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.
Whitney’s performance of the national anthem before the 1991 Super Bowl is still my favorite representation of her talent. The way she rips the top of at “rockets red glare”?
Sunday Videos: 4th of July Weekend Patriotism Edition Whitney sings the national anthem.
Remember when Whitney Houston had the best voice ever of all time ever in history ever? Yeah, I dare you to not cry about how amazing this was. This video makes me want to grill a hotdog at a NASCAR race waiting for fireworks in a Ford pickup truck in Alabama under a big American flag while I complete my army enlistment forms listen to all my old Whitney Houston albums.
Lana Del Rey made something I don’t hate.
