By Waring Cuney
The world's first African American heavyweight champion Jack Johnson defeated James Jeffries, a leading white fighter, who came out of retirement to try to take the heavyweight championship back from Johnson. Jack Johnson won their fight on July 4, 1910. News of Jeffries's defeat ignited numerous incidents of white violence against blacks. However, black poet William Waring Cuney captured the exuberant African American reaction in his poem, "My Lord, What a Morning": You can read more about Jack Johnson's biography.
My Lord, What a Morning
O my Lord
What a morning,
O my Lord,
What a feeling,
When Jack Johnson
Turned Jim Jeffries'
Snow-white face
to the ceiling.
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