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Lift Every Voice and Sing

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"Lift Every Voice and Sing" is a hymn with lyrics by James Weldon Johnson (1871–1938) and set to music by his brother, J. Rosamond Johnson (1873–1954). Written from the context of African Americans in the late 19th century, the hymn is a prayer of thanksgiving to God as well as a prayer for faithfulness and freedom, with imagery that evokes the biblical Exodus from slavery to the freedom of the "promised land."

Lift Every Voice and Sing
Sheet music of "Lift Every Voice and Sing"
Also known asLift Ev'ry Voice and Sing
LyricsJames Weldon Johnson, 1900 (1900)
MusicJ. Rosamond Johnson, 1900 (1900)
Audio sample
"Lift Every Voice and Sing" performed by the United States Navy Band, 2021

Premiered in 1900, "Lift Every Voice and Sing" was communally sung within Black American communities, while the NAACP began to promote the hymn as a "Negro national anthem" in 1917 (with the term "Black national anthem" similarly used in the present day). It has been featured in 42 different Christian hymnals,[1] and it has also been performed by various African American singers and musicians. Its prominence has increased since 2020 following the George Floyd protests; in 2021, then House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn sponsored a bill proposing that "Lift Every Voice and Sing" be designated as the "national hymn" of the United States.[2]

History

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James Weldon Johnson, Principal of the Edwin M. Stanton School in Jacksonville, Florida, had sought to write a poem in commemoration of Abraham Lincoln's birthday. However, amid the ongoing civil rights movement, Johnson decided to write a poem which was themed around the struggles of African Americans following the Reconstruction era (including the passage of Jim Crow laws in the South). "Lift Every Voice and Sing" was first recited by a group of 500 students in 1900. His brother J. Rosamond Johnson would later set the poem to music.[3][4][5]

After the Great Fire of 1901, the Johnsons moved to New York City to pursue a career on Broadway. In the years that followed, "Lift Every Voice and Sing" was sung within Black communities; Johnson wrote that "the school children of Jacksonville kept singing it; they went off to other schools and sang it; they became teachers and taught it to other children. Within twenty years it was being sung over the South and in some other parts of the country."[3][6]

Recognition

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A sculpture by Augusta Savage named after the song was exhibited at the 1939 New York World's Fair, taking the form of a choir of children shaped into a harp. Savage was the only Black woman commissioned for the Fair, and the sculpture (which was retitled "The Harp" by organizers) was also sold as miniature replicas and on postcards during the event. Like other temporary installations, the sculpture was destroyed at the close of the fair.[7][8][9]

As the "Black national anthem"

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In 1919, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) dubbed "Lift Every Voice and Sing" the "Negro national anthem", for its power in voicing a cry for liberation and affirmation for African American people.[5] James Weldon Johnson would be appointed to serve as the NAACP's first executive secretary the following year.[6] It has similarly been referred to as "the Black national anthem".[10][11]

The use of the term "the Black national anthem" in reference to "Lift Every Voice and Sing" has been criticized. Timothy Askew, an associate professor at the historically Black Clark Atlanta University, argued that the use of the term "Black national anthem" could incorrectly implicate a desire of separatism by Black communities, that the lyrics of the hymn do not overtly refer to any specific race (which has inspired people to perform it outside African American communities), and "identity should be developed by the individual himself, not by a group of people who think they know what is best for you."[12] Some Conservative commentators have similarly criticized performances and references to "Lift Every Voice and Sing" as the "Black national anthem" as separatist and diminishing to "The Star-Spangled Banner" as the national anthem of the United States.[13][14]

In response to Askew's remarks, the NAACP's then-senior vice president of advocacy and policy Hilary O. Shelton told CNN that the hymn "was adopted and welcomed by a very interracial group, and it speaks of hope in being full first-class citizens in our society", used in conjunction with the U.S. national anthem or the Pledge of Allegiance during public events, "It is evident in our actions as an organization and here in America it is evidence that we are about inclusion, not exclusion. To claim that we as African-Americans want to form a confederation or separate ourselves from white people because of one song is baffling to me."[12]

In January 2021, Representative and then-House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn sponsored HR 301, a bill that proposed that "Lift Every Voice and Sing" be designated as the national hymn of the United States. Other songs have been proposed to become the national hymn of the United States in the past, and "The Star-Spangled Banner" would have remained the national anthem.[15][16][17][18]

Notable references and performances

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In 1923, the male gospel group Manhattan Harmony Four recorded the hymn as "Lift Every Voice and Sing (National Negro Anthem)". It was added to the National Recording Registry in 2016.[19]

In Maya Angelou's 1969 autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, the hymn is sung by the audience and students at Maya's eighth-grade graduation ceremony, after a white school official dashes the educational aspirations of her classmates.[20]

In 1972, Kim Weston sang the hymn as the opening number for the Wattstax Festival at the Coliseum in Los Angeles. This performance was included in the film Wattstax which was produced by Wolper Films. The musical direction and recording were both overseen by Stax Records engineer Terry Manning.[citation needed]

In 1975, James Brown quoted a lyric from the hymn as part of his performance of the U.S. national anthem before the Muhammad Ali vs. Chuck Wepner boxing match.[6]

In 1990, singer Melba Moore released a modern rendition of the hymn, which she recorded with the assistance of other singers, including R&B artists Stephanie Mills, Freddie Jackson, 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 Every Voice and Sing" was entered into the Congressional Record by Del. Walter Fauntroy (D-DC).[21] It was also added to the National Recording Registry in 2016.[19]

In 2008, jazz singer Rene Marie was asked to sing 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.[22]

On January 20, 2009, the Rev. Joseph Lowery, a civil rights movement leader who co-founded and is a former president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, used a near-verbatim recitation of the hymn's third stanza to begin his benediction at the inauguration ceremony for President Barack Obama.[23]

Jon Batiste, former bandleader of the late-night talk show The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, occasionally worked "Lift Every Voice and Sing" into the music that was played by his band Stay Human when the program hosted a Black guest; he stated that the hymn "connects us to the history of all the people who we stand on the shoulders of—who have marched and fought and died for the freedoms we enjoy and that we're trying to improve upon".[6]

 
The family of Barack Obama, Smokey Robinson, and others singing "Lift Every Voice and Sing" in the White House in 2014

On September 24, 2016, the hymn was sung by mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves and chorus at the conclusion of the opening ceremonies of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, at which Obama delivered the keynote address.

On October 19, 2017, when White supremacist leader Richard Spencer spoke at the University of Florida, music professor Laura Ellis played "Lift Every Voice and Sing" on the university's carillon to convey a message of unity.[24]

On April 14, 2018, "Lift Every Voice and Sing" was sung by Beyoncé during her headlining performance at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.[25][26]

In May 2018, the Tabernacle Choir performed "Lift Every Voice and Sing" during an edition of Music & the Spoken Word attended by members of the NAACP, who were in Salt Lake City for a national leadership meeting.[27]

The song was featured as the opening and closing song of The Blues and Its People, a suite by Russell Gunn first performed on February 18, 2023 at Harlem's Apollo Theater to mark the 50th anniversary of Amiri Baraka's book Blues People: Negro Music in White America.[28]

Prominence after the George Floyd protests

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In mid-2020, "Lift Every Voice and Sing" began to receive renewed attention amid nationwide protests over the police murder of George Floyd, which became a cause célèbre for what protesters considered brutal policing of the Black community: it was sung during demonstrations and other events which were held in solidarity.[6] Presidential candidate Joe Biden referenced the hymn in his action plan for addressing perceived racial disparities in the United States, which was titled "Lift Every Voice: The Biden Plan for Black America".[29][6] On June 19, 2020, Google featured a Juneteenth-themed animation on its home page, set to a spoken word rendition of the hymn's first verse by LeVar Burton.[30] In 2021, Vanessa Williams sang "Lift Every Voice and Sing" on the PBS Independence Day special A Capitol Fourth, commemorating the recognition of Juneteenth as a federal holiday.[13]

The hymn also began to be incorporated into sporting events: during NASCAR's 2020 Pocono 350, musicians Mike Phillips and West Byrd quoted "Lift Every Voice and Sing" as part of their rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner",[6] while the National Football League announced that "Lift Every Voice and Sing" would be played or performed as part of the pre-game ceremonies of all Week 1 games during the 2020 season.[31] The decision came as part of a new social justice campaign being introduced by the NFL, stemming from the league's acknowledgements of the Black Lives Matter movement,[32] and its handling of players taking a knee during the singing of the national anthem in order to protest against racial inequality and police brutality.[32] The NFL's opening night kickoff game featured a filmed performance of the hymn by Alicia Keys at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum,[33] which was later replayed as part of the pre-game show of Super Bowl LV on February 7, 2021.[34]

The NFL stated that it would again feature the hymn at Week 1 games and other "tentpole" events (including the NFL Draft and playoff games) during the 2021 season.[35] Some African American fans who were interviewed by NBC News felt that the NFL's decision was "pandering" that would not have a material impact on the league's pursuits of social justice.[36]

Lyrics

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Lift every voice and sing,
'Til earth and heaven ring,
Ring with the harmonies of Liberty;
Let our rejoicing rise
High as the listening 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 'til 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 died.
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,
'Til 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 has 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.[37]

Certifications

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Region Certification Certified units/sales
Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil)[38]
Beyoncé Homecoming Live Cover 		Gold 20,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

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  1. ^ "Lift Every Voice and Sing". Hymnary.org.
  2. ^ Ryan Benk (January 22, 2023). "Rep. James Clyburn Proposes to Make 'Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing' the National Hymn". NPR. Retrieved April 23, 2023.
  3. ^ a b "Behind the lyrics of 'Lift Every Voice and Sing'". CNN. Retrieved 2022-02-06.
  4. ^ James, Timothy (Winter 2013). "The Story of the Black National Anthem, "Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing", Written by James Weldon Johnson" (PDF). Selah. Vol. 1, no. 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 February 2015. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
  5. ^ a b "Till Victory Is Won: The Staying Power Of 'Lift Every Voice And Sing'". NPR. Retrieved 2022-02-06.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g "A History of the 'Black National Anthem'". Time. Retrieved 2022-02-05.
  7. ^ 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
  8. ^ "Sculptor Augusta Savage Said Her Legacy Was The Work Of Her Students". NPR. Retrieved 2022-02-15.
  9. ^ "Augusta Savage: the extraordinary story of the trailblazing artist". The Guardian. 2019-05-08. Retrieved 2022-02-15.
  10. ^ Jackson, Jabar; Martin, Jill (July 3, 2020). "NFL plans to play Black national anthem before Week 1 games". CNN. Retrieved 2020-07-04.
  11. ^ Touré (November 17, 2011). "Society It's Time for a New Black National Anthem". Time. Retrieved February 16, 2015.
  12. ^ a b "Professor at historically black college questions 'black national anthem'". CNN. Retrieved 2022-02-06.
  13. ^ a b "Conservatives Slam Vanessa Williams For Singing Black National Anthem During Fourth Of July Special". BIN: Black Information Network. Retrieved 2022-02-06.
  14. ^ Castronuovo, Celine (2021-09-11). "Bill Maher criticizes NFL for playing Black national anthem". The Hill. Retrieved 2022-02-06.
  15. ^ Gibson, Travis (2022-02-03). "Mayor Curry backs bill that would make 'Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing' a national hymn". WJXT. Retrieved 2022-02-15.
  16. ^ "Rep. James Clyburn Proposes To Make 'Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing' The National Hymn". NPR. Retrieved 2022-02-15.
  17. ^ Berry, Deborah Barfield. "To help heal racial wounds, Black national anthem would become America's hymn under proposal". USA Today. Retrieved 2022-02-15.
  18. ^ Mathewson, Eryn; Saunders, Zoë (2021-02-11). "Why Rep. James Clyburn is pushing to make 'Lift Every Voice and Sing' the US national hymn". CNN. Retrieved 2023-02-12.
  19. ^ a b "National Recording Registry Picks Are "Over the Rainbow"". Library of Congress. March 27, 2017. Retrieved July 23, 2020.
  20. ^ Angelou, Maya (1969). I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. New York: Random House. pp. 169–184. ISBN 0-375-50789-2.
  21. ^ Anderson, Susan Heller. "Chronicle", The New York Times, April 18, 1990. Retrieved January 20, 2009.
  22. ^ Pellegrinelli, Lara (July 3, 2009). "Poetic License Raises a Star-Spangled Debate". All Things Considered. NPR. Retrieved January 15, 2012.
  23. ^ "Barack Obama Facts - 44th President of USA". Tradenjoin. Retrieved 2023-03-19.
  24. ^ Diaz, Andrea; Chavez, Nicole (October 20, 2017). "College's bell tower trolled white supremacist with black national hymn". CNN. Retrieved 2017-10-20.
  25. ^ Hudson, Tanay (April 15, 2018). "Beyoncé's Coachella Performance Had HBCU Vibes And We Are Loving It". MadameNoire. Archived from the original on February 15, 2021. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
  26. ^ Schmidt, Samantha (April 16, 2018). "'Lift Every Voice and Sing': The story behind the 'black national anthem' that Beyoncé sang". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on February 15, 2021. Retrieved April 17, 2018.
  27. ^ "On this Juneteenth, watch two musical events celebrating African American history". Church News. 2020-06-19. Retrieved 2021-01-17.
  28. ^ Scherstuhl, Alan (2023-02-16). "Amiri Baraka's 'Blues People' Comes Home to the Apollo". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-02-19.
  29. ^ Kight, Stef W. (4 May 2020). "Biden campaign unveils "Lift Every Voice" plan for African Americans". Axios. Retrieved 2022-02-06.
  30. ^ Porter, Jon (2020-06-19). "Google Doodle celebrates the 155th anniversary of Juneteenth". The Verge. Retrieved 2022-02-06.
  31. ^ "The NFL Will Play 'Lift Ev'ry Voice And Sing' Before Each Season-Opener Game". NPR. July 2, 2020.
  32. ^ a b "NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell says league was wrong for not listening to players earlier about racism". CNN. June 5, 2020.
  33. ^ "Everything to Know About 'Lift Every Voice and Sing,' The Black Anthem Alicia Keys Performed at NFL Kick-Off". Billboard. 2020-09-11. Retrieved 2021-07-16.
  34. ^ "Super Bowl: Jazmine Sullivan, Eric Church Perform National Anthem; H.E.R. Rocks "America the Beautiful"". The Hollywood Reporter. 2021-02-07. Retrieved 2021-04-19.
  35. ^ "NFL says it will play Black national anthem before games again this season". The Hill. 2021-07-15. Retrieved 2021-07-16.
  36. ^ "Why fans see the NFL's 'Lift Every Voice and Sing' gesture as blatant pandering". NBC News. 9 July 2020. Retrieved 2022-02-06.
  37. ^ "NAACP History: Lift Every Voice and Sing". NAACP. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  38. ^ "Brazilian single certifications – Beyoncé – Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing" (in Portuguese). Pro-Música Brasil. Retrieved January 5, 2023.
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