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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 ...
- Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing
- J. Rosamond Johnson, 1900
- James Weldon Johnson, 1900
Jul 14, 2020 · This story was originally published in 2020. We are recirculating it ahead of the 2024 Super Bowl. When the National Football League kicks off its season on Sept. 10, it will do so with a song ...
- 4 min
- Andrew R. Chow
Learn about the origin and meaning of the song Lift Every Voice and Sing, often called the Black National Anthem. Written by James Weldon Johnson and composed by his brother John Rosamond Johnson in 1900, it was a hymn for Black freedom and a rallying cry for the Civil Rights Movement.
Mar 21, 2024 · In the lyrics, he was likely trying to “cultivate a sense of history among his race,” wrote Julian Bond and Sondra Kathryn Wilson in the 2000 book that they edited celebrating the song’s legacy, Lift Every Voice and Sing: A Celebration of the Negro National Anthem: 100 Years, 100 Voices:
- “Lift Every Voice and Sing” was originally written as a poem. The song (the lyrics to which you can read here) was originally written by James Weldon Johnson as a poem in 1899, when the KKK was riding hard and Black people were being lynched and terrorized by Jim Crow laws in the American South.
- “Lift Every Voice and Sing” was the official song of the NAACP. Weldon Johnson, who wrote The Autobiography of an Ex-Coloured Man, was a towering literary figure and a prominent voice in the battle for civil rights.
- “Lift Every Voice and Sing” is featured in Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing. Spike Lee’s seminal 1989 film Do the Right Thing dramatizes how fear and resentment explode into violence in Bedford–Stuyvesant, a predominantly Black and brown Brooklyn neighborhood that used to be all white.
- Beyoncé introduced “Lift Every Voice and Sing” to a lot of people. Thousands of mostly white fans heard “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” possibly for the first time, when Beyoncé belted it out at the 2018 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
Sep 7, 2013 · Learn how James Weldon Johnson wrote the poem that became the Black National Anthem in 1900. Read the full lyrics and watch a video of the song performed by the Isaac Sisters.
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Jul 22, 2021 · James Weldon Johnson, who wrote the Black national anthem, was an author, educator, activist, diplomat, lawyer and songwriter. He worked with the NAACP from 1917 to 1930 and served as a U.S ...
