Lift Every Voice And Sing By James Weldon Johnson: Song Analysis
“Lift Every Voice & Sing” was a poem, written by James Weldon Johnson, that soon became a history-making song. This song has been a part of history every since the Harlem Renaissance. The Harlem Renaissance was a time in which culture was being spread, giving the attention to African Americans. Poets, writers, musicians photographers and more have all been given the chance to stand out. Even with many other people releasing all sorts of things, James Weldon Johnson's poem, Lift Every Voice & Sing, was the one that stood out the most. Johnson was a 29-year-old school principal that wrote: “Lift Every Voice & Sing”. It was first performed by 500 colored children in Jacksonville, FL in 1900. They sang it on the occasion of a massive celebration for President Lincoln’s birthday. The celebration was organized by James himself. James wrote the poem with the purpose of getting an impact on society, but to make sure the message was given, he wanted to add music into it. He asked his brother John Rosamond Johnson, a trained composer, to create music to join his words. As soon as it was performed, the song began to be very important to many people. The song was being passed on throughout generations. As the students learned the …show more content…
Former NAACP chairman, Julian Bond, stated that the song held very deep meaning to the Civil Rights Movement. Many people felt a strong connection with the song. It has been over 100 years since the song was written, and the people still sing it in numerous occasions. People would listen to the song and hold on to because of their personal connections. So much emotion was involved in all parts of the song. At this point, the song was respected everywhere. When people sang it, they had to stand up, people would have to take off their hats, and so forth. The importance of the song was so overwhelming, people could not let go if it’s
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