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Black National Anthem?? What in the world...
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Re: Black National Anthem?? What in the world...
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Re: Black National Anthem?? What in the world...
We would sing both anthems at the school I worked at in NYC .... for 9 years...
"Lift Every Voice and sing ... till earth and heaven and ring..." 95% African-American .... mostly kids w/ West Indian heritage. |
Re: Black National Anthem?? What in the world...
"Lift Every Voice and Sing" — often called "The Negro National Hymn" or "The Black National Anthem" — was written as a poem by James Weldon Johnson (1871–1938) and then set to music by his brother John Rosamond Johnson (1873–1954) in 1900.
"Lift Every Voice and Sing" was first performed in public in Jacksonville, Florida as part of a celebration of Lincoln's Birthday on February 12, 1900 by a choir of 500 schoolchildren at the segregated Stanton School, where James Weldon Johnson was principal. Singing this song quickly became a way for African Americans to demonstrate their patriotism and hope for the future. In calling for earth and heaven to "ring with the harmonies of Liberty," they could speak out subtly against racism and Jim Crow laws—and especially the huge number of lynchings accompanying the rise of the Ku Klux Klan at the turn of the century. In 1919, the NAACP adopted the song as "The Negro National Anthem." By the 1920s, copies of "Lift Every Voice and Sing" could be found in black churches across the country, often pasted into the hymnals. In 1939, Augusta Savage received a commission from the World's Fair and created a 16 foot tall plaster sculpture called Lift Every Voice and Sing. Savage did not have any funds for a bronze cast, or even to move and store it, and it was destroyed by bulldozers at the close of the fair.[1] During and after the American Civil Rights Movement, the song experienced a rebirth, and by the 1970s was often sung immediately after "The Star Spangled Banner" at public events and performances across the United States where the event had a significant African-American population.[citation needed] In Maya Angelou's 1969 autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, the song is sung by the audience and students at Maya's eighth grade graduation, after a white school official dashes the educational aspirations of her class.[2] In 1990, singer Melba Moore released a modern rendition of the song, which she recorded along with others including R&B artists Anita Baker, Stephanie Mills, Dionne Warwick, Bobby Brown, Stevie Wonder, Jeffrey Osborne, and Howard Hewett; and gospel artists BeBe and CeCe Winans, Take 6, and The Clark Sisters. Partly because of the success of this recording, "Lift Every Voice and Sing" was entered into the Congressional Record as the official African American National Hymn. Wiki.... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lift_Every_Voice_and_Sing |
Re: Black National Anthem?? What in the world...
Lift every voice and sing,
till earth and heaven ring, Ring with the harmonies of liberty; Let our rejoicing rise High as the listening skies, Let it resound loud as the rolling sea. Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught 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 chastening rod, felt in the days when hope unborn had died; yet with a steady beat, have not our weary feet come to the place for which our fathers died? We have come over a way that with tears have 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 bright star is cast. God of our weary years, God of our silent tears, thou who hast brought us thus far on the way; thou who hast 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 thy hand, may we forever stand, true to our God, true to our native land. |
Re: Black National Anthem?? What in the world...
I really couldn't care less what the lyrics are. They could be a straight quote from scripture, and I still wouldn't appreciate it. "Statements" like this just try my LAST nerve.
And it is an HONOR to be asked to sing the national anthem. She disrespected every single AMERICAN at that event--AND her country. |
Re: Black National Anthem?? What in the world...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/fiveliveb...owersalute.jpg
This stirred muched debate at the 1968 Olympics too. |
Re: Black National Anthem?? What in the world...
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Re: Black National Anthem?? What in the world...
Miss B,
I'm an American and I don't feel she disrespected me... |
Re: Black National Anthem?? What in the world...
Why the need to make oneself distinct FROM American tradition? Isn't the whole idea to integrate INTO American culture? Why fight to be a part of something you don't respect or appreciate?
I don't get it. I have no problem with Special Hymns for Special Occasions. However, certain things such as the American flag, the National Anthem, and other symbolism should be held sacred and respected above other similar symbols. To be placed on the same plain as another song, flag, etc., is inappropriate, and to even combine them is inappropriate. IMO, anyway. We still teach our kids to stand up when saying the pledge of allegiance, to place their hands over their hearts, and our son to remove his hat during the pledge or the national anthem. I suppose that's old fashioned. I don't consider times of patriotism to be the platform for personally gratifying political statements. |
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