HunnyBeeLiftYourVoice

Hey Hunny’s!

Status count- How many people know that African Americans have their OWN National Anthem? In addition, how many people actually know the words? Was it ever sung in your house? Church? School? Have you ever heard it on anything current outside of 1960s documentaries, and possibly MLK Day? This topic may not be as glittery & controversial as other African American history topics I’ve discussed, but I’m finding that my generation knows very little about African American history, and the most common facts that we should know, we have no idea about.

According to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), The Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing, also called, National Black 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.”

Since then, the song moved throughout the South. Teachers taught it to their students, pastors preached it to the choir - in turn they preached it to the congregation, and parents passed it on to their loved ones. The song was officially adopted as the "National Negro Anthem" in 1919 by the NAACP, formed under Harvard professor W.E.B. Dubois. The third verse was even used during our President Obama’s Inauguration, to summarize the racial triumph of the moment. This song embodies the African American struggle, the rejoice of our freedom, and love for the Most High.

The African American History lesson for this day:

Read the lyrics to “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing”. This is your history, learn it, live it, love it. Pass this along to show that we are still proud of the ones that came before us!

Lift ev'ry voice and sing,
Till 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 till victory is won.
Stony the road we trod,
Bitter the chast'ning 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,
Till 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.