Lift Every Voice and Sing

I enjoyed Chris Stapleton's low-key performance of the National Anthem during the patriotic prelude to Super Bowl LVII, but the star of that portion of the show was the amazing Sheryl Lee Ralph as she performed "Lift Every Voice and Sing," generally referred to as the black national anthem. Wow.

Her performance came on the 123rd anniversary of the first time the song was performed in public --- on Feb. 12, 1900, by a choir of 500 schoolchildren at the segregated Stanton School in Jacksonville, Florida, to celebrate what would have been former president Abraham Lincoln’s 91st birthday. James Weldon Johnson, an NAACP leader who was principal of the school, wrote the hymn as a poem before his brother, John Rosamond Johnson, composed the music for the lyrics.

The NAACP began referring to the song as the black national anthem in 1919, some 12 years before the United States had a collective anthem. Although "Star Spangled Banner" was a popular patriotic song, a joint Congressional resolution and signature by President Herbert Hoover didn't make it official until 1931.

"Lift Every Voice" is a stirring song that since has been included in many hymnals --- ranging from Southern Baptist through United Methodist. We sing it at least once a year I'm guessing at St. Andrew's, so it's familiar, evocative --- and appropriate for many occasions and for many justice-seeking causes.

It read several of the comments posted in various places after Ms. Ralph's performance as white nationalist football fans pounced. So this grand old anthem still has work to do --- as do those of us who love it.