Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing

Written 120 years ago as a poem, Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing, known as the Black National Anthem, is  a song of affirmation for African-American people and a powerful cry for liberation.  It has been prominent in the USA as part of the civil rights movement and was adopted by the NAACP 100 years ago.  It is becoming again a song needed to be sung, to evoke the struggle and resilience of a people who are still on the path to freedom.  A song of faith and thankfulness, and yet hopeful and a vision for a better present. 

May we all join in the song and make the vision of harmony in liberty a reality and, true to our God, live in the light together.

Read the lyrics from "Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing" below. A poem written in 1899 by James Weldon Johnson and set to music by his brother John Rosamond Johnson.