest sponsored by the //Boston Chronicle//. She wrote poems that were published in magazines funded by the NAACP. She wrote in the one issue of the short lived newspaper "Fire!!" which was a revolutionary magazine trying to break down barriers for African American artists. She later started in Columbia College at 19, where she was often praised and compared next to one of the greatest poets, Langston Hughes.However, she fave gave up most of her poetry after she married, and then devoted herself to her family and a happy marriage. Johnson was extremely independent from a young age, seeing as she spend most of her time alone. She was seen as an underdog as far as being a writer and a poet, because she was not only faced with the challenge of overcoming prejudice towards her, but she was also a woman. She shows this strength and extreme independence in her strong worded poems. They are usually described as bold because of her powerful words and sense of pride for who she is. She fought through the prejudice put against her for her race and gender, but instead of being afraid and accepting what society thought of her, she instead redefined the role of women through her powerful position on her race and her gender.

Sonnet To A Negro In Harlem
Helene Johnson

You are disdainful and magnificent-- Your perfect body and your pompous gait, Your dark eyes flashing solemnly with hate; Small wonder that you are incompetent To imitate those whom you so dispise-- Your shoulders towering high above the throng, Your head thrown back in rich, barbaric song, Palm trees and manoes stretched before your eyes. Let others toil and sweat for labor's sake And wring from grasping hands their meed of gold. Why urge ahead your supercilious feet? Scorn will efface each footprint that you make. I love your laughter, arrogant and bold. You are too splendid for this city street!

Johnson thinks that the people of Harlem are a mass of contradictions. They are beautiful and wonderful, but they will not embrace who they truly are. Instead, they are trying to be like the white people. She thinks that they are better then their circumstances. These people are equal to other societies, although they are treated worse. They hold their heads high, and are arrogant. They do not understand what a world lies outside of their city, and are unaware of what is out there. They do not care about who else is out there, or what is going on in the world, instead insisting on staying where they are, and keeping on pretending. They are a wonderful people though. They still hold their head high, and though they are incompetent to the world around them, they understand that they belong out there. Johnson believes that they are arrogant, thinking themselves so well above the rest of the world, instead of equal with it. They are magnificent in the way that they are so proud, when people think so little of them. The people out there think that they are not worth much, when they themselves believe themselves to be above the world. They allow their fellow man to remain in poverty and working hard, as they take out the fruits of their labor. They have become city people, concerned with only themselves. They are a despised people, and are trying to be the White culture, or the people they hate. They continue on, despite what the others think though. They are wonderful in the way that they can continue on in such complete arrogance to their situation, and maintain their pride in themselves.
 * Analysis**


 * Works Cited**
 * Atlanta, Way Of. "Jazz Poetry." //Sonnet To A Negro In Harlem//. //Http://faculty.pittstate.edu//. Web. 13 Apr. 2011. .//
 * //"Helena Johnson."// Voices From the Gaps : University of Minnesota//. Web. 13 Apr. 2011. .//
 * Helene Johnson//. Photograph.// Http://img2.wantitall.co.za//. Web. 13 Apr. 2011. 