THE STORY OF THE BLACK NATIONAL ANTHEM,
“LIFT EVERY VOICE AND SING”, WRITTEN BY JAMES WELDON JOHNSON
Some stories have a way of getting better and better every time they are told. As we celebrate African American History Month, I thought it would be appropriate to share the story of our Black National Anthem. It was on February 12, 1900, at the segregated, Edwin M. Stanton School in Jacksonville, Florida that preparations were made to commemorate the birthday of President Abraham Lincoln and for a visit from the well-known Negro leader, Booker T. Washington. The principal for the 500 student school was James Weldon Johnson. Sensing the significance of the day and the guest speaker, Principal Johnson put his poetic skills to work and crafted a poem fitting the occasion. The lyrics to the first stanza are:
Lift every voice and sing,
till 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 till victory is won.
The poem which was entitled, “Lift Every Voice and Sing” became a song about five years later when John Rosamond Johnson, brother to James Weldon Johnson, put the words to music. There was evidently much inspiration in formulating the words in the poem and the scoring of the words to music. In 1919, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) adopted and labeled the song, “Lift Every Voice and Sing” as The Negro National Anthem. This song has served as a cry for liberation and affirmation for all African Americans, especially those who have been misused and abused. The last stanza lifts up the role our faith in God has played in the struggle of our journey:
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!
May we always find motivation in this song! Be strong in the Lord, my brothers and my sisters in the power of His might. Please celebrate this month with purpose.
Timothy M. James
NAACP HISTORY: LIFT EV’ RY VOICE AND SING
Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing – often called “The Black National Anthem” – was written as a poem by James Weldon Johnson (1871-1938) and then set to music by his brother John Rosamond Johnson (1873-1954) in 1899. It was first performed in public in the Johnsons’ hometown of Jacksonville, Florida as part of a celebration of Lincoln’s Birthday on February 12, 1900 by a choir of 500 schoolchildren at the segregated Stanton School, where James Weldon Johnson was principal.
Lift Every Voice and Sing
Lyrics:
Lift ev’ry voice and sing,
‘Til earth and heaven ring,
Ring with the harmonies 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 ’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 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,
‘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.
