{"id":435,"date":"2019-12-04T15:11:01","date_gmt":"2019-12-04T20:11:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/afr111-f19\/?page_id=435"},"modified":"2019-12-17T20:25:41","modified_gmt":"2019-12-18T01:25:41","slug":"lift-every-voice-and-sing","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/afr111-f19\/lift-every-voice-and-sing\/","title":{"rendered":"Lift Every Voice and Sing"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><em>Lift Every Voice and Sing<\/em> was written as a poem by NAACP leader James Weldon Johnson (1871-1938) and then converted into a song by his brother, John Rosamond Johnson (1873-1954) in 1899. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">It was performed for the first time in Jacksonville, Florida by 500 school children in celebration of President Abraham Lincoln&#8217;s birthday on February 12, 1900. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The song was then adopted by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1919 as its official \u201cBlack National Anthem\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-642 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/afr111-f19\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/442\/2019\/12\/unnamed-2-214x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"214\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/afr111-f19\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/442\/2019\/12\/unnamed-2-214x300.jpg 214w, https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/afr111-f19\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/442\/2019\/12\/unnamed-2.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 214px) 100vw, 214px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Today, the anthem is recited at gatherings to celebrate excellence, community, and Black pride. During her Coachella performance in 2018,<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Beyonce paid homage to the song by singing a few lines in front of her audience. As the first Black woman to headline the Coachella music festival in California, this was both a historic and political moment for the Black community.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Beyonc\u00e9 HOMECOMING Lift Every Voice (HQ)\" width=\"768\" height=\"432\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/_Rn4Xh99dd4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The choreography consists of performers lined up either in stagnant positions or in synchronized motions. As the song proceeds, the performers rhythmically stomp and thrust their bodies in unison, and arch their bodies to yell. The sounds the performers emit can be interpreted as their mode of empowerment and shared celebration of liberation. <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Embedded within its lyrics are stories of triumph, struggle, and freedom that resonate deeply for African Americans, especially during the reconstruction and civil rights era. 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.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">&#8220;Let our rejoicing rise<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">High as the list\u2019ning skies,<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Let it resound loud as the rolling sea<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sing a song <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">full of the faith<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> that the dark past has taught us<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sing a song full of the <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">hope that the presen<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">t has brought us<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Facing the rising sun of our new day begun,<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Let us march on till victory is won&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">Click on the link to view original lyrics: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.poetryfoundation.org\/poems\/46549\/lift-every-voice-and-sing\">https:\/\/www.poetryfoundation.org\/poems\/46549\/lift-every-voice-and-sing<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Not only do the lyrics reflect how violence has been inflicted on the black community, but it affirms and encourages the black collective to remain faithful in their vision despite the struggles they have endured over the centuries. The core message of the poem: through strong faith and solidarity, the black community can move forward and reimagine a world where true liberty is achievable. This message is also conveyed in The Harp by Augusta Savage.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">Click on the following picture to go to the next page to learn more about Augusta Savage and her sculpture:<a href=\"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/afr111-f19\/the-harp\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-958 size-full aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/afr111-f19\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/442\/2019\/12\/Savage-3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"275\" height=\"183\" \/><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/afr111-f19\/caged-bird\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-1838\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/afr111-f19\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/442\/2019\/12\/Back-arrow.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"56\" height=\"56\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/afr111-f19\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/442\/2019\/12\/Back-arrow.png 225w, https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/afr111-f19\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/442\/2019\/12\/Back-arrow-150x150.png 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 56px) 100vw, 56px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; Lift Every Voice and Sing was written as a poem by NAACP leader James Weldon Johnson (1871-1938) and then converted into a song by his brother, John Rosamond Johnson (1873-1954) in 1899. It was performed for the first time in Jacksonville, Florida by 500 school children in celebration of President Abraham Lincoln&#8217;s birthday on [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2439,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-435","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","has-post-thumbnail"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/afr111-f19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/435","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/afr111-f19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/afr111-f19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/afr111-f19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2439"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/afr111-f19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=435"}],"version-history":[{"count":38,"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/afr111-f19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/435\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1995,"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/afr111-f19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/435\/revisions\/1995"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/afr111-f19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}