My luck at the gambling table was varied; sometimes I was fifty to a hundred dollars ahead, and at other times I had to borrow money from my fellow workmen to settle my room rent and pay for my meals.

Johnson is remembered best for his leadership within the NAACP as well as for his writing which includes novels poems and collections of folklore. James Weldon Johnson (June 17 1871 – June 26 1938) was an American author politician diplomat critic journalist poet anthologist educator lawyer songwriter and early civil rights activist.