In his celebration of African and Afro-American life, Fenton Johnson is a forerunner of the Harlem Renaissance. One of the first revolutionary black American poets, Johnson has been hailed as "the foremost African-American pioneer of free verse." His endeavors were not limited to belles letters. To promote African and Afro-American awareness and to address the crucial issues confronting Afro-Americans he founded and edited the Champion Magazine in September 1916, and after it folded in 1917, he started the Favorite Magazine, which ceased publication in autumn 1920. In an editorial for the first issue of the Champion Magazine, he wrote that his magazine was "Born out of the desire to serve a struggling race impartially," and that it aimed "to make racial life during this twentieth century a life worth living" through bringing about "reconciliation of the races." His magazine, Johnson wrote, would "do all in its power to impress upon the...