#Lift every voice and sing choir series

James took a turn in the diplomatic core, serving as U.S. Rosamond Johnson moved to New York, where they wrote music for Broadway, and Black musical theater productions. The story of 'Lift Every Voice and Sing' leads to the story of its creators. That's the only thing that keeps us going really-if we believe that there is a beautiful future to be had.' 'So whenever I sing it, I am thinking about my ancestors, and I'm thinking about, a dark past but a beautiful future. It's also looking towards the horizon and that's what I love about those lyrics.'

'It's not only revering, documenting, and validating the African American experience with those lyrics. The music is rousing the words are powerful. “It was one of those tunes I learned-even in middle school and high school, as I sang in those choirs- I would sing them in a choral style, I would sing them solo, I would with a gospel twinge, any program I was singing, maybe that song would be played, so I’ve sung it in so many different ways.” “It was just an institution in the Black community,” she says, describing it as woven throughout her childhood.

#Lift every voice and sing choir series

“I’ve known it since I was a kid, probably five or six,” says singer Laurin Talese, who sang the song with The Philadelphia Orchestra on its digital stage series when live concerts were suspended, and then again to open the Orchestra’s 2021/2022 season. It became known as the Black National Anthem, and in 1919, the NAACP adopted the song, which was sung at school programs, social gatherings and civil rights marches throughout the 20th century. With its soaring melody and words of rejoicing and hope, freedom and faith, and overcoming a dark history of oppression-it spread through 20th century black communities, as people learned it, sang it and taught it to others. The title turned out to be prophetic, as this three-verse song took flight. In a ceremony celebrating the birth of Abraham Lincoln, a chorus of 500 school children sang out the compelling message of 'Lift Every Voice and Sing,' beginning with: It came to life in its first performance at the high school where James was principal. In 1937, sculptor Augusta Savage was commissioned by the World’s Fair to create what would become “The Harp.” For a work to commemorate and symbolize the musical contributions of African Americans, she chose as her inspiration “Lift Every Voice and Sing.” Her sculpture was one of the most popular works of art at the Fair however, the event organizers refused to pay for its transport and it was tragically destroyed after the Fair closed.The now seminal anthem began as a poem-written in 1900 by James Weldon Johnson, a young writer working as a high school principal in Jacksonville, Florida-and set to music by his younger brother, composer J. It gave me chills and pride then and now. She told us it was the Black National Anthem “but people of all colors should celebrate this song and each other.” I’ll never forget her. Gravier, who just happened to be white, taught it to us and sang just as loudly as us kids. Michele Hall Robertson: I remember singing this each day in my westside Chicago Public School, way back in the late 60s and early 70s. We sang this song every day as we worked to become part of Dr. Children and staff were mixed, racially and economically, which was highly innovative in 1979. It was the first of many lessons I received from coworkers who helped me understand the African-American culture when I taught kindergarten at the Central Presbyterian Child Development Center in downtown Atlanta. This annual #tdih post solicits stories from people about “Lift Every Voice and Sing” in their lives. Learn about the history of “Lift Every Voice and Sing” in May We Forever Stand: A History of the Black National Anthem (UNC Press, 2018) by Imani Perry. “ Happy 95th Birthday, Elizabeth Catlett!” (2010) in The Root describes her work as a noted sculptor and printmaker. Her own life story is well worth reading, including being confronted by McCarthyism. The children’s book about the song featured on this page has an introduction by Jim Haskins and art by Elizabeth Catlett. The words to the poem/song and another poem by Johnson can be read on the Civil Rights Movement Veterans website. Sculptor and printmaker Elizabeth Catlett.īy the 1920s, copies of “Lift Every Voice and Sing” could be found in Black churches across the country, often pasted into the hymnals.