Lift Every Voice and Sing

Lift Every Voice and Sing

James Weldon Johnson, J. Rosamond Johnson







Lift every voice and sing 

Till earth and heaven ring 

Ring with the harmonies of Liberty 

Let our rejoicing rise 

High as the list'ning skies, let it resound loud as the
rolling sea 

Sing a song full of faith that the dark past has tought us

Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought
us 

Facing the rising sun of our new day begun 

Let us march on till victory is won 




Stony
the road we trod

Bitter the chast'ning rod

Felt in the day that hope unborn had died

Yet with a steady beat

Have not our weary feet

Come to the place on which our fathers sighed

We have come over a way that with tears has been watered 

We have come, treading our path through the blood of the
slaughtered 

Out from the gloomy past, till now we stand at last  

Where the white gleam of our star is cast




God of our weary years

God of our silent tears 

Thou who has brought us thus
far on the way

Thou who has by thy might

Led us into the light 

Keep us forever in the path,
we pray 

Lest our feet stray from the
places, our God, where we met thee

Lest our hearts, drunk with
the wine of the world, we forget thee 

Shadowed beneath the hand

May we forever stand 

True to our God

True to our native land

































As part of a celebration of Abraham Lincoln’s birthday on
February 12, 1900, “Lift Every Voice and Sing” was first publicly performed by
500 school children at the Stanton School in Jacksonville, Florida. The
school principal, James Weldon Johnson, wrote the words and
Johnson’s broth3r Rosamond set them to music. The children continued to sing
the song, popularizing it for generations to come. 



Later, the National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People 

(NAACP) adopted the song as the Black National Anthem.



In calling for earth and heaven to “ring with the
harmonies of Liberty,” the 

lyrics spoke out subtly against racism and Jim Crow
laws—and especially the huge number of lynching’s accompanying the rise of the
Klan at the turn of the century.



By the 1920s, copies of “Lift Every Voice and Sing” could
be found in Black churches across the country, often pasted into the hymnals.
The  

words to the poem/song and another poem by
Johnson can be read on the  

Civil Rights Movement Veterans website.



Learn about the history of “Lift Every Voice and Sing”
in  

May We Forever Stand: A History of the Black National Anthem  

(UNC Press, 2018) by Imani Perry.






 

Paper Tiger: How The Church Wasted Your Tithe Money As It Was Begging For More

Why does god find an old briefcase more important than people being killed?

In the magical world of Armstrongism, its god is more concerned about the little things in life than it is about Christians being slaughtered in Muslim lands, entire families being wiped out by drunk drivers, families shot in their beds by despondent fathers/siblings or finding out the cancer you have is incurable.  However, the god of Armstrongism just looooooooooves doing little miracles for church members, particularly for Philadelphia Church of God members.




PCG's Rufard Manyepa writes in  The Brief Case of the Briefcase

My two friends and I had been playing tag inside the house. The game had become more and more adventurous until I hid in my parents’ bedroom, knowing that nobody could get me there. After a few minutes though, I was bored. As I exited, I spotted my father’s briefcase and decided to show it off to my friends.

They were as enamored by it as I would have hoped, their eyes widening with astonishment as it came into view. Soft-sided and old as it was, it still looked good. Its brown leather had developed an attractive patina over the years, and its passcode dials were still shiny. I carefully set it down on the ground and opened it. My friends wordlessly entreated me to examine it. After a second’s pause, I gave them the thumbs up. In that moment, I felt like a Roman Emperor. 

Thirsty from the game of tag, I went to fetch us some water. When I returned, just three minutes later, my friends had apologetic expressions on their faces as they held up the briefcase to me like an offering. In the short time I had been in the kitchen, they unlocked the case, set a new code and shut the case with no idea what the new one was. We were now locked out with no clue how to get in. 

My entire world came crashing down on me: What would I say to my dad? How would he gain access to his briefcase? His Bible and years of notes were in there. I had been in trouble many times before, but this was something entirely different altogether. This was one of the most personal, important things he owned. Aside from its contents, the briefcase itself was of immense sentimental value. We tried to get it open for the rest of the afternoon. By nightfall, my friends had gone home and we still hadn’t figured out the code. 

I had no option but to tell my father what happened. When he arrived, I told him the entire story of what had happened. He listened quietly and attentively as I soberly related him with the day’s events. When I was done, I expected him to ask why I had gone into their bedroom, or why I was playing with his briefcase. I expected him to be furious. Instead, he calmly asked, “Before trying to open the briefcase, did you pray?” 

I was rocked. I hadn’t even thought of praying! As I stuttered, trying to come up with an excuse, my father told me to bring the briefcase. “We are going to pray about it,” he said. “God will open it up if He wants to, but you must remember that He won’t do so unless we ask Him to. Always remember to go to God first before you do anything.”

I brought the briefcase to my dad, and he placed it on his lap. I sat by him and he began to pray. He thanked God for this faith-building opportunity asking for His intervention in the matter. He asked God to show His involvement in our lives. As he prayed, his hands fiddled with the briefcase dials. He ended the prayer thanking God for His miracles, asking that He perform one for us now. When he said the word “Amen,” it was accompanied by a loud clack! The briefcase was unlocked!

What a miracle! This wasn’t chance. God miraculously intervened!