(Previously in black history.)

In 1900, James Wheldon Johnson was principal of The Stanton School, the first school for black children in Jacksonville, FL.  Today, it serves academically gifted students grades 9-12, but in 1900 it was a segregated elementary school.  Johnson wrote the poem “Lift Every Voice And Sing” for his children to perform in honor of Lincoln’s birthday.  Five years later his brother, John Rosamond Johnson, set the poem to music, and the song became a way for blacks all over the country to stand in solidary through the trials of Jim Crow and the Civil Rights Movement.  By 1919, the song had spread, and the NAACP adopted it as “The Negro National Anthem.”  Since then, the song has been found in black church hymnals across the country and sung at a variety of events and gatherings.

After the jump, the traditional version of the anthem and one performed in the 1980s by Melba Moore and a host of other R&B greats. 

Traditional

Melba Moore & Friends

6:33 pm  •  15 February 2012  •   Let's talk about what you think.
| black history| black history month| lift every voice and sing| negro national anthem| national anthem| black national anthem| music| 80s| gospel| melba moore| dionne warwick| anita baker| jasmine guy| bebe winans| cece winans| stevie wonder| bobby brown|