.jpg) Sheet music of "Lift Every Voice and Sing" | |
| Also known as | Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing |
|---|---|
| Lyrics | James Weldon Johnson, 1900 (1900) |
| Music | J. Rosamond Johnson, 1900 (1900) |
| Audio sample | |
"Lift Every Voice and Sing" performed by theUnited States Navy Band, 2021 | |
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"Lift Every Voice and Sing" is a hymn with lyrics byJames 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 biblicalExodus from slavery to the freedom of the "promised land".
Premiered in 1900, "Lift Every Voice and Sing" was communally sung within Black American communities, while theNAACP 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 49 different Christian hymnals,[1] and it has also been performed by various African American singers and musicians. Its prominence has increased since 2020 following theGeorge Floyd protests.[2]
James Weldon Johnson, Principal of theEdwin M. Stanton School inJacksonville, Florida, had sought to write a poem in commemoration ofAbraham Lincoln's birthday. However, amid the ongoingcivil rights movement, Johnson decided to write a poem which was themed around the struggles of African Americansfollowing the Reconstruction era (including the passage ofJim Crow laws in theSouth). "Lift Every Voice and Sing" was first recited by 500 students in 1900. His brotherJ. Rosamond Johnson would later set the poem to music.[3][4][5]
After theGreat Fire of 1901 in Jacksonville, the Johnsons moved to New York City to pursue a career onBroadway. 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]
Asculpture byAugusta Savage named after the song was exhibited at the1939 New York World's Fair, taking the form of a choir of children shaped into aharp. 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]
In 1919, theNational 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 thehistorically BlackClark Atlanta University, argued that the use of the term "Black national anthem" could incorrectly implicate a desire ofseparatism by Black communities, that the lyrics of the hymn do not overtly refer to any specificrace (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] SomeConservative 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 toldCNN 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 thePledge 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 fromwhite people because of one song is baffling to me."[12]
In January 2021, Representative and then-House Majority WhipJim Clyburn sponsored HR 301, a bill that proposed that "Lift Every Voice and Sing" be designated as the national hymn of the United States.[clarification needed][2] 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.[2][15][16][17]
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 theNational Recording Registry in 2016.[18]
InMaya 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.[19]
In 1972,Kim Weston sang the hymn as the opening number for theWattstax Festival at theLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum.[20] This performance was included in the filmWattstax which was produced by Wolper Films. The musical direction and recording were both overseen byStax Records engineerTerry 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 theMuhammad Ali vs. Chuck Wepner boxing match.[6]
In 1990, singerMelba Moore released a modern rendition of the hymn, which she recorded with the assistance of other singers, including R&B artistsStephanie Mills,Freddie Jackson,Anita Baker,Dionne Warwick,Bobby Brown,Stevie Wonder,Jeffrey Osborne, andHoward Hewett; and gospel artistsBeBe & CeCe Winans,Take 6, andThe Clark Sisters, after which, "Lift Every Voice and Sing" was entered into theCongressional Record by Del.Walter Fauntroy (D-DC).[21] The recording was added to the National Recording Registry in 2016.[18]
In 2008, jazz singerRene Marie was asked to sing the national anthem at a civic event inDenver, 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, acivil rights movement leader who co-founded and is a former president of theSouthern Christian Leadership Conference, used a near-verbatim recitation of the hymn's third stanza to begin his benediction at the inauguration ceremony for PresidentBarack Obama.[23]
Jon Batiste, former bandleader of thelate-night talk showThe Late Show with Stephen Colbert, occasionally worked "Lift Every Voice and Sing" into the music that was played by his bandStay 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]
On February 20, 2016,Western Kentucky University premiered aconcert band piece titled "Of Our New Day Begun" by Omar Thomas, which featured thehymn prominently.[24] The piece was written in honor of nine people who died in a shooting in theEmanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church. The piece was influenced by many black music traditions such asgospel andblues.[25]
On September 24, 2016, the hymn was sung by mezzo-sopranoDenyce Graves and chorus at the conclusion of the opening ceremonies of theNational Museum of African American History and Culture, at which Obama delivered the keynote address.
On October 19, 2017, whenWhite supremacist leaderRichard Spencer spoke at theUniversity of Florida, music professor Laura Ellis played "Lift Every Voice and Sing" on the university'scarillon to convey a message of unity.[26]
On April 14, 2018, "Lift Every Voice and Sing" was sung byBeyoncé during herheadlining performance at theCoachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.[27][28]
In May 2018, theTabernacle Choir performed "Lift Every Voice and Sing" during an edition ofMusic & the Spoken Word attended by members of the NAACP, who were in Salt Lake City for a national leadership meeting.[29]
The song was featured as the opening and closing song ofThe Blues and Its People, asuite byRussell Gunn first performed on February 18, 2023, at Harlem'sApollo Theater to mark the 50th anniversary ofAmiri Baraka's bookBlues People: Negro Music in White America.[30]
In mid-2020, "Lift Every Voice and Sing" began to receive renewed attention amid nationwideprotests over thepolice murder of George Floyd, which became acause 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 candidateJoe Biden referenced the hymn in his action plan for addressing racial disparities in the United States, which was titled "Lift Every Voice: The Biden Plan for Black America".[31][6] On June 19, 2020, Google featured aJuneteenth-themedanimation on its home page, set to aspoken word rendition of the hymn's first verse byLeVar Burton.[32] In 2021,Vanessa Williams sang "Lift Every Voice and Sing" on thePBSIndependence Day specialA Capitol Fourth, commemorating the recognition ofJuneteenth as a federal holiday.[13]
The hymn also began to be incorporated into sporting events: duringNASCAR's2020 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 theNational 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 the2020 season.[33] The decision came as part of a new social justice campaign being introduced by the NFL, stemming from the league's acknowledgements of theBlack Lives Matter movement,[34] and its handling of playerstaking a knee during the singing of the national anthem in order toprotest againstracial inequality andpolice brutality.[34] The NFL'sopening night kickoff game featured a filmed performance of the hymn byAlicia Keys at theLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum,[35] which was later replayed as part of the pre-game show ofSuper Bowl LV on February 7, 2021.[36]
The NFL stated that it would again feature the hymn at Week 1 games and other "tentpole" events (including theNFL draft and playoff games) during the2021 season.[37] Some African American fans who were interviewed byNBC News felt that the NFL's decision fell short of having a material impact on the league's pursuits of social justice, despite their appreciation of the hymn's inclusion.[38] As of February 2025[update], the song has been performed at five consecutive Super Bowl pregame ceremonies.[39]
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.[40]
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil)[41] Beyoncé Homecoming Live Cover | Gold | 20,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. | ||
