Juneteenth has now been a federal holiday for 5 years, commemorating the Emancipation of enslaved African Americans. This year also marks a major milestone for a spiritual song tied to the day. It’s the 125th anniversary of the hymn, “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”
James Weldon Johnson penned the lyrics to “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” and his brother John Rosamond Johnson composed the music. Now history records the hymn as “The Black National Anthem.”
Recently, the Museum of the Bible hosted a symposium to celebrate this milestone. The event included a lineup of theologians, scholars, and musicians to discuss the history of the hymn, along with performances from several choirs, including the Washington Performing Arts Choirs and the Howard Gospel Choir of Howard University.
Dr. Donté Alexander Ford, director of the Worship Arts Certificate at Wheaton College, was a speaker in attendance and shared with CBN News what he knows about the hymn’s history.
“James Weldon Johnson, by his own words he didn’t consider it the national black, the anthem, right? He called it a hymn for Negro people. It had a more universal approach. He was part of sort of what they considered race people, at that time, seeing everything they did as cultural uplift for Black Americans and for Black people. He never saw it as something separate from American culture, but something as a part of it. So, although we have rightfully claimed it as our own, as that Black national anthem for significance, for what it means for us as a people, but it really calls us to unity,” he continued.
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Inspired by the song, that message of unity is on display in the artwork around the Museum of the Bible for the day of celebration. Some of the artwork was created by children, which is in the fabric of the song’s story.
James Weldon Johnson was a principal of a segregated school when he penned the song, and he enlisted 500 school children to give the first public performance to celebrate President Abraham Lincoln’s birthday. Dr. Eric Williams from the Duke University School of Divinity explained the significance.
“I think that it was composed for children, it was composed for children, and of course the story about Abraham Lincoln’s birthday. But the way that the song caught on like a fire and the way in which it took on a larger life of its own and how it has literally inspired and given hope to countless millions,” he told CBN News.
Dr. Stephen Michael Newby, who is a Professor of Music at Baylor University, was also in attendance at the event. He also spoke about the significance of the hymn.
“It’s amazing how it’s an imperative, and when I open Christian scripture and I take the Bible and I open it up and it lays flat, shows up in Psalms, right? So, it almost sounds as if it’s the beginning of a Psalm or a conclusion of a Psalm. ‘Lift every voice and sing. Go give thanks to the Lord.’ It feels like scripture. It feels like text. Well, the verses aren’t scripture, but they echo scripture, and we’re at the Museum of the Bible, and I think it’s very appropriate that this song is in the middle of what’s happening right now.”
