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Lift Every Voice and Sing
A Celebration of the Negro National Anthem; 100 Years, 100 Voices
3 of 3 copies available
"Shortly afterwards my brother and I moved from Jacksonville to New York, and the song passed out of our minds. But the school children of Jacksonville kept singing it, they went off to other schools and sang it, they became teachers and taught it to other children. Within twenty years it was being sung over the South and in some other parts of the country. Today, the song, popularly known as the Negro National Hymn, is quite generally used.
"The lines of this song repay me in elation, almost of exquisite anguish, whenever I hear them sung by Negro children."
—James Weldon Johnson, 1935
Pasted into Bibles, schoolbooks, and hearts, "Lift Every Voice and Sing," written by J. Rosamond Johnson and James Weldon Johnson in 1900, has become one of the most beloved songs in the African American community—taught for years in schools, churches, and civic organizations. Adopted by the NAACP as its official song in the 1920s and sung throughout the civil rights movement, it is still heard today at gatherings across America.
James Weldon Johnson's lyrics pay homage to a history of struggle but never waver from a sense of optimism for the future—"facing the rising sun of our new day begun, let us march on till victory is won." Its message of hope and strength has made "Lift Every Voice and Sing" a source of inspiration for generations.
In celebration of the song's centennial, Julian Bond and Sondra Kathryn Wilson have collected one hundred essays by artists, educators, politicians, and activists reflecting on their personal experiences with the song. Also featuring photos from historical archives, Lift Every Voice and Sing is a moving illustration of the African American experience in the past century.
With contributors including John Hope Franklin, Jesse Jackson, Maya Angelou, Norman Lear, Maxine Waters, and Percy Sutton, this volume is a personal tribute to the enduring power of an anthem. "Lift Every Voice and Sing" has touched the hearts of many who have heard it because its true aim, as Harry Belafonte explains, "isn't just to show life as it is but to show life as it should be."
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
February 1, 2001 -
Formats
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Kindle Book
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OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9780375506468
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EPUB ebook
- ISBN: 9780375506468
- File size: 7840 KB
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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November 15, 2000
Edited by Bond (chair of the NAACP) and Wilson (The Crisis Reader), this collection of 100 photos and 100 essays by a cross-cultural group of artists, politicians, businesspeople, educators, and activists commemorates the 100th birthday of the hymn that became known as the Negro National Anthem and was adopted as the official song of the NAACP. Written for a Lincoln's birthday celebration in 1900, the song has lyrics by Harlem Renaissance writer James Weldon Johnson and music by his brother, J. Redmond Johnson--which is curiously missing from the book. The song was passed on and shared throughout the black and civil rights communities as a source of inspiration and pride in the fight for racial equality. Together, the photos, essays, and lyrics create a powerful record of the long, arduous struggle against racism and discrimination in America. Recommended for all public libraries and African American studies collections.--Sherri L. Barnes, Univ. of California Lib., Santa BarbaraCopyright 2000 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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October 15, 2000
As inspiring as the song it commemorates, this book's publication will correspond with the centennial anniversary of "Lift Every Voice and Sing," also known as the Negro National Anthem. James Weldon Johnson and his brother, Rosamond Johnson, composed the song four years after Plessy v. Ferguson, the Supreme Court decision that institutionalized U.S. racism through the separate-but-equal doctrine. The book contains 100 essays by entertainers, scholars, writers, rap artists, and others on the significance of the song in the struggle for racial justice. Amiri Baraka notes its "blossoming beauty." Maya Angelou recalls a childhood memory of black parents and students standing to sing the song in protest when it was announced that black schools in Stamps, Arkansas, would get more domestic training for lives as servants while white schools would get science labs. Other authors include Bill Clinton, Colin Powell, Jesse Jackson, and Bill Cosby. In commemorating the song, Bond and Wilson also present a pictorial history of race in the U.S., with powerful photographs and inspiring social and cultural remembrances. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2000, American Library Association.)
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