History of the Black national anthem, ‘Lift Every Voice and Sing’

A hymn written in the late 19th century that offers a prayer for faith and freedom has become popularly known as the Black national anthem. “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” with its evocations of the promised land, has a powerful message that resonates still.  

James Weldon Johnson, a school principal and NAACP leader, wrote the words as a poem to commemorate the birthday of Abraham Lincoln. He incorporated the theme of the struggles surrounding the Reconstruction movement. It was first recited by 500 schoolchildren at his Edwin M. Stanton School in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1900.

His brother, John Rosamond Johnson, was inspired to set the words to music in 1905, and the song gained immense popularity among Black communities.

James Johnson wrote, “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 20 years, it was being sung all over the South and in some other parts of the country.”

In 1919, the NAACP declared the song to be the “Negro national anthem” (later the Black national anthem). It was used prominently as a rallying cry during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and ‘60s. But it’s also “a history lesson, a rallying cry, a pledge of unity, and as people gather to fight for equality and justice, it is an ever-present refrain,” said CNN’s Faith Karimi in 2020, at the height of the George Floyd reckoning.

The poetry of the words (“Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us/Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us”) is only part of the song’s majesty. John Johnson’s music is rich with cultural meaning, written in a key (A-flat major) that forms the spine of many spirituals and gospel music. Some settings also incorporate the tight harmonies that are a hallmark of Black musical traditions.

Several recordings of the song have been entered into the National Recording Registry: A 1923 version by the gospel group Manhattan Harmony Four and Melba Moore’s 1990 rendition (which included vocals by Anita Baker, Dionne Warwick and Steve Wonder, among others).  It’s been performed by everyone from the Tabernacle Choir to Beyoncé, included in many a hymnal and incorporated into various commemorations and sporting events, including the Super Bowl.

In 2021, Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) sponsored a bill that proposed the song be designated as the national hymn of the United States.

“My goal is to make a contribution to trying to bring this country back together,” he told CNN. “I just think that if we were to make this hymn our national hymn, it will help us to really create a climate within which we can find common ground.”

The bill has yet to pass, perhaps because some even in the Black community have called any official designation “separatist.” In response, former NAACP senior vice president Hilary O. Shelton said, "It is evident in our actions as an organization and here in America it is evidence that we are about inclusion, not exclusion. To claim that we as African Americans want to form a confederation or separate ourselves from white people because of one song is baffling to me."

The Minnesota-based South African ensemble 29:11 International Exchange adds Zulu lyrics to its version of the hymn.

“We are so proud and feel so good to relate with our African-American brothers as we sing this song,” said arranger Brendon Adams.

Here is Melba Moore’s 1990 rendition.

Alicia Keys performed the song at the Super Bowl in 2021.

Beyoncé sang the song at Coachella in 2019, captured in the film Homecoming.

The Tabernacle Choir performed the song at the NAACP national meeting in 2018.

Finally, the Spelman College Glee Club recorded a version at MPR whose video has gone viral on the Choral Stream’s Facebook page, with a quarter-million views just for its most recent posting in January.