'Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing' honoured as Black National Anthem

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 20 Oct, 21:32 · Archive

James Weldon Johnson's 1900 poem, set to music by his brother, is now widely revered as the Black National Anthem.

James Weldon Johnson wrote 'Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing' as a 34-line poem in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1900 for a celebration of Abraham Lincoln's birthday. His brother, John Rosamond Johnson, later composed the music for the poem. The song was first performed by Black children at a Jacksonville school where James Weldon Johnson was principal.

The song was subsequently adopted by the NAACP and sung at marches and other events during the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. Singer Kim Weston performed it in 2001 at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington during the first inauguration of President George W. Bush.

It has become a standard in Black churches and Black History Month programmes across the United States. The original handwritten manuscript is held by the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University. According to Yollie Copeland, a tour guide in Jacksonville, part of the song's legacy is that after the initial performance, it was passed from generation to generation, with children and students teaching it to their own students.

How it is being reported

• Written originally for Lincoln, 'Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing' now revered as Black National AnthemIn 34 lines, James Weldon Johnson told of the pain, anguish, frustration, faith and hope former slaves and their descendants experienced in a land and country they were forced to call home.Clickorlando · 20 Oct, 20:58
• Written originally for Lincoln, 'Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing' now revered as Black National AnthemIn 34 lines, James Weldon Johnson told of the pain, anguish, frustration, faith and hope former slaves and their descendants experienced in a land and country they were forced to call home.News4Jax · 20 Oct, 20:58

In this story: James Weldon Johnson · John Rosamond Johnson · NAACP · Jacksonville · Yale University · Kim Weston

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