Lift Every Voice and Sing – James Weldon Johnson
Verse 1
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
Come on, y’all
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
Hey, facing the rising sun, oh, of the new day begun
And let us march on ’til the victory’s won
Verse 2
God of our weary years, God of our silent tears
Thou Who hast brought us thus far along the way
Thou Who hast by Thy might led us into the light
And keep us forever, oh, in the path we pray
One more time, y’all
Lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met Thee
My Lord, my God
Lest our hearts, drunk with the wine of the world, we forget Thee
Help me, oh
Shadowed beneath Thy hand, may we forever stand
True to our God and true to our native land
[Outro]
Facing the rising sun of the new day begun
And let us march on ’til our victory is won
Amen, Amen
Lift Every Voice and Sing” is a hymn that has held a powerful place in American history for more than a century. It was written and composed by the Johnson brothers, James Weldon Johnson and John Rosamond Johnson, in 1899 1. The hymn is known as the Black National Anthem, but it’s more than that. It’s a history lesson, a rallying cry, a pledge of unity, and as people gather to fight for equality and justice, it is an ever-present refrain 1.
The song was first performed in 1900 by 500 children at the segregated Stanton School in Jacksonville, Florida, where James Weldon Johnson was the principal 1. The hymn was later adopted by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and became an anthem for the civil rights movement 1.
The lyrics of “Lift Every Voice and Sing” are a prayer of thanksgiving to God as well as a prayer for faithfulness and freedom, with imagery that evokes the trials and tribulations of African Americans in the late 19th century 2. The hymn speaks to a world rife with Jim Crow segregation and the threat of mob violence and lynching 1.
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