The Black National Anthem
Lift Every Voice and Sing is a early 20th century poem, turned hymn, written by James Weldon Johnson, a Black Renaissance writer and known NAACP activist. The music was composed his his brother, J. Rosamond Johnson.
The hymn was first performed publically by the youth choir that attended Stanton School which was segrated at the time. Since its creation, the song was later adapted by the NAACP as an anthem during the Civil Rights Movement.
Lyrics
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.
By the 1930's, the Black National Anthem had spread to churches and schools throughout the south with many other races and religions incorporating the song into their culture.
The song has inspired many black artists in their work, while also becoming a symbol of freedom, liberty, and hope for Black Americans - despite the pain and suffering.
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