USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Often referred to as “The Black National Anthem, ” Lift Every Voice and Sing was a hymn written as a poem by NAACP leader James Weldon Johnson in 1900. His brother, John Rosamond Johnson (1873-1954), composed the music for the lyrics.

Detailed explanation-2: -A key figure of the Harlem Renaissance, James Weldon Johnson was a man of many talents. Not only was he a distinguished lawyer and diplomat who served as executive secretary at NAACP for a decade, he was also a composer who wrote the lyrics for “Lift Every Voice and Sing, ” known as the Black national anthem.

Detailed explanation-3: -2000 marks the centenary of “Lift Every Voice and Sing, ” James Weldon Johnson’s most famous lyric, which is now embraced as the Negro National Anthem.

Detailed explanation-4: -The lyrics of Lift Every Voice and Sing serves as a reminder for Black Americans that each generation has had to lift their voices, along with those within their community, to demand and protect their human rights. “Let our rejoicing rise. High as the list’ning skies, Let it resound loud as the rolling sea.

Detailed explanation-5: -After its first recitation in 1900, “Lift Every Voice and Sing” was communally sung within Black American communities, while the NAACP began to promote the hymn as a “Negro national anthem” in 1917 (with the term “Black national anthem” similarly used in the present day).