Acclaimed writer Maya Angelou recalled it being sung during her eighth-grade graduation ceremony in her 1969 autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, and James Brown quoted lyrics from the song as part of his performance of ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ ahead of the historic boxing match between Muhammad Ali and Chuck Wepner in 1975, which inspired the film Rocky the following year. The last century has seen an abundance of significant appearances for the hymn. Stevie Wonder Performs The Star Spangled Banner As Jon Batiste, leader of the band Stay Human, has said, the hymn “connects us to the history of all the people who we stand on the shoulders of – who have marched and fought and died for the freedoms we enjoy and that we’re trying to improve upon.” ‘Lift Every Voice and Sing’ has a historical and meaningful place in the hearts of many Black Americans. With lyrics that speak of faith and freedom, paying homage to the endurances of their ancestors, the hymn is a hopeful look to a future of equality. The song slipped from the Johnson brothers’ memories after they moved across the country to New York, but Black communities in the South continued to sing the hymn and share it with others, and it rapidly gained popularity.Īround 20 years later, the NAACP began to promote the hymn as ‘the Black national anthem’ and it was widely used as a rallying cry during the Civil Rights Movement in America throughout the 1950s and 60s. It was taught to 500 school children in Jacksonville, Florida, who sang it at the birthday celebrations. Rosamond Johnson, the pair initially wrote the song in 1900 to celebrate the birthday of the late 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. With words by the American writer and civil rights activist James Weldon Johnson, and music written by his brother J.
Who composed ‘Lift Every Voice and Sing’? Rosamond Johnson (left) with singer Taylor Gordon.
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