“ raise Every Voice and Sing , ” the so - called Black national anthem , was pen by twentieth - century novelist / poet / ballad maker James Weldon Johnson as a rebound shout for perseverance and social Department of Justice . Though it ’s been performed publicly for nearly 100 old age , there ’s probably a lot you still do n’t have intercourse about this iconic vocal — though if a congressman has his way , you ’ll be hearing it alongside “ The Star - Spangled Banner ” in the skinny futurity .
1. “Lift Every Voice and Sing” was originally written as a poem.
The Sung dynasty ( the words to which you canread here ) was originally written by James Weldon Johnson as a poem in 1899 , when the KKK was riding hard and fateful people were being lynched and terrorize byJim Crow lawsin the American South . Johnson ’s blood brother , John Rosamond Johnson , is the one who put the verses to music . The hymn was first sung by 500 African American schoolchildren in Jacksonville , Florida , on February 12 , 1900 , as part of a jubilation observe Abraham Lincoln ’s natal day .
2. “Lift Every Voice and Sing” was the official song of the NAACP.
Weldon Johnson , who wroteThe Autobiography of an Ex - Coloured Man , was a towering literary figure and a prominent voice in the battle for civic rights . He set about working for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People ( NAACP ) in 1917 andwas name executive secretaryof the organization in 1920 — a position he held for 10 years . In 1919 , Johnson ’s " Lift Every Voice and Sing " became the prescribed song of the NAACP . Since that metre , the anthem has been the melodious inspiration for generations of Black Americans in the never - finish battle for equality and human rightfield .
3. “Lift Every Voice and Sing” is featured in Spike Lee’sDo the Right Thing.
Spike Lee ’s seminal 1989 filmDo the correct Thingdramatizes how veneration and bitterness explode into ferocity in Bedford – Stuyvesant , a preponderantly Black and browned Brooklyn locality that used to be all white . A snippet of notable saxist Branford Marsalis ’s interpreting of “ Lift Every Voice and Sing ” play at the beginning of the movie ’s opening credits before transitioning into Public Enemy ’s “ fight back the Power . ”
4. Beyoncé introduced “Lift Every Voice and Sing” to a lot of people.
Thousands of mostly white buff get word “ Lift Every Voice and Sing , ” possibly for the first prison term , whenBeyoncé belt it outat the 2018 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival . Beyoncé ’s 2019 Emmy - nominate documentaryHomecomingalso features her and her girl Blue Ivy give homage to the hymn .
5. “Lift Every Voice and Sing” was performed at the White House in 2010.
The 2010 Black History Month festivities at the White House showcased President Barack Obama performing “ Lift Every Voice and Sing ” with fabled someone balladeer Smokey Robinson and others onstage as part of a Celebration of Music from the Civil Rights Movement .
6. The NFL has embraced “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”
In 2020 , in a play to improve its ikon with African Americans after the police cleanup of George Floyd led to a universal shout for societal justice , the National Football League ( NFL ) announced that “ Lift Every Voice and Sing ” would be played before each first game of the time of year for all team . This was more than two class after the organization vowed to fine any team whose role player did not stand during the home hymn .
“ We , the National Football League , condemn racialism and the taxonomic oppression of blackened people , ” NFL commissionerRoger Goodell state in a video statement . “ We , the National Football League , include we were wrong for not hear to player earlier and advance all to speak out and peacefully protest . We , the National Football League , believe Black Lives Matter . ” Additionally , a video of Alicia Keys ’s rousing public presentation of the Black interior anthem transmit during the 2021 Super Bowl programme .
7. President Joe Biden paid tribute to “Lift Every Voice and Sing” in his plan for rebuilding Black America.
President Joe Biden give a nod to the Black national hymn by title his proposed plan for rebuild Black America “ Lift Every Voice . ”The programincludes fresh policies for closing the racial wealth and income gap , expansion of accession to quality breeding and wellness concern , and a commitment to pursue racial justice in all matters .
8. A South Carolina congressman wants to make “Lift Every Voice and Sing” a companion piece to “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
In January 2021 , congressman James Clyburn ( D - SC)proposed legislationthat would make “ Lift Every Voice and Sing ” a fellow anthem to “ The Star - Spangled Banner , ” which was write byFrancis Scott Key , a striver - own attorney from Virginia . For generations , Americans have command the irony of celebrating Key , who denied freedom to other human being yetwho wrote :
Clyburn believes “ hoist Every Voice and Sing ” is an appropriate alternative for America ’s most patriotic anthem because he believes it would unify Americans and acknowledge the commonwealth ’s entrenched racial divisions . According to Clyburn , " The gesture itself would be an bit of healing . Everybody can name with that song . ”
