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Lift Every Voice and Sing

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"Lift Every Voice and Sing" — often referred to as the "Black American National Anthem"— is a song written as a poem by James Weldon Johnson (1871–1938) in 1899 and set to music by his brother John Rosamond Johnson (1873–1954) in 1900. It is one of the authorized hymns in the Episcopal hymnal.[1]

History

"Lift Every Voice and Sing" was publicly performed first as a poem as part of a celebration of Abraham Lincoln's birthday on February 12, 1900, by 500 school children at the segregated Stanton School. Its principal, James Weldon Johnson, wrote the words to introduce its honored guest Booker T. Washington. The poem was set to music soon after by Johnson's brother John in 1905. In 1919, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) dubbed it "The Negro National Anthem"[2] for its power in voicing the cry for liberation and affirmation for African American people.[3]

In 1939, Augusta Savage received a commission from the World's Fair and created a 16-foot plaster sculpture called Lift Every Voice and Sing which was destroyed by bulldozers at the close of the fair.[4]

In Maya Angelou's 1969 autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, the song is sung by the audience and students at Maya's eighth grade graduation, after a white school official dashes the educational aspirations of her class.[5]

In 1990, singer Melba Moore released a modern rendition of the song, which she recorded along with others including R&B artists Stephanie Mills, Anita Baker, Dionne Warwick, Bobby Brown, Stevie Wonder, Jeffrey Osborne, and Howard Hewett; and gospel artists BeBe & CeCe Winans, Take 6, and The Clark Sisters, after which, "Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing" was entered into the Congressional Record by Del. Walter Fauntroy (D-DC),.[6]

In 2008, jazz singer Rene Marie was asked to perform the national anthem at a civic event in Denver, Colorado, where she caused a controversy by substituting the words of "Lift Every Voice and Sing" into the song. This arrangement of the words of "Lift Every Voice and Sing" with the melody of "The Star Spangled Banner" became part of the titular suite on her 2011 CD release, "The Voice of My Beautiful Country".[7]

On January 20, 2009, the Rev. Joseph Lowery, who was formerly president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, used a near-verbatim recitation of the song's third stanza to begin his benediction at the inauguration ceremony for President Barack Obama.

Lyrics

  Lift every voice and sing 
  Till earth and heaven ring, 
  Ring with the harm-o-nies of Liberty;
  Let our rejoicing rise, 
  High as the list'ning skies,
  Let it resound loud as the rolling sea.
  Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us,
  Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us,
  Facing the rising sun of our new day begun,
  Let us march on till victory is won.

  Stony the road we trod,
  Bitter the chastening rod,
  Felt in the days when hope unborn had died;
  Yet with a steady beat,
  Have not our weary feet
  Come to the place for which our fathers sighed?
  We have come over a way that with tears has been watered,
  We have come treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered,
  Out from the gloomy past, till now we stand at last
  Where the white gleam of our bright star is cast.

  God of our weary years,
  God of our silent tears,
  Thou who hast brought us thus far on the way;
  Thou who has by Thy might
  Led us into the light,
  Keep us forever in the path, we pray.
  Lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met Thee,
  Lest our hearts, drunk with the wine of the world, we forget Thee,
  Shadowed beneath Thy hand, may we forever stand,
  True to our God, true to our native land.

References

  1. ^ Horace Boyer (ed.) Lift Every Voice and Sing II: An African American Hymnal (New York, Church Hymnal Corporation, 1993) ISBN 978-0-89869-194-8
  2. ^ Touré (November 17, 2011). "Society It's Time for a New Black National Anthem". Time Magazine. Retrieved February 16, 2015.
  3. ^ James, Timothy (Winter 2013). "THE STORY OF THE BLACK NATIONAL ANTHEM, "LIFT EVERY VOICE AND SING" Written by James Weldon Johnson" (PDF). Selah. No. 1(1). Retrieved 16 February 2015.
  4. ^ Bearden, Romare and Henderson, Harry. A History of African-American Artists (From 1792 to the Present), pp. 168-180, Pantheon Books (Random House), 1993, ISBN 0-394-57016-2
  5. ^ Angelou, Maya (1969). I know why the caged bird sings. New York, New York: Random House. pp. 169–184. ISBN 0-375-50789-2.
  6. ^ Anderson, Susan Heller. "Chronicle", New York Times, April 18, 1990. Retrieved January 20, 2009.
  7. ^ Pellegrinelli, Lara (July 3, 2009). "Poetic License Raises A Star-Spangled Debate". All Things Considered. NPR. Retrieved January 15, 2012.
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