On November 6, 1901, two brothers, James Weldon Johnson and John Rosalind Johnson Composed, “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” what became the Black National Anthem.In 34 lines, James Weldon Johnson told of the pain, anguish, frustration, faith and hope that former slaves and their descendants experienced in a land and country they were forced to call home.He did it in “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing,” a poem that later became a song and is now widely calledthe Black National Anthem. The original manuscript along with other papers by the African American Johnson, are held by the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University.Johnson wrote “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing” in Jacksonville, Florida, as part of a celebration in 1900 for Abraham Lincoln’s birthday. His brother, John Rosamond Johnson, later composed the music. It first was performed by Black children in a Jacksonville school where James Weldon Johnson was principal.The song was later adopted by the NAACP and sung at marches and other events during the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. It’s become a standard in Black churches and during Black History Month and other programs across the United States.
